Elementary Teacher Ben Hendry emailed me last Wednesday morning as we were all reeling from the effects of "Snow Jam 2014." He shared with me a letter he had sent to family and friends--I thought it would be a good beginning to all of the stories of peril and heroism we will all share in the coming days.
Dear Friends,
I
hope all of you were able to return home quickly and safely yesterday. I actually
feel lucky that my typical 10 mile, 18 minute commute to Sandy Springs was
"only" 7 hours. This includes parking in a neighborhood off
Spalding Dr/Chamblee-Dunwoody Rd around 7pm, walking about one mile to my mom's house off
Peachtree-Dunwoody to visit, eat, get warm, and borrow better mittens, walking a mile to the MARTA North Springs station, riding south one stop, and walking
the final 1.7 miles home to arrive at 9:20. I imagine some readers are
wondering if that description is setting up a word problem, such as "How
far did Mr. Hendry walk?", or "What time did he leave school?"
but I leave that up to you.
My trip included helping push a car up a hill then trading some passing teenagers $20 to help my car up the same hill. $5 would have been plenty for them, but $20 was worth it to me and was my first offer. Overall, I witnessed general cordiality and patience and was relieved that I did not see any really bad behavior. I know of neighbors who harbored stranded students from my local school or collaborated to bring multiple kids home; I believe these kinds of stories are the rule across the area. I've been very concerned about travelers' overnight safety; for example I have a colleague on the Support team who was still not home as of midnight. So I truly wish that all of you were spared the shocks of what I consider a disaster; this will echo for years.
My trip included helping push a car up a hill then trading some passing teenagers $20 to help my car up the same hill. $5 would have been plenty for them, but $20 was worth it to me and was my first offer. Overall, I witnessed general cordiality and patience and was relieved that I did not see any really bad behavior. I know of neighbors who harbored stranded students from my local school or collaborated to bring multiple kids home; I believe these kinds of stories are the rule across the area. I've been very concerned about travelers' overnight safety; for example I have a colleague on the Support team who was still not home as of midnight. So I truly wish that all of you were spared the shocks of what I consider a disaster; this will echo for years.
Good
luck,
Ben
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