The Boston area is hunkered down awaiting the projected dumping of 17 inches of snow on our heads. My children were put to bed an hour and a half ago but my oldest son has gotten up 8 times already to see if school has been cancelled yet for tomorrow - it hasn't.
Of course it hasn't - it hasn't even started snowing yet.
Many communities HAVE already cancelled school - the City of Boston and several others. This is going to be a storm and a half.
I was trying to think of the craziest snow storm story that I could share with you and nothing crazy came to mind from recent history.
Then I remembered a story from my college days.
My friend Jim and I lived in the same dorm. He was handsome as could be and gay and a big fan of alcohol and I kept a well stocked beer fridge in my room.
The forecast was for snow and he showed up to have a couple beverages before the impending blizzard. We opened the fridge and it was EMPTY. We looked at each other AGHAST.
"CALL TOM" he shrieked. Tom was the owner of the liquor store on the other side of campus who had kept us well supplied the previous summer. I called. Tom answered. "You're open!" I yelled into the phone with all the enthusiam someone might yell, "I've been SAVED!"
"We're closing in 5 minutes." he told me.
"Wait for us." I told him. "We'll be there."
Our college was on a hill. We lived at the bottom of one side of the hill, the liquor store was on the other side of the hill. We raced up and over the hill. The snow was getting deep.
Tom was waiting for us. We went to grab two 12 packs but cases were on sale. We grabbed a case of glass longnecks without even thinking. Tom locked the door behind us.
As Jim and I stood there at the bottom of that hill with the VERY HEAVY case of beer between us, looking up at the steep hill and the 6 inches of unplowed snow, it seemed like we would never make it back to the dorm.
We started walking, each of us carrying one side of the case. It was awkward and slippery and we fell numerous times. Although - I'm proud to say - we never dropped the beer.
And then we decided to take turns carrying the beer - which seemed like a fantastic idea while Jim carried it. And a HORRIBLE idea when it was my turn.
We slipped, we fell. Neither of us wore gloves or hats or snowpants. It was the two of us and a case of Rolling Rock against the elements.
And then I said, "I can't carry it anymore." and I put my side down. Looking back, I am ashamed.
But that challenged awakened something in Jim. A light gleamed in his eyes and he threw that case of beer on his shoulder and trudged a half a mile through that snow back to the dorm.
We laughed the whole way back.
As we sat there in the dorm, drinking beer and laughing over his herculean feat he turned to me and said, "I can't believe you were going to leave it there! You're lucky I'm an alcoholic!"
Truer words were never spoken.
Okay, my son just walked into my office again to ask about school closings. I checked and school has been cancelled. When I told him he did the funniest white-boy dance.
I'm going to have to teach him to dance before he gets to middle school.
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