Blizzard 2006

Back in February, we had an insane blizzard that dropped a record-breaking 27 inches of snow here in New York City. Interestingly, an acquaintance from Israel was staying with me for a few days, and coincidentally had her return-flight scheduled that Sunday afternoon -- the heart of the blizzard! Her airline, El Al, whom we couldn't reach until after 9am anyway, of course wasn't announcing any departure delays. So, off we trudged to JFK from my warm abode in NJ. The local news cautioned viewers to stay inside, not attempt to drive unless absolutely necessary.

My car sits in a huge outdoor parking garage, one level down below (but still in open-air since we're situated on a cliffside). I drove my car through the gate, and gunned the gas up the curved driveway's hill. Alas, I made it to the top -- and then got STUCK. At this juncture is not only the entrance I just came up from but also the ground-level parking lot's entrance and the entrance-drive from the street, forming a flat area open to the elements, creating an enormous snow-drift. Everytime I rocked backwards, shifted & tried to gun my car forward, I'd swivel a few more degrees to the left -- until I was a full 90-degrees pointing the wrong way for my apt building's front doors, where my friend was patiently waiting with her luggage.

This went on for at least 20 minutes.

I called the front desk concierge, wondering if they'd seen me on the cameras. Meanwhile, a maintenance worker, slightly amused by my plight, continued to shovel an area of the driveway several yards away. I asked Oscar if they could send out someone from staff to simply push while I gun the gas. He said OK. I wait, keep rocking back & forth, not making any progress. 7 minutes pass. I call Oscar - "Is no one coming out to help me?" His response? "They say no, they won't help. Too dangerous." I'm bewildered. He puts the building manager on the line. I explain that I'm no longer on the driveway's hill, so no one will get "crushed" or anything. I simply need some muscle. She says, "We'll see what we can do."

Meanwhile, I'm now blocking all entrances, including a jeep coming in from the deserted street. Two young guys jump out, ask if I need some help. I tell them of my building staff denying me help, and they suggest we attach a chain to my front bumper. I say, "All I need is a simple push!"

They say ok, and voila! Who woulda thunk it? A fricken' simple push, man! That's all I needed! And hell, that's all I've been asking for for over 30 minutes now! Don't mess with a girl from Ohio! I mean, I know snow! Good lord! Is it so hard for people to extend themselves just a tiny bit, to help out a stranded soul?

For a little comic relief, the following few seconds...
I didn't want to lose momentum or get stuck again, so I rolled down my window as I drove forward to my building's front doors, waving my hand out to thank the kind fellas that helped me out. A maintenance guy seemed to appear from nowhere, snowblower in hand. Serendipity: he propelled a whole load of snow smack dab in my face, through the open window. Wap! And no apology! All I could do was laugh. What more, God, what more?

The rest of the trek was uneventful, for the most part. We loaded up her luggage, and drove the rest of the hill up to the traffic light. Wouldn'tchya know it, maintenance hadn't gotten around yet to shoveling here either! I got stuck again. But five minutes or so of strategic rocking got us over the hump, and away we went, to JFK airport 20 miles away.

Here I am, relieved to get us there in one piece! (...and maybe excited cuz this means i can now head over to my boyfriend's to burrow in for the rest of the weekend, since there's no way I could make it back down my garage's driveway without slamming into the brick wall on the curve... lord knows they probably hadn't salted it until Monday, I'm sure!)

Why can't blizzards happen on Sunday nights? Mondays trudging through the snow to get to work SUCK.