When it comes to banter about how much fun you can have on the great American institution known as the snow day, I’m never part of the discussion. In my entire life I’ve had a grand total of . . . two.
The first and only snow days of my life occurred in January, 1967. It took the Great Blizzard of 1967 and almost two feet of snow to shut down my grade school for two days. They prided themselves on never closing. We had some significant snowfalls during my middle school and high school years growing up in the western suburbs, but Gurrie Junior High and Lyons Township High School never closed either, so I’d be putting on my boots and trudging or riding my bike through snow drifts to get to class. Later, at the U of I in Champaign, I learned that when the student body lives on campus, they never close school on account of snow, either.
My career in radio started right after college. One of the unique things about a radio station I discovered right away is that it never closes and never shuts down. It could be the Great Blizzard of 1967 times two, and the place would stay open. And, when your job is hosting a show, there’s no such thing as a snow day or work-from-home day. And that’s been the case with me for the past 29 years.
I hear my friends and nephews and niece talk about snow days all the time. It sounds like fun. But, unless my next job is at a school or car wash, my window of opportunity for taking advantage of snow days has probably closed.
