I got into a wreck yesterday trying to drive to work in the snow. I hit a particularly icy patch coming out of my neighborhood, skidded through a stop sign and into an intersection, catching the back portion of a vehicle going across the intersection. I’m fine, but the car is in the shop for a week as the front bumper is in two pieces and a few other parts need replacing as well.

Needless to say, I’m pretty pissed off, partly at myself for trying to go to work in those conditions in the first place (that’s what I get for trying to be a good employee). The streets inside my neighborhood were drivable when I left, but as I quickly discovered, the roads outside were not. I’m also mad at UNC for not declaring an adverse weather condition yesterday morning and at least delaying the start of operations by a couple hours. I checked the university’s Web site just before I left home at 7:50 a.m., and it said Condition I, which means normal. Of course, when you step outside, you could see that there was snow coming down and ice already covered the road surface. And to add insult to injury, UNC decided in the afternoon to upgrade to Condition II, canceling classes from 3:30 p.m. yesterday to 10 a.m. today. By the time that announcement came, much of the snow and ice on the roads had melted away or been cleared off. So UNC fails to respond to the weather sensibly in the morning, causing people to risk life and limb going into work/class, then reacts by overcompensating in the afternoon. Thanks guys.

One other beef with the whole weather response: Under Condition II, classes are canceled, but the university offices remain open, with just an advisory telling employees to decide whether to come into work based on personal safety. It’s kind of curious that the university would deem it unsafe for any students, many of whom live on or near campus, to try to come to campus, but refuses to do the same for employees. Good to know the university places equal value on the safety of all its people.