I have new appreciation for those people who dress as the Statue of Liberty to promote the Liberty Tax
Service.
In the past, I have pitied the people hopping around a few feet from the roadway to promote the tax
businesses located on Ohio 25 in Bowling Green and Perrysburg.
But after seeing Lady Liberty touting her torch in the freezing weather along the road in Perrysburg last
week, I was filled with new pride for the costumed character.
In fact, the "polar vortex" that hit us a couple weeks ago, followed by its sequel this week,
has made me realize just what a cold weather wimp I have become.
The blowing snow and sub-zero temperatures have made me quite content to hibernate at home after a day of
work and not emerge till the next day begins.
My actual interaction with the frigid weather each day is brief – walking from my car into work, then
back to my car to go home. I almost feel guilty complaining about the weather when I consider others who
don’t have the luxury of an indoor job.
So for what it’s worth, I want to thank all those people who work outside – so wimps like me don’t have
to.
I marvel at the work performed by firefighters, who in these weather conditions have to battle both
flames and ice formed by the water used to extinguish the blazes.
While other jobs may not be as daring, they are undoubtedly made miserable by the cold. So my stocking
cap goes off to school crossing guards, newspaper carriers, people who collect money for parking at BGSU
events, and postal carriers.
I am dependent on those snowplow drivers, who risk peril on dark rural roads covered with drifting snow.
And I am thankful every time I encounter tidy shoveled sidewalks.
I have a renewed appreciation for people who repair utility lines, fix burst water lines, and replace
broken furnaces.
The less-than-glamorous jobs of digging graves and tending to livestock is made even more difficult when
the mercury dips below freezing.
It’s enough to make us stop our grumbling in the newsroom about never getting "snow days" –
even during Level 3 snow emergencies.
I even find myself feeling sorry for fast food workers whose hands must freeze each time they open their
drive-thru windows.
I realize the tables are turned when warm weather rolls around and I’m stuck behind a desk with a glimpse
of the outdoors through the Sentinel-Tribune’s front windows. But until then, I think I’ll just
appreciate the fact that my job doesn’t entail me jumping around outside dressed as the Statue of
Liberty.