Sunday, February 27, 2011

Thanh's Rant on Place 5

My mom told me never to get my shoes dirty. When it rained, she always told us to stay on the cement. She hated muddy footprints, especially on a cleaned floor. If my mom saw my shoes right now, she wouldn’t let me step foot in her house. She probably would’ve made me sleep outside in the rain just so I could learn my lesson.
I’m going to have to buy new shoes. You can see half of my sock with my left shoe. I got these shoes for Christmas. I bought it for 15 dollars. This is the first where my shoes didn’t last me for more than a year. Pittsburgh’s weather wouldn’t allow such a thing.
When I’m at my place, the thing I’m getting more in tune with is the weather, Pittsburgh’s weather. I had lived in Erie and Ithaca. Both places I’m used to getting 12 inches of snow in one day. The cities still functioned like it was another day. True, driving in the snow is a pain, but the roads were always plowed. I knew what to expect when I was living in these cities: cold, snow, and non-cancellation of schools.
I’m at my spot at 8:30 AM because no one is at the Political Science Department. The doors are usually opened by 7, but on this Tuesday it is not. I checked to see if the entire school was shutdown. It wasn’t. The commute to the school from Dormont was close to two hours. It usually takes me 40 minutes on a good day. Still I made it on time for work and no was there.
I could barely hear any of the cars outside. There’s about six inches of snow on the ground. Last week, it was sunny with some people wearing shorts.  I went home to Erie last week to bring some spring clothes back to Pittsburgh. I dropped off some of my winter clothes in the process to save room in the closet.
I wish I was  wearing a scarf right now. A winter hat would be nice as well. I don’t see any chipmunks or rabbits. There is nothing but me that is alive in this field. I don’t know why animals live here. How do they know when to come out from hibernation? Pittsburgh’s weather is a killer of animals. They trick them into believing it’s spring, and when they come out, six inches of snow are thrown into their faces.
I can’t feel my feet. I hate you Pittsburgh Weather.

4 comments:

  1. I can understand why you'd be so frustrated if no one was there when you showed up. You make me grateful not to have to deal with that kind of weather. On a positive note, tomorrow March begins, and hopefully, the snow will cease.

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  2. Thanh, I like how you began with your memories of your mom's rules on keeping shoes clean. I can definitely relate to getting through the Pittsburgh winter. It would figure that the cold comes back right after you switch wardrobes.

    I couldn't believe how horribly gray it was on Monday, but luckily today and yesterday have been sunny.

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  3. Thanh,

    Ah yes, the weather here. A great topic for this time a year. I like how you mentioned in your piece that it is not the weather itself that you seem to have an issue with, it is the city's inability to deal with it that is driving you crazy. Man vs. his environment, for sure. Great stream of consciousness writing happening here. I want even more sensory details of your place on this particular day...

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  4. (South)Western PA weather has always been rather sporadic when it comes to winter. However, after a few years, you begin to notice a pattern. Maybe I noticed it faster (after becoming an adult) when I lived at SRU, which has it's own unique weather patterns. For us, there's a thing called the February Thaw, which makes unsuspecting visitors and newcomers believe that winter has ended and spring is popping up. Not so. When people start wearing spring clothing and start to get excited, my friends and I look around and go, "Nope. We've got one more big snow coming," even if the weather people make no prediction of it. Cause that's what happens. Mother nature stirs in her sleep and rolls over. Father Winter stops, wary, and watches her until she falls into deep unconsciousness once more, and then he resumes his work. This is a hard lesson you've learned, and one that sometimes must be learned firsthand. Never get rid of winter clothing until at least May.

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