Against the Herd

We're having a pretty quiet weekend here in Kansas City.  Action Jackson is enjoying a bit of sunshine on the deck while hooked up to his long line.  As you can see, there's no snow.  Not on Jackson, not on  my parsley plant in the background, not on the deck.  This is not to say there wasn't snow expected.

This is a screen snag from a local weatherman's blog for yesterday.  Funny, when you read it today, it seems fairly calm and reasonable.  However yesterday was a storm of a different color.  I was working at Small Spare Job Number Two yesterday.  We had the tv on and you would have thought we were about to experience a major snow-i-cane.  Weather advisory crawlers with loud beeping alerts would appear at the top of the screen every 15 minutes, brightly lit in DANGER RED.  Counties were listed that were in the danger zone.  Dire warnings, cats sleeping dogs kinda stuff.  So at this level you're thinking...at least....6 - 8 inches expected....right? With strong blowing winds, ice and freezing conditions. No.  1 to 3.  This really makes me sad.  I'm an east coast girl.  The only people who panic at 1 - 3 inches of snow are the federal workers in DC.  I thought midwesterners were heartier than that.  Maybe they used to be.  Or maybe they are being conditioned to panic.  Across the street from the office of Spare Job Number Two is a grocery store.  It just so happened that I needed some things and popped over  to shop.  No sooner was I in the store two minutes when the speaker system was announcing snow storm specials.  Really?  Was there a connection?  Were the local weather folks playing up a minor storm to shepherd the public herd to spend their dollars stocking up on milk, toilet paper, windshield wiper fluid and snow shovels?

I, by my nature, am a cynical, suspicious person.  But can you blame me?

I grew up in the suburbs of Washington DC.  The Washington Post was our hometown newspaper.  Turns out Nixon was a crook, in a hella big way.

Reagan wasn't much better.

Bill got his cigar caught in Monica's honey jar.

Even in Kansas City things might not always appear to be what they seem.  Ever hear of video news releases?  It was a practice going back at least to the first administration of Clinton of federal agencies producing video segments that look like something your local news station might produce.  It might be a report on childhood obesity. It might be about Medicare.  It would be supplied to news agencies however it was hardly ever revealed that the government was the source of the video. Under the George W. Bush administrations it was a widespread practice to put a more positive spin and help push their agendas.  Smaller market news agencies, in an effort to be more profitable,were already cutting back on staff and reporters, it only made economic sense to fill their many news hours with ready made policy pieces.  Of course it was kinda ethically disgusting but what the hey, they've got shareholders to think about.  So would it be so outrageous to believe a relationship exists between a local tv station and a local chain of grocery stores?

Yes it does appear that it at least exists in the website filler category but at least you know who's pimping who.  Which brings me back to the snow storm they went on and on about yesterday.  We, the Kansas City area, did not get snow.  We did not get ice.  As far as I can tell, we didn't get a damn drop of moisture.  However I am guessing that local grocery stores saw a generous bump in sales. 

America, Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, and sometimes the Herd of the Easily Spooked.