Snowmageddon was all the rage a couple weeks ago, but now that it's over, the question is: was it worth all the fuss?  The snow resulted in a week off, which probably falls in the pro column.  It afforded frazzled students an opportunity to catch up on reading.  Or, there may have been more pressing concerns to be dealt with, like sleep and important hobbies such as watching Law & Order (because there's always a marathon when you need one).

Of course, there's a strong counterargument that the make-up classes constitute a serious drawback to the snow:  Sure, the week off was nice, but it may not be worth back-to-back-to-back classes on Fridays for the rest of the semester.  And with so many classes to make up with limited classroom space, some classes are bound to get stuck with lousy make-up times.  As one civil procedure professor dryly observed: fights might break out in the faculty lounge as professors vie for classrooms.  Still, this problem may present a pro after all: let's formalize the fights with brackets and a pool to raise more money for EJF's summer stipends.

The snow itself may also have begun as a blessing in disguise.  While the federal government is quick to close its doors, followed soon after by grocery and other stores, nothing seems to stand in the way of drinking like it's a balmy seventy-two.  Nothing speaks to the American work ethic like venturing out on unplowed streets to find everything shut down, only to discover beacons of hope radiating from the open signs at all the local liquor stores and bars.  And, once inside those bastions of warmth and prosperity, the snow seems to make any social awkwardness melt away.  After all, "how 'bout that weather?" never seems to go out of style as a quality ice-breaker when two feet of snow can't stand in the way of specials on domestics.

Of course, after a few days, the snow got a little old and started making its way into the "con" column.  With food and drink stocks at home deteriorating and the aisles in now-open grocery stores thinning out, thoughts turned to clearing roads so the city could get on with life.  Unfortunately, D.C. seems better equipped to handle scandal than snow, because the plows were a long time in coming.  But eventually they made it out and the city was poised to show how well it responds to the needs of citizens.  Luckily, the city found a fix for its snowy-road woes: plow the snow onto the sidewalks.  A judicious solution if I've ever seen one.

Quibble though I may with the actual snow clearing tactics, it's hard to find the words to respond to the latest press release from the department of public works: D.C. has been named one of the best cities in the country for its online snow removal tracking system (snowmap.dc.gov).  Indeed, only Spokane, Washington got higher marks for its snow removal tracking system.  Though actually removing the snow itself may suffer from fatal flaws, at least we can go online and watch the city's progress in not clearing the roads.  Until the power goes out, that is.

The storm also gave Metro new opportunities to show its public transport prowess.  I noticed that at some point around the time of the storms, whilst ostensibly clearing and treating tracks and stuffing more trains into the tunnels for shelter, new advertisements appeared in some of the stations.  The ads highlight Metro's strict "no eating anywhere" policy.  The text of the ad points out that, because of this policy, we don't share our stations with the furry little friends that inhabit certain other U.S. metro systems, presumably to our north.  Let's chalk that up to another pro - the storms gave Metro the opportunity to remind us to appreciate the little things in life.  Delays and derailments?  Slow service and no service?  Always remember that it could be worse: we could have rats.

It's hard to judge, in the end, whether the snow was worth the hassle, but I will say this: at least it afforded the media an opportunity to come up with another inane label like Snowmageddon.