What is it about any type of weather that isn't sunny that seems to throw Greeks in an uproar? Sure, the sunny weather is nice, and Greece happens to have an awful lot of it. But rain is, well rain. Rain happens. Thunderstorms happen, especially in the summer. At least they did in Nashville.
Still, Greek news makes it out like some major blizzard/hurricane/deadly storm system is incoming if we are due rainy days in the summer. They call it "fall weather". Fall weather? Yea, so the majority of rain here occurs in the fall and winter, but downpours are not "fall weather". I can remember summers in Nashville where it stormed every single night.
I guess people get so panicked because, wonder of all wonders, major parts of Athens are built on dried up riverbeds and flood plains. Ohhh, so smart. But I guess you build where you can build, and such a thing isn't limited to Greece.
By the way, I'm pretty sure I felt another small earthquake last night. Bed shook slightly, no sound of traffic, cats all asleep, husband not snoring or having jimmy-legs. Now I'm going to be plagued by feeling earthquakes, I'm sure.
4 comments:
I remember thinking the same thing when I lived in Louisiana. Whenever the temperature fell to below 50F, they would announce it on the radio advising citizens to drive safely! My co-workers would tell me the same thing when I was ready to leave to go home. This went on for about a month before I finally figured it out...they're afraid of temperatures hitting freezing point because their cars didn't have all-season tires and they didn't have a phalanx of salt trucks to keep the roads ice-free. I just took it for granted that everyone lived like me 6 months out of the year in Canada. So, I think in Greece, people get nervous over any sort of inclement weather because their tires are shot and the roads are like skating rinks in the best of weather. On top of that, so many basement apartments get flooded with a summer shower not to mention a downpour. We're just used to growing up in cities where storm drains are regularly cleaned, motor vehicle inspectors actually look at our tires before we pass the yearly inspection and they build roads with decent asphalt that allow us to survive a 4 hour downpour when driving.;
Jimmy legs? Have I come across another twitchy legger? Ugh I hate the leg thing it keeps me awake night after night! My sympathies.
Well every year for as long as I've known, they like to make a big deal about bad weather on TV! It won't be long before we have the first really prolonged rain storm and people's houses get flooded! They'll make it the top story on the news, we'll have the split screens with various reporters reporting from "on the scene" of the disaster. The disaster is the flooded streets and basement level appartments and office buildings. The media will show the drains thet are blocked and haven't been emptied of all the leaves and other waste since 1973. People will cry about their houses being damaged.
Then what will happen...?
The hype will die down, the drainage problems wont be fixed. People'll carry on with their normal lives and then next year, we'll have the same all over again when the autumn rain arrives.
The other me, you know, just about every man I've ever known has been like that. Luckily, we got a new mattress so the shaking isn't as bad as it was.
In Nashville people got panicky only at the threat of snow. There could be just the smallest prediction and folks would flock to the stores buying up milk and water and god knows what. But I can understand the threat of snow in the South being worrisome - even I couldn't drive worth a damn in the snow, to my Northern parents' disgrace.
I can't believe they start to get panicky below 50 in Louisiana, but again, they probably get less snow than we did in Nashville so it probably freaked them out.
I guess then, based on what you said, EllasDevil, that it is a good thing it doesn't rain here in Greece in the summer like it does in Nashville. Of course, maybe then people would fix their drains.
Post a Comment