Opinion/Streetalk

ThIs MOdeRn WORld by tom tomorrow

How do you like winter so far?

Asked at Yellow Submarine, 920 Holman Way, Sparks

Michelle Howe-Stark

Business owner I’m enjoying winter. I love wintertime. I wish there were more snow because I love to go snowshoeing.

Darrell Benedict

Retiree Oh, I love it. I like the cold. I like cold weather. I don’t like snow, but I like cold weather.

Open your mind

Most of us live a pretty nice life, here in post-Recession America, right? You know this because the first thing people say when they see you, this week at least, is something along the lines of “Cold out, isn’t it?”

They say it without irony. They say it with humor. They can do that because this less-than-zero kind of temperature is only a blip on their day’s timeline as they pass between their vehicle and their job, or maybe between their vehicle and their grocery store.

Maybe Thanksgiving was already a couple of weeks ago, and maybe we’re smack dab in the middle of Consumas, but when the air outside is cold enough to freeze your lungs from breathing, maybe it’s time to appreciate how lucky most of us are in postRecession America.

Most of us did nothing to deserve this life of luxury we lead, but all of us use the sweat off others’ brows to enhance these blessings that we have. We didn’t build the roads that takes us to the shopping centers to buy the foods that were harvested by migrant workers and the clothing that was assembled by child laborers in Third World countries. All the same, it’s easy to forget even those little gadgets you’re buying for people you love have a creepy provenance.

Anyway, we’re not trying to bum you out about the season. We know that even for the most selfish of us— except for those moments when the wrong cellular phone was gifted—holidays are really about the time you spend with friends and family. Really. We believe that.

What we are trying to do, though, is to get you outside of your own head, to help you realize that there are people who are living with none of your bounty. Not your fault, and in too goddamned many cases, not their fault either. Too many of them lost their connections to polite society through things like the time they devoted to serving their country in wartime, or lost their living arrangements due to a family member’s sickness, loss of employment or mental illness.

We’re asking you to revel in your own bounty and to revel in your own humanity. Who among us—the lucky ones—doesn’t have an extra warm coat that wouldn’t do more for our culture hanging on the back of a homeless human than in our extra coat storage closet? Many of us have warm socks, and some of us have entire drawers filled with gloves. Many of us also have coats that our own children outgrew last year or the year before. Many of us have extra sleeping bags especially designed for sub-zero temperatures that we intended to use on that second winter backpacking trip that we never took.

Now, we all know the traditional ways of donating these types of items. There are all kinds of charities and churches that will accept them.

But why don’t you take that humanity you’re just remembering and that appreciation that’s swelling your heart and go out and make a human connection with one of these people who are sleeping outside in our alleyways while we’re gathered around our kitchens, drinking spiced tea and enjoying our bounty? It’s not hard—you can find them down on Record Street about dinner time. Randy Webster

Tax preparer I’m looking forward to summer. I prefer the warm weather. Driving’s easier, and I prefer the outdoor concerts in Carson City.

Jody Lammeo

Insurance agent It’s nice. It’s a nice little switch. It’s good for the businesses—ski resorts and that sort of thing.

Amy Landon

Office manager I do not prefer the snow. I’m not really enjoying it. I don’t like driving to work in the winter, and I don’t like being cold in the winter. Reno hasn’t had bad winters since I’ve been here. Normally, the weather is fairly mild.