Years ago, a snow day meant that workers would have the day off and would return to work when the road conditions improved. Nowadays, employees can work from home (or anywhere they choose) using laptop computers with e-mail and cell phones. People can check in and respond to inquiries like it’s business if as usual. Some e-mail back and forth with their managers throughout the day, just to prove they aren’t slacking off.
Some Atlanta workers complain that technical devices keep them connected on surprise snow days. But others don’t have a choice but to take the day off, like people who work in retail, manufacturing facilities and construction. As some employees dream of having a snow day and escaping the office due to bad weather, some would prefer to be back into the swing of things.
SCAD Atlanta was closed for four days due to the weather and icy road conditions. While the school must take precautions to keep the students safe, many students suffered from severe boredom, while others made the most of it and enjoyed themselves.
I spoke to a few SCAD Atlanta students to see how they spent their unexpected, yet welcomed days in the snow. Olivia Hargrove, a third year fashion marketing student spent time with her family. “I made a snowman and a couple of snow angels with my 2-year-old nephew. I also took him on a 4-wheeler ride through the snowy woods.”
Second year television production student Amanda Marrow had a different experience. “The first night it was a lot of fun,” she began. “There were a ton of students in the parking lot playing in [the snow]. But the longer it lasted the more irritated I got with being stuck inside.” Many of us could relate to that trapped feeling.
Marrow continued, “I’ve just been completing all the assignments I can, trying to stay busy.”
Is having an unexpected snow day a good thing or a bad thing? Even though people who worked from home complained about missing out on the gift of a snow day, I’m sure they still welcomed the flexibility of sleeping in a few extra minutes, or lounging on the couch while checking their e-mail.
The rest of us had no other choice but to sit on the couch, watch twenty episodes of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and eat nothing but saltines with peanut butter because the supermarket was closed due to the weather.
But those interconnected employees were probably thankful that they could work remotely since they got some much done. Once work started back up the rest of us weren’t snowed in, but snowed under with double the amount of work to be completed!
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Snowpocalypse 2011
