And to the other posts about 'empathy':
While I would never make fun of people in this position, let me just say that as a lifetime Midwesterner, I've put up with a lifetime of comments from people from warmer areas. Such "clever" comments in mid-winter as
"Oh, we aren't getting any snow here!", or
"Cold enough for you?", "Oh, poor babies, we're going to the beach today", "What's a 'snow-plow'?", "Every day is like paradise here". And yes, these comments have come in even during weather emergencies,
when people were dying in weather related events.
And then the especially condescending:
"Why would anyone live where you do?". As if we are a bunch of dumb hicks who never had a geography lesson, and don't know there are areas of the country that don't have cold winters. Gimme a break.
So while I maintain empathy for these people, excuse me if the edges have been worn down a bit by a lifetime of ignorant comments from some (quite a few actually, maybe even a majority of) people from these areas. And they expect that to all be forgotten when their little slice of heaven experiences some problems, and now it's all about them. We all make choices, we all need to live with the consequences, good and bad. Sorry.
(Now get off my lawn!)
-ERD50