A white Christmas

Imagine the pleasant surprise I received while strolling through Barnes and Noble in Georgetown, when I received an emergency text message from the World Bank informing me that the offices were closed since the local government has declared Monday a holiday. Wow! Now it really feels like I am in a third world country

Every year, Americans yearn for a white Christmas — often not knowing what happens in the aftermath of the snow that makes a Christmas white! Well, this year, we had a rude awakening in the northeastern part of the US. Most parts of the region received over 12 inches of snow! A good five days after the blizzard dumped this tremendous amount of snow, the landscape in many parts of the northeast is still white. It may not have snowed on Christmas Day, but it certainly does not mean we did not have a white Christmas!

The snow started falling late Friday night and continued — unabated — for nearly 24 straight hours. The view outside my window changed in a short span of time. Tall, slender dark brown trees had their naked bark shrouded in white snow, almost giving them a touch of majesty. Rock Creek Parkway, which snakes through most of northwest Washington DC, was simply no longer visible! I stepped outside to brave the cold breeze and slushy snow, and encountered an odd, yet serene silence. Whoever said silence does not speak volumes must have been deaf.

Once outside, I found myself stranded as the local government cancelled all bus service and even metro rail service for stations that were above the ground. Even the one group of people that could take advantage of this situation — taxi drivers — was hardly seen! Alas, I finally made peace with the reality I could not bring myself to face earlier, that I would just have to wait it out till the weather got better.

Indeed, the weather did get better, but only to deceive us once again as temperatures plunged to several degrees below freezing. By early evening, the chill in the air gave forewarning to those still outside: find shelter, lest you slip, trip or flip on the ice! This, of course, did not hinder me from my outdoor activities. In fact, it only emboldened a friend and I, who had emerged from our dwellings to do some much-needed holiday shopping! It should come as no surprise that over that weekend, online sales spiked 22 percent compared to the same weekend last year. Of course, the bad weather hindered a lot of shoppers, leaving them no option but to make their purchases over the internet.

Imagine the pleasant surprise I received while strolling through Barnes and Noble in Georgetown, when I received an emergency text message from the World Bank informing me that the offices were closed since the local government has declared Monday a holiday. Wow! Now it really feels like I am in a third world country. Jokes aside, can someone please tell me why most major DC roadways were still not clear Tuesday morning? This has got to be part of some conspiracy hatched by the enemies of the US. It reminded me of the day two years ago when New York City received so much rain, the subway system could not expel the water fast enough, so the trains simply could not operate! If I ever see organised chaos again, I will be reminded of that fateful day.

Alas, after all the drama was over with the blizzard, I basked in the glory of a two-day work week and thought of doing something I have been putting off for several weeks now. One has to live in the US to understand what I am referring to, but I will describe it as best as possible. Every winter, beginning around Thanksgiving (mid-to-late November), radio and TV stations across North America broadcast songs that are best described as “holiday songs”. Traditionally, these songs were Christmas carols, but broadly speaking, any song that has a reference to the winter season. As you might imagine, one can think of hundreds of songs! Off the top of my head, I can think of at least a few of the more popular ones, like ‘All I want for Christmas is you’, ‘Baby it’s cold outside’, ‘Jingle bells’ and countless others.

Well, now that I finally have the time, I have figured a good way to put it to positive use is to finally create a playlist or CD of my top favourites. One of the best parts of the holiday season is listening to these songs at holiday parties or while at home in the evenings when Christmas specials are telecast. I am not about to let this opportunity slip past me — unless of course, the pile of DVDs I have been meaning to watch entices me away from this very crucial task.

When all is said and done, I will miss Christmas upon returning to the office in a few days; the music, the shopping, the festive ambience. It is enough to make one nostalgic, but more importantly, enough to make one value the things that really matter in life: family and friends. Many of us will be spending this holiday alone, but knowing that we are celebrating life and good health in our respective corners of the world and praying for those who have neither.

Zeeshan Suhail is a consultant with the World Bank in Washington DC and a board member of Americans for Informed Democracy (AID). He can be reached at zeeshan@aidemocracy.org