I had been on break for two days and so when Tuesday morning came along, it hit me like a rock. I hadn't showered the night before, my hair looked greasy, and I'm sure I did not smell fantastic. I hopped in the shower, made myself look presentable, but by the time I was done, it was already 8:40 (I work at 9:00). It usually takes me only 10 to 15 minutes to get to work, but for some reason, the construction on Elbow Drive was still backing up traffic.
I absolutely hate being late and since for once I did not have my uniform on, I decided to change in the car. I was shirt-less when we passed the road workers and pant-less a little further: I was determined to beat as much time as possible to avoid being even five minutes late. I got to my work's parking lot at 8:54, ran in the mall and ran to the locker rooms in the basement of the store I work at. I stuffed my bags and ran back upstairs: it was nine o'clock on the dot and the first salesperson with a start time of 9 to be there, on time.
I wrote the above paragraph more than a couple weeks ago and it made me think of this morning.
Today was the first heavy snowfall in Calgary (and it's not even Hallowe'en yet...) and believe it or not, traffic was backed up all the way to my apartment...I thought I was leaving earlier than usual but that extra 10 minutes was definitely not going to get me to work on time.
I mean, there's never going to be a good excuse for being late to work. Even snow shouldn't be a good excuse but we often blame weather for our tardiness. It's true: if I really wanted to be on time today, I should of left an hour earlier. But who knows, traffic could have been backed up even then.
Calgarians are ill-prepared when it comes to snowfalls. I bet you that more than half of the driving community did not have their winter tires on yet. I also bet you that nobody really believed it would snow that bad. Every year, it's the same story. Maybe Calgarians are just too optimistic in terms of the weather, thinking "oh, that Chinook will blow it all away sometime soon". Well, guess what, snow's here.
When I got to work, there were a couple people ready to work but I wasn't surprised to see three other persons after my 9:15 arrival (start time was nine) stroll in.
I'm not too sure where this post is going. Perhaps I'm trying to tell myself that the goal for this week is to arrive 10 to 15 minutes early instead of 5 to 10 minutes early.
Anyway, my winter tires are being put into place next Monday. I'll definitely have no excuse then...
