I'm incredibly lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you view it!) and I live locally to Swanwick. I simply put on my big boots and walk to walk.
I just wanted to add my thanks and pride in my colleagues around who have made significant efforts in very difficult conditions to get in to work and provide an excellent service to all our customers who were having to deal with the effects of the snow as well. Our first morning was full of diversions with airports gradually becoming more and more full, and the traffic flows have been unusual and at times unpredictable. Everyone has worked together really well to make the best of a bad situation.
I'm proud to work with you all. You show great spirit and professionalism and remind me what I really like about this job.
AS my name suggests, I'm from a place where this happens more frequently, and people just get on with their lives; in all honesty the south really does seem less able to cope with it, probably just because it doesn't have to very often. It still makes me smile, but it doesn't lessen the effort people have made to keep things going.
Sending the non-essential staff home was a sensible thing to do in the conditions at the time; after all, if they had got stuck that would have been more people to have to look after, find places to stay for, and feed; however galling that may appear to those of us who are essential. Their work will still remain to be done when they return; if we'd run out of staff in the ops room we would have had to stop traffic and would have done... The leave issue is a sensitive one; I understand the reasons behind it but feel that there are better ways to handle it. Hopefully that is being thought about at the moment.
Just try to remember that everyone was thinking on the hop; Management realise that they need to be better prepared for situations like this now and will hopefully learn from the experience.
In the meantime, huge thanks and congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard to keep things going.
Drive safe now!
Cheers,
Northerner
"Keep smiling, it makes people wonder what you're up to...."