Normally I have always liked the winter season. I'm a person
who enjoys all four seasons. I may not ski or ice skate during wintertime, but
I've never been particularly bothered by the cold or even snow, as long as it's
possible to get out and walk, and as long as the temperatures hover around
freezing. Neither have been the case this year.
I have disliked every minute of winter this year, especially during January and February. In December we are
distracted by Christmas, thankfully. I am neither handicapped nor am I elderly.
I can normally get around with no problems, and a little bit of snow on the
sidewalks does not usually bother me. It’s when the sidewalks are sheets of
ice, no matter where you turn, that my dislike turns to anathema. I've written
about the build-up of ice and snow in Oslo during wintertime in previous posts
during the past decade: A
New Yorker in Oslo: Slipping and sliding away (paulamdeangelis.blogspot.com); A
New Yorker in Oslo: The sidewalks of Oslo in winter
(paulamdeangelis.blogspot.com); A
New Yorker in Oslo: Clear bike lanes and icy sidewalks in Oslo
(paulamdeangelis.blogspot.com); A
New Yorker in Oslo: Why isn’t it possible to shovel sidewalks in this city
during the winter? (paulamdeangelis.blogspot.com).
The sad thing is that the situation hasn't changed much in the past ten years. Sidewalks are sheets of ice, some of the roads likewise. We're told to buy shoes/boots with spikes in order to walk on the icy sidewalks, which I find infuriating. These shoes are expensive and are often sold-out. They are also annoying to wear, as sometimes the spikes get stuck in the ice (meaning your foot gets stuck). I and many others have chosen to walk in the (for the most part, ploughed) streets rather than use the sidewalks. The emergency rooms are filled with people, young and old, who have broken bones from falling on the ice. Actually, I'm guessing it's mostly young and middle-aged people who have broken bones, because elderly and handicapped people are just plain trapped in their homes during wintertime. They don’t get out, and how they stand it, I don't know. I find it appalling that more people don't react, don't get angry, and don’t criticize the city government for failing to do the job they should be doing. You can find all these kinds of criticisms on social media post, where people vent and rant and rave, but the regular media--newspapers and tv--just seem to ignore the problem. We're constantly told that this is a winter country and that we should be used to snow and ice. Yes, that is true. And so what? If this is a winter country, that means that Oslo should know how to get rid of snow and ice on sidewalks. It doesn’t mean that the city has a free pass to ignore shoveling, salting, and setting out gravel. There is so much passing the buck in this city. The city government has a budget; that much I understand. But this is not your proverbial small town; this is a big city. People of all ages and people with special needs, need to get out to shop, go to doctors’ appointments, go to work, etc. Someone has to take responsibility. Yes, snow removal, salting and spreading gravel cost money. Perhaps more than what was budgeted. So what? Spend it. But they can’t, because they’ve already used up much of the budget to keep the bicycle lanes clear, so that the very few younger people who bike all winter long can do so without problems. God forbid they should slip and injure themselves. This is typical of the Green Party thinking that permeates this city. The main focus is on eliminating all dangerous emissions from fossil-fuel vehicles. That means riding bicycles year-round. Additionally, they've become obsessed with electric everything--cars, buses, scooters, etc, all of which function properly in the spring and summer months. But not during the winter months. Come wintertime, the bitter cold destroys the proper functioning of the batteries. So buses come to a halt. Trams and trains, which are electrified, have always had problems. Frankly, I used to care about climate change, but it’s no longer a main priority. I just care about having a functioning city during the wintertime, a city where people of all ages and with special needs can get out and walk, shop, take public transportation that actually functions, and use their cars if necessary. In other words, escape their winter prisons that have been foisted upon them by this city.
