Archived Texas Icy Weather...

[Vortexas]

Half the shift calls in before the Sleet hit, and the ice was even on the ground.

9/10th of them call in the day after.

This is to anyone who might be working Overnight Flow, and joined the frenzy of call ins. I hate you, and you can shelf your own stock when you come in. Going to be taking my sweet time on my aisle the next full shift day.

Yep.

 

[looseseal]

That's a little harsh. There aren't many things worth putting yourself in danger for, and Target certainly isn't one of them. Did you want a trophy or something?

 

[bigtex]

i knew as soon as I got to target yesterday I should have stayed home. and I was right. the store was slow. the customers were putting themselves and their children in danger to come out and buy beer and stocking stuffers. not what I want to put my life in danger for. when I left the ENTIRE PARKING LOT was a sheet of ice. it is a miracle my car didnt slide through the front of the building. the store should have made it optional to come in or just shut down. I enjoy my job but i do not get paid enough to drive over sheets of ice to come serve ungrateful rednecks.

 

[sher]

Driving on ice is kinda, sorta, somewhat dangerous. You don't have to do extra work... do what you can. No one's gonna expect you to finish a job that a bunch of people would do, normally.

 

[oath2order]

Driving on ice is dangerous enough. Now, from what I heard from my coworker from Texas, you all don't get ice too often. I can imagine that the roads must be a nightmare to drive on.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Be careful. Always call in before you leave.

 

[Backroom81]

Driving on ice is dangerous enough. Now, from what I heard from my coworker from Texas, you all don't get ice too often. I can imagine that the roads must be a nightmare to drive on.

The roads aren't really hard to drive on at all. The danger comes from the fact that most people here think the best way to drive on ice is to bunch up in groups doing 10 mph and slam on their brakes at the slightest hint of skidding.

 

[daninnj]

We had anywhere to 5 to 8 inches of snow in our area today. I drove 25 miles in the brunt of it (not even windy). Took 3 hours on major highways where it usually takes 45 minutes. Skidded maybe 5 times and averted crashing by not braking. I don't get why people break when they have low traction.

I hate when trucks or SUVs get on your ass. Not every vehicle drives like your's!!

 

[TeamRed]

That's the one thing that kills me about Target... They never shut down for anything. I remember one year it was a blizzard almost stores were closing all over the place schools were closed and yet Target was still open of course. I was the operator and people called me and said are you open?? Yep....... It was non-stop..... We had so many call offs and many people still came in despite it was very treacherous out and like I said we were the only store open besides like a grocery store and maybe some gas stations. Crazy...... I bet Target would be open if there was a hurricane or earthquakes can't lose that dollar!

 

[sher]

Probably depends on the hurricane. I wasn't working there at the time, but I'm 98% sure they were open for Irene, which was nowhere near as bad as Sandy, so that's not really saying anything haha.

 

[commiecorvus]

We had a major ice storm one year and I rode my bike to work because I grew up doing that kind of thing.
Then I had to wait at the store for two hours for the first person to get there because everyone was running late.

I could have gone home but there were more cars on the road by that time and while I wasn't worried about my skills I was sure worried about theirs.
Why don't people know that if you find yourself in a skid you shouldn't use the brakes and should turn with the skid?
I don't drive and I know that.

 

[XploitedFlow]

Not getting killed for 9 / hr, sorry Target.

6-8 inches of snow yesterday and an ice storm overnight. Dug out my car at 230AM. They closed down the on ramp so I would have to take these shady iced over back roads to get onto the highway. Nope.

Live in a pretty busy area, nobody is on the road right now do Im not the only one.

 

[buliSBI]

On one cold winters night with the forecast then turning freezing rain to the rural areas, the LOD at my best store got everyone in a huddle and said if anyone lives out in the county to leave now. He didn't want anyone in an accident. We worked on a skeleton for the rest of the night, and left the store at closing as is.

Next morning, the Flow team was about 25% capacity.

 

[GlobalJ]

I've lived in the country my whole life and am in an area where were are used to harsh winter weather, so I'm used to driving in the snow and what not. Ice still makes me uneasy but you just have to take it easy and not drive like an idiot and you'll be fine. Your job is not worth risking your life for. Ever.

 

[mrknownothing]

Why don't people know that if you find yourself in a skid you shouldn't use the brakes and should turn with the skid?
I don't drive and I know that.

The one time I've skidded, I tried that. I must've overcompensated though because I then skidded in the other direction. My car kept going back and forth until I eventually slid off the road. My car was fine, but it was one of the scariest experiences of my life.

 

[sher]

Umm... soooo, how's the snow/ice clean-up going down there? Apparently Motorola's factory is in Texas lol... so my phone didn't ship when it was supposed to.

 

[commiecorvus]

Why don't people know that if you find yourself in a skid you shouldn't use the brakes and should turn with the skid?
I don't drive and I know that.

The one time I've skidded, I tried that. I must've overcompensated though because I then skidded in the other direction. My car kept going back and forth until I eventually slid off the road. My car was fine, but it was one of the scariest experiences of my life.

Sorry to hear that.
I've just been lucky to grow up with snow and ice all my life and ride with people who took it for granted.

Once when I was a kid my mom was driving our pickup on a very thin mountain road that had a rock face on one side and a 40' drop (no guardrail) on the other.
She hit a patch of black ice and the truck spun out, heading towards the edge of the cliff.
This was pre-seatbelts so she stuck her arm out to keep me and my two brothers in place, stomped on the gas, twisted the wheel, whipped the truck completely around and started back down the mountain.
"I guess we don't want to go that way after all." she said.

 

[mrknownothing]

Why don't people know that if you find yourself in a skid you shouldn't use the brakes and should turn with the skid?
I don't drive and I know that.

The one time I've skidded, I tried that. I must've overcompensated though because I then skidded in the other direction. My car kept going back and forth until I eventually slid off the road. My car was fine, but it was one of the scariest experiences of my life.

Sorry to hear that.
I've just been lucky to grow up with snow and ice all my life and ride with people who took it for granted.

Once when I was a kid my mom was driving out pickup on a very thin mountain road that had a rock face on one side and a 40' drop on the other.
She hit a patch of black ice and the truck spun out, heading towards the edge of the cliff.
This was pre-seatbelts so she stuck her arm out to keep me and my two brothers in place, stomped on the gas, twisted the wheel, whipped the truck completely around and started back down the mountain.
"I guess we don't want to go that way after all." she said.

Wow. I can't imagine ever doing that.

I forgot to mention that the road I slid off of was a downward ramp onto the interstate. My car landed on the driving lanes of the highway, so I was lucky nobody was coming. This was the first winter after I got my license; needless to say, it scared the hell out of me.

 

[redeye58]

Northerners get snow & ice regularly so they have experience driving in such conditions according to my BFF who grew up in Michigan.
Texas seldom sees that kind of weather so many don't know how to drive in it or when it's best to simply stay home.

 

[daninnj]

I can see why people tend to brake while skidding; braking stops the car in other situations; why shouldn't it stop when one is skidding? It's something that either needs to be taught to people or one has to sit and think about it for a while. Remember, the same people who drive on the roads are the dimwits that can't find the exit they came into when they shop at our stores.

On my way home, saw a lone SUV crashed into tree on one of the most dangerous roads in the area. It's through a park, curvy, and the speed limit is 25 but it's built like a small expressway and people go 50 on it. I mean I do drive that high on it sometimes (If you go 25, you're not going with the flow of traffic which makes it as dangerous) but when the roads are shiny with ice and someone wants to go 50, they are risking their life. (Giving away my location, but this was almost the same spot Teddy Pendergrass got into an accident)

 

[Snookie]

I've only called out once due to weather, and that was when a blizzard dumped two feed of snow on our street that didn't get cleared out till the next day. Most days, I just give myself extra time to get to work...I live fairly close and drive by several schools so the streets I take are usually prioritized. At most, a bad snow day would just make me late due to being unable to get out of my own street (which is always LAST on the list to plow) or because I had to drive super slow.

But yeah, if it were freezing rain or something really dangerous, I wouldn't go in until it was safe to drive and nobody at work would blame me. When the blizzard hit, I want to say 90% of the store called out (at least that morning). The few souls that did make it in, got to sit in Starbucks all day and chat because there weren't any guests, lol!

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Hey, I did that! Sit in Starbucks. After I got the gstl in to spot.

 

[StackerMistress]

We had icy rain that froze into sheets of ice today. Severe weather watch, it is recommended not to drive. I broke three scrapers trying to get centimeter-thick ice off my car. 20 minutes spent and I didn't even finish the passenger side window. Called in pretty quick saying I would be late. Called in half an hour later saying that I would not be able to get to work safely. Got a huge guilt trip from the STL (yes, I'm sure you need me, you need me every day, 24 hours a day, I get it)... "can't you just use your defrost?" We have people here who ran their cars for an hour and it didn't clear the ice. I don't have heat in my car. I'm sure she has a nice heated garage and didn't have to deal with this shit today, but not all of us have that luxury.

If my car slides off the road into a ditch and is totaled and/or I am seriously injured trying to get to work in this, she could still really use me at work, I'm sure. It's not worth it. The backstock will still be there tomorrow.

 

[commiecorvus]

We had icy rain that froze into sheets of ice today. Severe weather watch, it is recommended not to drive. I broke three scrapers trying to get centimeter-thick ice off my car. 20 minutes spent and I didn't even finish the passenger side window. Called in pretty quick saying I would be late. Called in half an hour later saying that I would not be able to get to work safely. Got a huge guilt trip from the STL (yes, I'm sure you need me, you need me every day, 24 hours a day, I get it)... "can't you just use your defrost?" We have people here who ran their cars for an hour and it didn't clear the ice. I don't have heat in my car. I'm sure she has a nice heated garage and didn't have to deal with this shit today, but not all of us have that luxury.

If my car slides off the road into a ditch and is totaled and/or I am seriously injured trying to get to work in this, she could still really use me at work, I'm sure. It's not worth it. The backstock will still be there tomorrow.

Actually sliding off the road is probably the least of your worries if you are a halfway decent driver.
It's the morons on the road that you have to deal with that will kill you.
I'm glad that you didn't let the ETL guilt you into going in, stay safe.

 

[StackerMistress]

Very true. I live in a state where inclement weather is the norm for winter, and everyone with anything larger than a sedan thinks they can just drive like normal when it's icy or there's a blizzard. Meanwhile, I have a very not winter-safe car (and can't afford anything better, obviously). I consider myself a good driver, and part of that means knowing when it's not a good idea to drive!