Winter is always a surprise

A few centimetres of snow brings out the best and worst in us.
Neighbours check on the alone and vulnerable, help to get vehicles moving and clear paths.
Most employees get to work even if it means tricky drives, arranging lifts or taking long and slippery walks.Certainly our staff have been exemplary. Only on one day did a few fail to reach the office and they all volunteered to work a full day from home with the aid of email, mobile phones and websites accessed through their personal computers.
Sadly I have heard of staff in other organisations whose idea of “working from home” involves daytime television, video games and shopping.
As you may have noticed, offices may be sparsely populated but the supermarkets have been heaving. There is no need to panic buy food, that only means other people may not be able to buy all they need and more food will end up being thrown away than usual.
However, that has not stopped an edgy few assembling a month’s supply instead of their weekly shop, as if the War Of The Worlds had started, when really it is only a poor Hollywood fantasy starring Tom Cruise.
And the Arctic snap has reminded us of what we already knew – that winter weather always takes the British by surprise.
Philip Welch