In "Why do so many people die shovelling snow?", Jo Jolly reports that around 100 people in the US die shovelling every winter and the reasons are that the shovelling snow raises blood pressure and heart rates; that cold air constricts blood vessels; that cardiac risk are higher in early moring, advising people over the age 55 not to do it (2014).
I was shocked at Jolly's article that there are people who die from shovelling snow. I hae never thought the work is hard enough to kill people. After seeing attached picture to the article, I came to understand the scale of the accumulated snow amouts in the US. It could be a cause of dying. The snowbank's height looks like almost one meter. If people were isolated in the house by snow, they have to make a way to get outside.
When I was a child, my brother and I went around our neighbors to find snowbanks having no way to a house gate to shovel them because we thought it was an exciting job to show our power. The average anual snowfall of Seoul, my hometown, is usually not over 30 centimeters in winter, so it was enough for us to clean them. It's one of my favorite memories about my childhood. By effects of increasing selfish life styles, people didn't want to shovel snow of other places excluding snow in the front of their houses. Some people didn't clean snow even in the front of their houses. So, we came to have a law restirction which imposes fines on people who don't shovel snow in the front of their houses.
The sadder thing is that nowadays children in Korea cannot enjoy snow because of air pollution of China. It is polluting snow and rain, so we are cautioned not to be exposed to snow or rain. Korean moms always warn their children not to touch snow. We might find a contradiction of the phrase 'as pure as the driven snow' in the near future. The industrial development of humans are making harm to humans. What do we have to give up for our convenience?
One of good things in my Bangkok like is that I can get rain on my head without any worry. I miss a clean heavy shower now.
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I really enjoyed Katie's reminiscences of snow in her childhood in Seoul. They reminded me of my own experience with snow in childhood.
ReplyDeleteMy family home is in the northern part of Australia, and although the winters are cold, it's never cold enough for snow, so when I had an opportunity at age ten or so to visit and stay with my aunt and uncle in Canberra in August one year, one of the attractions was the possibility of visiting the nearby snow fields in the mountains. Australia has some great snow skiing fields, and our national capital, where my uncle worked as a civil servant, was nearby.
Well, one chilly morning, we bundled up in warm clothes, piled into the car, and set off for Mount Kosciusko, the highest peak in Australia. After a healthy hike, we made it to the top, and beheld the wondrous snow all around us. It was as beautiful as I had imagined. It was a fun to play in as I had anticipated. But it was also cold, very cold. After an exciting half hour or so, I'd had quite enough of that. And that one experience has lasted me quite well ever since.
My last comment was a bit rushed.
DeleteKatie posted it as I was walking to Chamchuri for my Saturday class, which starts at 8:00. I spotted it at about 7:55 AM and thought I had time to dash off a quick comment, but one idea led to another, which led to another and then it was 7:59 and I shouldn't have been sitting in front of my notebook in the teacher's lounge. I hit publish and dashed off to class.
In future, I'll make sure I have at ten minutes free before I start writing a comment that might grow. Some comments are just one short sentence, a line or two, but you never know until you've done it.
I also enjoyed Katie's post. It was a good moment to recall my childhood memories. I had snowball fights with my friends and also made big snowmen! Oh, it was so much fun.
ReplyDeleteActually, I wasn't really shocked at the article as Katie did because shoveling snow is also a serious problem especially for the old people who live in the northern part of Japan.