We're enjoying or enduring our harshest winter since 1982, and the critics are having a field day. Why can't Britain cope with a bit of snow? Why do our continental cousins do things so much better? Why didn't our councils grit the roads?
It's easy to cheer the critics. But life isn't so simple. Few of us have any idea of how challenging it is to beat the weather. We don't know what it takes to keep roads, rails and runways clear. And we can't even tell if a road has been gritted. Our neighbour complained that a local side road hadn't been treated - but we thought it had.
The photo above shows Buckinghamshire County Council workers treating a steep hill and replenishing a roadside grit bin in Chalfont St Giles. These workers will have been out in all hours, helping us keep moving. They earn a pittance, yet their reward will have been abuse from regulars in their local pub about their failure to clear every minor road.
We should be praising them.
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