This past weekend my artist friend was set to sell her art at a local outdoor market – with tents. The market was cancelled due to rain. But there were tents! And it wasn’t even raining that much!
Rain is to Manitobans as snow is to British Columbians. Vancouverites and Victorians especially get quite a ribbing from the rest of the country when reacting to snow. For those rare occasions on the Wet (deliberate typo) Coast when there is snow, there is no need to go anywhere: work, school, the hospital. The rule when it snows on the West Coast: Don’t go anywhere.
It’s true! The cities practically shut down. I was stuck on the Skytrain (light rail) once for three hours during a snowfall because the falling snow kept triggering the safety stop on the tracks. The wires on Vancouver’s electric buses do not work when ice forms on them. Victoria has one snow plow. See: there is no need to go anywhere during the few days of snow the West Coast receives every year. People from the rest of the country laugh and laugh at BCers’ panic and inability to deal with the snow. Well, it seems that Manitobans have a weakness too – rain.
Yes, that’s right. Rain. I can hear the West Coasters laughing now. Manitobans’ voices drop and their tones become sombre as they state, “I don’t like to drive in the rain.” I drove to the mall the other day in the rain and felt that 80% of my fellow drivers were 14-year-olds who just stole daddy’s car. It was insane. I returned home as soon as I could and postponed the remainder of my errands for after the rain let up. I became one of them: a Manitoban who fears rain.
Why Winnipeg 