Stranded in England Because of Snow

Do you know that the emergency authorities in England have asked people not to call 911 in an emergency? Why--have they turned to delivering pizzas now?

Sorry, everyone, England's out of grit (salt for de-snowing/freezing the roads) again...or still, I don't know.

I'm still here in Petersfield, England. I was supposed to be back in Malta today, but we got stuck in the driveway, attempting to drive one hour to the beloved Heathrow in London. I had to rebook my my flight---for an additional 60 Euros-for Friday-and now that's even questionable.

These English with the snow-We "walked" downtown today and I felt like smacking every snow-grinning Englishman/woman and kid with a shovel that no one was using to remove the snow from the streets. At least, it would be put to some good use that way.

There were no trains, no newspapers today, no banks open. For G-d Sakes, in the US they open banks even after they close them down.

Supposedly, shopkeepers are taking to the streets in Petersfield because the city is doing nothing to clean up the snow which is now turning to ice.

Mr.S., who is from Germany, has turned back to bad habits. After having lived in Malta, he was beginning to ease up on some of his more difficult German cultural reactions. Malta was, fortunately, changing him. But now that we're not in Malta and we're snowed in and I missed a flight, he is now timing my breathing.

But tomorrow is another day.

Ilene Springer lives in Malta and hopes to return there soon--and is author of An-American-in-Malta.com.