"Helicopters search for stranded Southern drivers"--Washington Post

Earlier this week, I was reading in The Washington Post about the huge snow storm in Georgia and Alabama. As I read through the article, I came across this: 

"If there was a bright spot in the epic gridlock, it was the Southern-style graciousness. Strangers opened up their homes and volunteers served coffee and snacks to the traffic-bound.

"Debbie Hartwig, a waitress at an Atlanta-area Waffle House, said she managed to keep her cool thanks in part to the kindness of strangers after 10 hours on the road.

"'I’m calm,' she said. 'That’s all you can be. People are helping each other out, people are moving cars that have spun out or had become disabled. It’s been really nice. I even saw people passing out hot coffee and granola bars.'

"Stephanie Reynolds, a second-grade teacher, spent the night with about 10 students and two dozen co-workers at Meadow View Elementary School in Alabaster, Ala. Many of the children’s parents were stuck in cars in roadways and unable to pick up their kids, she said.

"Reynolds comforted crying children, played games and did lesson plans for two weeks. A dance party helped fill up a few minutes, and the children ate pizza for dinner and biscuits and gravy for breakfast.

"'The students have been here so long: all day yesterday, overnight and now,' Reynolds said. 'I’m going on no sleep right now. I didn’t even try. I figured since I was here I might as well be productive.'

"Heroes also had their day. Police in suburban Atlanta say one of their own helped assist the safe delivery of a baby girl on a gridlocked interstate Tuesday afternoon after snow and ice brought traffic to a crawl."

It made me happy that people had reached out to help each other when they were in such challenging circumstances. It also made me happy that this was included in the news article about the storm. 

You can read the complete article here.