What were we supposed...
What were we supposed to do? Grab shovels and dig our way through, searching for bus stops where we"d wait in sub-zero temperatures for public service vehicles with no seatbelts? Or would it have been more acceptable to pay a dollar a minute to ride around in filthy yellow cabs for a week? Alternatively, I could have opted for a simple two-wheel-drive car. But in such tricky conditions, I feared I"d end up down a ditch or in the path of an oncoming truck, so I opted for a 4x4.
My experience, common sense and belief that it"s always a sound idea to have exactly the right tool for the job led me to conclude that a sophisticated all-wheel-drive car would be the safest, most appropriate machine for my needs. Traction at all four corners, anti-lock brakes and a state-of-the-art electronic stability control system would help prevent me from coming off the road, sliding towards another car or, worse still, running out of control and into a pedestrian.
At the very least, the utility vehicle I was using made me feel safer, more confident and less stressed. But at best, and I do not exaggerate here, it helped save my life in the occasionally lethal weather conditions which are not uncommon in this and other parts of the world - even in the spring.
But the day before I headed back home to Blighty, a CNN presenter told me - via the telly in my frost-bitten hotel room - that people who drive 4x4s are "morons". And there was me thinking I behaved in a proper, grown-up way by tackling unforgiving weather and roads in a car designed to cope with such potentially dangerous hazards. Yet here was the presenter of a financial programme informing us that millions of people like me are guilty of moronic behaviour. Words such as "pariahs" and "jerks behind the wheel" were also used on the broadcast, which attempted to portray those who use off-roaders as the scum of the earth.
During one of my final snow-jammed days in the US, I got chatting to a bloke who was heading to an ice hockey game. His wife was sitting next to him in the car, the kids were on the row behind them and a demountable motorhome was safely bolted on to the back. He told me that while it"s a recreational family vehicle at weekends, it lugs him and his work-related materials around in the week. But at the end of the day it was still a 4x4. So is he a moron? Pariah? Jerk? Owner of an obnoxious car? I think not.