Storm brings out (mostly) best in area residents

It's a good day to find out how people really are.

One resident helped a dig out a couple of neighbors' cars only to find them gone when his own car got stuck.

Others are suggesting the city get more aggressive about towing cars off of snow routes -- did anyone really know it wasn't going to snow? When drivers do get out on the treacherous street, is it really too much to ask to put down the cell phone?

Still others insist on pushing snow into the streets, despite repeated admonitions from the city not to do so. The same rebels insist they'll stop messing up the street when the city stops plowing their driveways shut.

Some stores are closed, and those who have to work grumbled that they couldn't buy what they needed this morning.

Dogs refused to go outdoors to do their business, so owners resorted to scooping paths and "potty" spots for their pets.

Nothing is easy when there's a foot of new snow on the ground and you have somewhere to be.

Ahh, the joys of winter.

Still, anyone who keeps an eye on the rain gauge knows we need all the precipitation we can get, in whatever form. We've had a relatively dry winter -- one early storm and now this one -- and six feet of snow wouldn't be enough to make up the shortfall.

And, for every rude driver and inconsiderate neighbor, there seem to be a dozen who will go out of the way to help someone in need, whether pushing a car away from the curb, shoveling a walk or running an errand in a four-wheel drive.

Adversity like today's snowstorm makes us glad we're living in a friendly community like McCook in Southwest Nebraska -- and more willing to do what we can to make it stay that way.