Should you jump out of your window into the snow?
No. You shouldn't. As tempting as it may be to throw yourself out the window into what you think is going to be several feet of soft, fluffy snow, Boston's mayor reminds us that doing so is definitely a bad idea.
A park bench statue of former Boston Mayor James Michael Curley is covered in almost six feet of snow in Boston, Tuesday, Feb. 17. The unrelenting weather, which has stalled the city's transit systems and caused record spending on snow removal, has some Bostonians literally jumping out of their windows.
Charles Krupa/AP Photo
Boston has officially snapped.
After four major snowstorms dumped about 8 feet of snow on the city in just over a month, residents have decided they’ve had it – and have started jumping out of their windows.
No, really.
Participants of what has been dubbed the #BostonBlizzardChallenge on social media have called on others to join them in stripping down to their drawers and leaping out of windows onto nearby, giant snowbanks.
While the “knucklehead Bostonians” doing the jumping seemed pretty psyched about their decision, Boston mayor Martin J. Walsh was not amused.
“I’m asking people to stop their nonsense right now. These are adults jumping out windows,” the Boston Herald reported him saying at a Monday press conference on the city’s snow removal efforts.
“It’s a foolish thing to do and you could kill yourself,” Mr. Walsh added.
He’s not wrong. Apart from the obvious dangers of running around in underpants in subzero weather, there’s the added peril of landing on snow-covered metal objects such as cars, parking meters, and fire hydrants.
Which brings us to the subject of safer alternatives for getting through several weeks of unrelenting snow. Here are three ideas:
Join the #HydrantChallenge instead
Bostonians aren’t all about pointless acts of foolishness – sometimes they think about sports, too.
Local businesses Only In Boston and The Boston Calendar have teamed up to give out Red Sox tickets to any resident who manages to excavate at least five hydrants in the city before 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 18, the New England Cable News reported.
Fire departments in other towns in the state, such as Natick and Brookline, have picked up on the #HydrantChallenge, promising T-shirts and dinner with local firefighters to anyone who can help unearth hidden hydrants.
Get into roof repair
One business that bustles under 70 inches of snow is roofing: The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said it received 74 reports of roof collapses across the eastern part of the state just since Feb. 9, according to The Associated Press.
A Brockton car dealership, North Attleborough High School, a Big Kmart in Braintree, and a Burlington Coat Factory in Revere were among the damaged structures.
One collapse at a Piano Mill in Rockland nearly damaged a rhinestone-studded Liberace piano valued at $500,000 – but, thankfully, each of its 88,888 stones remained intact, according to My Fox Boston.
Raise some funds for the snowbound
Fun fact: While this winter’s total snowfall is only the second highest in Boston’s history (after the winter of 1995-1996), the city has already broken its own record for amount spent on snow and ice removal, Boston.com reported.
Mayor Walsh said that the city has spent about $35 million on snow removal, almost double the allotted $18.5 million budget. It also blows the previous record of $22 million – set in 2005 – out of the water.
“Keep in mind,” Boston.com’s Eric Levenson wrote, “we’re still in mid-February.”
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like anyone in the Northeast is apt to forget it.