In February of 2011, Chicago experienced a massive blizzard. During the peak of of this record-breaking blizzard, two friends and I had the brilliant idea of going for a drive. My one friend owned a 4 wheel drive Jeep, and we arrogantly thought we would be fine. Needless to say, we were wrong,  and we got stuck pretty badly. But after an hour or so of pushing in the below zero temperature, the car miraculously budged from the snow bank. In a moment of bliss, we quickly jumped in and inched our way towards safety. On the way home, we passed many cars that were not so fortunate. Yet the conditions were so horrible that we could not stop. Stopping would pretty much guarantee that we would get stuck again. 

On our way home, as we passed dozens of cars in ditches, I wondered what uncomfortable situations awaited the people in those cars. I imagined that a family with crying children occupied the first car. I imagined that a married couple with a rocky relationship occupied the next car (maybe this extended alone time was a foreign concept to them?). I imagined the next car contained a 16 year old guy taking a girl on their first date (maybe he knew the weather conditions in advance)? 

Upon arriving at my friend's house, I realized that we dodged a rather uncomfortable bullet. If we were not able to get his Jeep out of that ditch, our night of comfort would have been traded for bitter cold, empty stomachs and a likelihood of being trapped in the snow for at least 24 hours (as many people were). Even worse, there was only one small blanket for 3 grown men...

Listening to the wind whistle fiercely outside, we had never appreciated the warmth and comforts of home so much. We threw a couple of pizzas in the oven, cracked open a few cold drinks, and cycled between playing Madden football and watching Netflix movies. These newly appreciated comforts, along with the knowledge that my work was definitely going to be cancelled the next day, gave me a short, unexpected glimpse of heaven.

It is a horrible tragedy that KC Chiefs football player Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend and then himself with a gun. It seems that this tragedy is igniting the old debate about gun laws. For example, Jason Whitlock, a Fox Sports columnist, referred to the NRA as the new KKK (link). Also, Piers Morgan is attacking gun laws on his Twitter: