(The sign said originally "Road works closed to the public"-Chantier interdit au public- but some nihilist soul transformed it into "Happiness and opportunities denied to the public"-Chance interdite au public)
It's snowing here in Paris! It hasn't happened in years. In France we react to snow in a way that amuses my now American sister: "What, a couple of inches and you can't deal?"
No, we can't. As soon as the smallest flake arrives, salt trucks arrive. Accidents multiply. People complain. (Well, even more than usual). I'm sitting in the library, looking at the snow from the window. I love watching it. I remember when someone first told me that each snowflake is different. I didn't believe them. I went to look it up and then I tried to examine flakes under my father's big lense, but they always melted too fast.
In America, I learned the expression "Special Snowflake". At first I thought it was redundant, since every snowflake is special, then I realized it was an insult. I think it's a very poetic insult.
And the worse of it is I do think everyone is a Special Snowflake. I don't mean that anyone deserves special treatment, but that we are all different. We may behave in predictable patterns, but then so does snow. And to me snowflakes are so poignant in their sad descent, their perfection beyond my grasp or my lense. I know that many wonderful people cross my path too briefly for me to know just how special they are, and all the alternative lives I could live are as short-lived as a handful of snow.
So I'm reclaiming the expression. It sounds like an endearment to me.
"Come here, my Special Snowflake!"
I'd heard on the radio yesterday that it had snowed there. You were the first person I thought of, and that you'd probably write a post about it! I love how people who don't regularly get snow tend to romanticize it. Not the case here.
RépondreSupprimerBut I do like your concept of the Special Snowflake!
We Tennesseans react to snow much like you Parisians. The threat of a "wintery mix" leads to chaos on the roads and in the supermarkets. It's as if we're all going to be snowed in thus we must buy all of the milk and toilet paper that we can find. Then we get a few flurries and everyone feels silly.
RépondreSupprimerCool post. From the nihlists to the "special snowflakes."