Is "Snow Emergency" Legally Valid?

We're in the grip of our first snow emergency of the 2013-2014 winter. Winter Storm Cleon. With Dion already following closely.

Now, this isn't about what makes a snow emergency in any specific place. Minnesota and North Dakota would probably laugh at what Cincinnati calls an emergency.Maybe even at what they would call a significant snowfall.

But, the fact is, Cincinnati communities are calling snow emergencies of various levels.

Big whooping deal. It means, for the most part, that communities can write tickets and write off damage to cars parked on the streets.

They say not to go out unless absolutely necessary.
But who decides what is necessary?

I can tell you who does NOT decide.
Service industry workers. They have to go to work or lose their jobs.
The owners of various businesses don't care much if the police say don't go out.
The police don't care much, either. If you are driving slowly and carefully, they aren't likely to chase you down and possibly cause an accident, as well as keeping you both out when you could be getting in somewhere.
But the gas stations HAVE to stay open.
McDonald's MUST stay open.
Facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes, by their very nature, need to stay open. But must they insist on workers coming in in a "snow emergency"?
(I don't know what they could do instead. They should work up snow emergency protocols. Reduced staff, maybe sleep-breaks for people who will remain instead of go out I believe some hospitals do do that.)

Not only do these businesses insist on insisting, they punish those who don't risk life and limb to serve coffee to idiots. (Road personnel excepted from this category.) They write them up(disciplinary action); they brand them as unreliable; they reduce their hours; they even fire them.
They do not pay the fines for tickets received.
They do not pay for damages caused by an accident when their employees should never have been on the road in the first place.
They do not compensate for extra gas burned in longer, slower drives.
They don't pay hospital bills for slip and slide crashes.
They do NOT pay for funerals.

It's not just the service industry. There are factories with this same mindset. Never mind that their product is nonessential -- they have quotas that must be met, come hell or high water. (Hell or high snowdrifts?) The work must be done.

No mere employee can protest any of these disciplinary actions by pleading a snow emergency. The designation has no standing in labor law.

So, a "Snow Emergency" is a money maker for the municipality.
A "Snow Emergency" is an out for insurance companies, who will not pay (easily) for an accident caused when the driver wasn't supposed to be driving.
A "Snow Emergency" is no reason to not go out; thus says American Industry.

So, I ask you, why bother.
Why bother?

It's a TREAT!

Not a right.
or, in the language of today -- not an entitlement.

I am talking about trick-or-treating, or Beggar's Night as the older people still call it.

Communities set up times for kiddies to don costumes and take up plastic, pillowcases, or whatever and go door-to-door saying "trick or treat" and getting candy, pencils, pennies or other treats.

This year, Mother Nature stepped in with big winds and her own twist to the spirits roaming the night. (Hey, there's a reason our ancestors chose the dates they chose for these things.)

Communities and parents were instantly up in arms, as much as two days before the scheduled event.

Now, in some cases, cancelling turned out to be a wise thing. One town 'found' children in a tornado shelter after a tornado.

HOWEVER:

1) Cancelling a non-essential activity because of a weather forecast.
Are you kidding me? Even the best scientific weather predicting is around 60% accurate. Bunions and bones and migraines are a little bit better -- possibly up to 80%. But how in the world will any of us ever get anything done if we reschedule every time the weather forecast is bad. Even at its best, a weather forecast is still a "best guess."

2) "But it's for the safety of the children." Sorry. That is the primary responsibility of the parents. Whether there's weather or not (and there will be) it is up to the parents if the child goes out to participate in any community event. The established times are the community attempt to provide safe limits for the children.
Those children found, it was their parents decision to allow them out. The town said "this is when we will permit this activity" The town did not say "This is when we guarantee the safety of the children doing this activity."

3) Cancel or not cancel,  All this did was cause confusion. It also allowed avarice and encouraged greed. Children can go to trick-or-treat any number of nights, if they have that kind of parent.
The good side of this is that it allows more extended family to enjoy the fun with the little children. My grandbabies got a night with one grandparent, one with parents, and then another with another grandparent. We all enjoy the kids and their fun.
But that's not everyone's motivation, is it?

I'm sorry.I see all this fuss about trick-or-treat as an extension of the entitlements everyone is screaming, fussing, whining and fighting about.

One woman even referred to trick-or-treat as a "right" of passage for her children.
 No, it's not a right.
It's a rite, which is by definition optional.

My opinion is that it would be better to schedule a follow up if there is a poor turn-out due to weather, and then only if the community asks for it. If there are weather warnings, or even watches, AT THE TIME of the event, then clear the children off the street. If parents can't be found, take the children to a designated bad-weather shelter.

I'd like to see more enforcement of bad weather advisory stuff. Tornado warnings mean get to shelter, not hurry to McDonald's. Winter storm warnings are for getting bread and milk and kerosine, not buy new clothes and shoes.

But, this is another topic for another time.

Trick or treating is a TREAT.
Not a Right.

Please, parents, save your energy and outrage for important stuff, like the right to eat healthy and to stay healthy.