The Commentators: A Plea For The Cold Snap

By tomorrow this time the snow will be fallin’

Traffic will be crawlin’ and if there’s ice come Monday, the schools will be stallin’

But maybe the thing that should be most appalin’

Is the number of elderly neighbors on whom no one is callin’

When temps start to drop down, to freezing they dip,

Makes it dangerous for seniors to get out. They might trip, slip, break a hip.

So I’m here to ask y’all

(and I ‘ll try not to belabor)

But would you pretty please with a cherry go next door and check on your neighbor?

For seniors, cold weather can be especially frightening;

Whether its heat waves or hurricanes, cold snaps or lightning.

Typically, their bodies don’t realize they’re freezing.

They go to bed, rest their heads then wake up – they’re wheezing.

When all it would have taken was a reminder from a friend, just one extra blanket,

If they don’t have one then lend.

So let’s start a trend, let’s do more than intend.

Let’s be the town that checks on our senior, our friends.

The elderly are precious. They’ve struggled, they’ve toiled.

They created what so many take for granted. Let’s face it. We’re spoiled.

So don’t let the snow come without walking next door.

Take the first step even though no-one’s keeping score.

Tomorrow, when you start to bundle, when you pull on your toboggans or toque’s,

Remember, Chapel Hill’s more than a town. It’s a community, folks.

So many have been glad to sign off on last year

But what will we change in this new one that’s here?

Let’s start it off with tomorrow’s cold weather.

By serving our seniors because Tarheels – we’re all in this together!