Winter in New York City was brutal this year. Are we shocked? Absolutely not. Regardless, we’re over it and more than ready for Spring and some sunshine. Since the weather is slowly warming up, we think it’s now safe to say that Spring is on its way. Today, we’re saying farewell to winter in NYC with the help of a few VPM team members who are thrilled that this city’s chills are on their way out for good. Check out team VPM’s worst winter traveling stories, and you will instantly understand why these team members are embracing Spring time more than ever this year.
“It was the coldest day of the year when I was driving to the Deer Park train station with my son. I get to the train station and wait 20 minutes outside, only to find out that the train was cancelled. We then drive over to Babylon Station to catch the train from there. Once we parked, we tried to pay the municipal meters and realized that all of the meters were frozen. Since I wasn’t coming home to a towed car, I stood their for 15 minutes trying to feed the meter until it eventually accepted the money. Hands completely frozen with frost bite, I finally got to work 3 hours late. I hate the winter.” – Gary Calder, Business Development Manager
“My worst travel experience this winter was when the Metro North broke down and lost power for 3 hours. People really begin to show their true colors when they’re stuck in a cold, dark, confined space with a bunch of strangers.” – Emily McNally, Director of Marketing
“On one of the coldest days of the year, I wore two layers of leggings over my tights. Even though I only had a few blocks to walk from Penn Station to 39th street, I still managed to get frost bite on my legs. Meanwhile, a woman slipped on ice in front of me and wacked me in the face with her umbrella. A series of unfortunate events continued during the rest of my walk to the office. Hands down, this was the most miserable morning of the year, so far.” – Brie French-Sorgini, Director of Public Relations
“Where do I even begin. Flying out of JFK in the winter is always a nightmare, but I was going to a wedding in Arizona and more than happy to get out of the freezing cold in New York, and finally see sunshine. Nothing could bring me down. As soon as I landed, I grabbed my luggage and noticed that it wasn’t locked. During this time, my sister was picking up the rental car. I realized that both of my dresses for the wedding had been stolen out of my bag. As I was panicking and explaining this to customer service of the airline, I saw my rental car getting towed. I started losing my mind. Thankfully, my persuasive skills kicked in and I convinced the man to take the hook off and not tow my car. Fast forward to the trip home after the wedding…We got to the airport and found out that our plane had a 3 hour delay because of more snow in New York. Okay, not a big deal. We boarded at 9:45 a.m. only to be told it had to be cancelled because of the weather, and we were all asked to deplane. Never mind using the intercom, the airline sent us an email saying that we were all rebooked for Tuesday. Keep in mind that it’s Sunday at this point. The airline put me on standby for the 4:30 p.m. flight, which my sister was supposed to be on with her boyfriend if she hadn’t missed the flight. All three of us ended up on standby for the 10:30 p.m. flight. Finally, my name got called. I thought I was leaving alone, but then, somehow, my sister and her boyfriend came running on the flight right before take off. It was crazy! We landed at 6:40 a.m. on Monday at JFK, and we all had work that morning at 9:00 a.m. This is why I’m ready for winter to be over.”- Ashley Goll, Account Executive