HOW WE LEARNED TO MISS RAIN (AND HATE THE SNOW)
In a region of rain, Portland often looks forward to the rarity of snow. We cross our fingers and hope for a white blanket to drape over the gloomy and insufferable gray clouds. To our disappointment, winter often comes and goes with nothing more than a few days near 32 degrees and maybe, just maybe, one light dusting which inevitably vanishes by sunrise.
Portland is used to this sad normalcy accompanied with the 'we do not's'. We do not get to sled down the street with friends and family. We do not get to pretend to ice skate down the sidewalk while getting the mail. We do not get a valid reason to play hooky. However, since Norlift of Oregon, Inc. opened in 1985, the Portland area has felt the severe wrath of Mother Nature on three occasions: 1995, 2008, and now 2017. These winters simply refused to abide by Portland's annual mandate for gloomy rain clouds. On the evening of January 10th, our most recent 'snowmageddon' struck.
As the storm grew ever nearer, we anticipated 1-4 inches of snow, nothing too serious. But those few inches grew to 12-13 inches in many areas. An eerie silence echoed over Portland, blanketing our usually vibrant town in white. It was so abnormal and out of the blue, that by the end of the fourth day, one could hear Portlanders whisper, the ordinarily unforgivable words, 'I wish it would rain'. As a company that takes pride in having solutions for any problem that faces our clients, there was little we could do faced with the full brunt of Mother Nature's right cross.
For the first couple of days, many of our employees weren't able to dig their cars out of their driveways, let alone drive into work. But Norlift, as it has continued to do for over thirty years, forged ahead. Within the nooks and crannies, brave souls, equipped with the proper vehicles and a healthy dose of courage, were found in their offices. They kept the lights on, doors open, and answered the phones. We called in help from outside haulers when they were available and continued to operate as close to normal as possible. We figuratively plowed through the crippling snow in order to remain customer focused until the thaw finally arrived.
We are still dealing with the fall out of this once-in-a-decade storm, and we hope Spring comes without another round in the ring with Mother Nature. We can't predict the future, but we do know that rain or shine, snow or sleet, we will continue to show up and make every effort to be there for our customers.
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