5 ms·

How do we know that the employment is directly related to temperatures? What sort of relationship is it?

robbedpeter 5y ago
Negative, for sure. Cars don't start, accidents and illnesses are more common, carbon monoxide poisoning increases, heart attacks are more frequent with stress and snow shoveling. Throw in SAD and vitamin d deficiency - cold places throw a lot of shit at people.
- User23 5y ago
  My father used to cross country ski to work on the worst winter days. Sometimes he’d go on a drift right over stuck cars. Unexcused absences just weren’t a thing back then.
  - superkuh 5y ago
    People wait for the major river separating Minnesota and Wisconsin to freeze up so they can drive across the frozen surface to their respective jobs and save 15 minutes on the commute via the bridges. It's a popular thing to do especially for Andersen Windows workers.
    - bombcar 5y ago
      I feel that’s much less common now that the new bridge is in place; the old Stillwater bridge would often be broken or jammed up with traffic.
    - Tcepsa 5y ago
      FWIW it's the Mississippi, but your description is probably more valuable given your point. (Though I think it's wild that people drive across the Mississippi, and I grew up just southeast of there in Rochester!)
      - jrs235 5y ago
        Actually it sounds like he's referring to the St. Croix River. Andersen Windows is/was located in/near Stillwater.
        Tcepsa 5y ago
        Oh hey, I'd clean forgotten about that one! Thanks for pointing that out!
protomyth 5y ago
It mostly had to do with cars needing more maintenance, low income folks buying used cars, not having backup transportation (i.e. one car per family) when problems arise, and not having the funds to fix them.
- pengaru 5y ago
  Automobile use in the rust belt is so ridiculously wasteful, it no doubt generates heaps of jobs in the process. I used to work as a mechanic in IL back in the day. It became normal for myself and my gearhead buddies to keep winter beaters and leave the nicer cars/motorcycles parked until the roads stopped getting salted and rain could wash it all away for summer. I'd go through winter beaters like they were shoes, whole used cars! The amount of time and money I used to spend on automotive expenses back there is batshit crazy compared to what I spend in CA. And the yearly rebuilding of all the roads trashed by the salt+plows. I wonder if it's less of an issue now with climate change.
  - boomboomsubban 5y ago
    >I wonder if it's less of an issue now with climate change It's roughly as bad, some years are worse than others. Climate change hasn't made winter better.
    - patrick451 5y ago
      If you live in California, climate change has made winters in the midwest _appear_ more mild.
      - boomboomsubban 5y ago
        How so? All I can figure is winter is supposed to be cold and snowy so California only hears about the extremes like a 60F day in January
        patrick451 5y ago

Negative, for sure. Cars don't start, accidents and illnesses are more common, carbon monoxide poisoning increases, heart attacks are more frequent with stress and snow shoveling. Throw in SAD and vitamin d deficiency - cold places throw a lot of shit at people.

User23 5y ago
My father used to cross country ski to work on the worst winter days. Sometimes he’d go on a drift right over stuck cars. Unexcused absences just weren’t a thing back then.
- superkuh 5y ago
  People wait for the major river separating Minnesota and Wisconsin to freeze up so they can drive across the frozen surface to their respective jobs and save 15 minutes on the commute via the bridges. It's a popular thing to do especially for Andersen Windows workers.
  - bombcar 5y ago
    I feel that’s much less common now that the new bridge is in place; the old Stillwater bridge would often be broken or jammed up with traffic.
  - Tcepsa 5y ago
    FWIW it's the Mississippi, but your description is probably more valuable given your point. (Though I think it's wild that people drive across the Mississippi, and I grew up just southeast of there in Rochester!)
    - jrs235 5y ago
      Actually it sounds like he's referring to the St. Croix River. Andersen Windows is/was located in/near Stillwater.
      - Tcepsa 5y ago
        Oh hey, I'd clean forgotten about that one! Thanks for pointing that out!

protomyth 5y ago

It mostly had to do with cars needing more maintenance, low income folks buying used cars, not having backup transportation (i.e. one car per family) when problems arise, and not having the funds to fix them.

pengaru 5y ago
Automobile use in the rust belt is so ridiculously wasteful, it no doubt generates heaps of jobs in the process. I used to work as a mechanic in IL back in the day. It became normal for myself and my gearhead buddies to keep winter beaters and leave the nicer cars/motorcycles parked until the roads stopped getting salted and rain could wash it all away for summer. I'd go through winter beaters like they were shoes, whole used cars! The amount of time and money I used to spend on automotive expenses back there is batshit crazy compared to what I spend in CA. And the yearly rebuilding of all the roads trashed by the salt+plows. I wonder if it's less of an issue now with climate change.
- boomboomsubban 5y ago
  >I wonder if it's less of an issue now with climate change It's roughly as bad, some years are worse than others. Climate change hasn't made winter better.
  - patrick451 5y ago
    If you live in California, climate change has made winters in the midwest _appear_ more mild.
    - boomboomsubban 5y ago
      How so? All I can figure is winter is supposed to be cold and snowy so California only hears about the extremes like a 60F day in January
      - patrick451 5y ago