Jeff Adams

A football penalty when players “pile on” another who is already down, the expression “piling on” has become part of our vernacular.

Could we also say that a second major snowstorm in five days is “piling on?” I don’t know what you had last Thursday at your place, but I measured a bit over a foot of snow outside our back door. I just measured it again and, despite a couple of days of melting, it still measures 7 to 8 inches. We are supposedly getting an even more powerful snow storm overnight. Sounds like piling on to me! Football players get penalized for piling on. So, my question is simple. Who gets penalized for this type of piling on? God? Maybe WE are the ones being penalized. Do ya think? Or, maybe life is just like that – good times and bad.

Have you ever felt like life was piling on? I mean life is sometimes a lot like snow. We can go for a couple of years with just a few minor snow storms. Then, all of a sudden, we get dumped on! Life is like that. Here we are going right down the freeway of life on cruise control, when all of a sudden a flat tire starts its tell-tale flapping sound, blue smoke out the exhaust simultaneously signals a blown engine and then you notice the smoke under the hood coming from an overheated radiator. Ever had days like that? Ever live a year or two in a week? Times like that are piling on.

Have you ever noticed that when people get down like that and the whistle has already blown, that others still have a tendency to pile on? They should be penalized. It’s still going to happen, though. Brace yourself. Just when Job thought things couldn’t get any worse, his friends showed up. They should have been penalized for piling on.

Some random thoughts about snow, football, life and piling on:

• One of life’s great non-biblical quotations is “It’s never as bad as you think it is; it’s never as good as you think it is.
• Get a grip. Don’t be guilty of piling on – even if you think someone deserves. They’re down; the whistle has blown. Back off. Show them grace, not grief.
• If you think the referee has missed a piling on call, either for or against you, keep your mouth shut. You’re not the official, and you don’t know from what perspective he or she saw the play. Maybe she saw something you missed; maybe you saw something he missed. Don’t embarrass yourself, even if you’re mad. Just get back in the game or sit on the bench for a bit. The next call might go your way when you don’t deserve it. Bottom line: don’t waste your breath and energy whining about bad calls. Life is full of both good and bad calls. Just get the ball across the line and no one gives a rip about the calls.
• When others pile on you, you won’t enjoy it. I promise you that. But, cut them some slack. I’m sure you’ve hit someone yourself after the whistle blew. It will work out eventually. Get up, act like a professional and get back in the game.

 I still think that a second major snowstorm in five days is piling on. 

Just remember – snow happens. And snow eventually melts.