I had a chance to catch up with Mayor Barrett tonight outside of City Hall, about to jump into a plow. He was making a small speech to a group of about 14 plow drivers, who he would join immediately after making this statement. Luckily I had my tape recorder on me. Here is what he had to say... 

Good evening. In less than ten minutes, plows from here will join others from around the city. And you will be launching the largest snow removal battle in the history of mankind. "Mankind." That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests.

Perhaps it's fate that today is the fifth of February, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution... but from precipitation. We are fighting for our right to drive. To get to work, to feel free.

And should we win the day, the Fifth of February will no longer be known as just a day, but as the day this city declared in one voice: "We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight!" We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate....SNOW DAY!  

Tom Barrett