Many of us may be enjoying the large pile of white stuff that has blanketed our area this weekend, giving us an opportunity to revisit childhood by building snowmen, going sledding and having snowball fights with our family and friends.

But while we get time to enjoy the snow and play in it, there are many people who won’t get that chance because the snow means more work for them, whether it is for pay or as a volunteer.

Not long after the snow began to fall Friday afternoon, the emergency radio frequencies filled up with calls of wrecks and vehicles sliding off the road. Travel became hazardous for anyone on the road, even those with four-wheel-drive, if they were trying to push the limits and go too fast.

And as many were just trying to get home from work before things got even worse and the accumulation got any deeper, traffic became heavy and congested, especially on the interstates and four-lane highways.

That is when the volunteer fire and rescue crews hit the roads to assist, the paid medical and emergency response personnel in the county got even busier than normal, and wrecker drivers in the area got hounded with calls, with a list of drivers needing help hours long. State and municipal workers began what will be days of work clearing precipitation from the roads so “normal” life can begin again for the rest of us.

As the night got darker and people who were home drifted off to sleep Friday night, there was no stop for those out helping drivers on the road. The emergency crews and tow-truck drivers continued their work throughout the night and into Saturday, probably with little or no sleep, as did the road crews clearing the highways and streets.

The snow makes everything look beautiful if you have time to relax and enjoy it, but for those who don’t have that opportunity, it can make situations hard to handle.

As you take to the roads in the next day or two as the snow melts and the roads clear, if you see someone who has been working for hours or days to help make the situations in inches of snow better for the rest of us, we encourage you to take the time to say thank you.

If it wasn’t for these people, we could be snowed in for weeks instead of a couple of days.