Effort and effect, the relation between

[oloriel]

My father turned 55 yesterday. As my parents only yesterday returned from my father's sports club's skiing vacation, we were invited to celebrate it today.

Originally for lunch; then it was turned into dinner.

It has started to snow yet again. The problem is not that we don't get away from here: The problem is that everybody else is parking in the bottleneck where our street meets the main road. Snow plough-made walls narrowing the street down, + cars parked on either side, means that it is now a one-way street. And the snow plough came again (making more walls), and people are trying to find parking spaces still, and... well, the way is almost blocked. We had to help push a car before we could even reach the main road.
It's only a 15-minute drive to my parents, but it is snowing like mad. We have snow chains, but there are other people on the road who neither have snow chains nor know how to drive in this weather. I think it is not too unreasonable to say "Look, it's too difficult and too dangerous to get to you, let's do this some other weekend."

Is it?

My parents didn't try driving today, as far as I know; at any rate they have no idea about the state of the roads, the current weather (well, they probably never looked outside ever since it turned dark) or the rationality or rather lack thereof of driving anywhere just for dinner. My mom only bought it when I said that the intersection is blocked and we couldn't even get out of our street. Yes, I lied. Feel perfectly justified about it, too. I am not going to risk my neck over dinner, no matter how nice, and if the truth makes her mope and a lie makes her see reason, I must lie. And that, all ye parents and ye who want to become parents on my flist, is how you do it wrong.