By Gregg McLachlan

It has all been done before with snowstorm stories. We write about car repair shops that get increased business because of accidents. We write about people shovelling snow. We write about kids zooming down hills. We write about snowplows.

So, what else is there. . . ?

Try these 10 alternative approaches to putting a different human interest spin on your snow stories:

1. Tough job. Imagine if you're the person at the local car dealership who's assigned to scrape ice and snow from 78 vehicles on the lot. Kind of makes cleaning the only car in your driveway not such a bad thing after all.

2. Weddings. Samantha Sommer, a reporter at Springfield News-Sun in Ohio, has this suggestion: "This one works best for really, really bad storms, particularly on weekends. We had a record snowfall one weekend and went back through our engagement announcements and found a wedding that weekend and went to it and talked to people who braved the drives and heard about others who couldn't make it."

3. Those poor delivery guys. When we won't venture out in bad weather, we sometimes order takeout. And guess who's braving the storm to reach our doorsteps: pizza delivery guys. Oh, what we put some people through, all for the sake of pepperoni and cheese.

4. Guys & beer. Nobody will ever know why, but guys will venture out in any weather to get beer at The Beer Store. If the store is open, and especially if it's a weekend, spend 30 minutes at the outlet to watch the parade of brewski-loving men. Weather stories can have light-hearted approaches that capture human nature.

5. Check the Farmers Almanac. Sometimes the predictions are bang on. Other times they're off by a country mile.

6. Those darn kids. It can be a blizzard outside, but many teens will still be wearing no hats, no gloves, no boots and barely a jacket. These teens are in great contrast to the rest of us, all bundled up. You can report great contrast in how humans deal with extreme weather.

7. Food banks. When the weather's bad, the needy struggle to get out, especially if they have no means of transportation. How many people visit food banks when there's a storm or heavy snowfall?

8. Seniors. Senior citizens and shut-ins count on these volunteers to deliver hot meals. What happens when there's a storm?

9. Seniors have weather tales. Try dropping by a local seniors centre or seniors retirement home. If you think the storm you're experiencing now is bad, wait until a local senior recounts his/her tale of the storm of 1937. There are all kinds of "I remember when. . ." weather stories waiting to be told.

10. Hang around a local motel/hotel. Travellers seek refuge. Tell their stories.