Snow Camel distracts commuters from snowy ordeal

Thursday's commute home was probably one of the worst – if not THE worst – most folks in the Greater Lehigh Valley have experienced.

A storm that started late morning and seemed innocent enough at first, “over performed” as some meteorologists put it, and ended up hammering the region with traffic-snarling snow.

I got lucky. At our office were told we were free to work from home and should leave early if things started looking bad and I made it home just as things were getting really slippery.

Everyone who decided to brave it out lived to regret that decision.

As I watched from the safety of my home as social media lit up with stories from friends and colleagues who left work just a little bit too late.

Complaints of being stuck in traffic were taking over my newsfeed on both Twitter and Facebook. (Oh, I monitor Twitter and Facebook for work if you were wondering what I was doing on social media while still on the clock.)

The commute home, for most, was an odyssey of snow, slipping, accidents and traffic jams, with most area roads being described as a parking lot.

But as commuters who normally took 15 minutes to get home got stuck on the road for two hours and some people complained of being stuck in traffic for eight and nine hours, there was one bright spot.

As if to show the biblical proportions of the snowy traffic jam – a camel made an appearance on Route 309 around Souderton.

Pictures and wild theories began to quickly circulate online.

On poster suggested that someone was filming an episode of “Shipping Wars” that had gone horribly wrong.

Another suggested the camel was being used to tow stalled cars.

Memes started popping up. I hope traffic was completely stopped if people were creating memes on their phones.

Many started calling the poor animal Snow Camel.

Eventually, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia laid claim to Snow Camel with a tweet.

“This is our camel! His name is Einstein and he’s on his way to our Main Event at the Kimmel Center in Philly tonight. We have treats and a blanket waiting.”

Sadly, the weather prevented the camel from getting to his big event. He was sent home to the zoo he came from as a safer option.

Word is, he made it home safely.

So if Snow Camel was the only thing keeping you sane during an insane commute on Thursday, know that he’s just fine – and wasn’t a figment of your imagination.