A guy came by to solve a car problem for me the other day. Cheery purveyor of sunshine that I am, I mentioned how lucky we’ve been in avoiding heavy snowfall.

Well, yeah, he said, but then he patiently pointed out that when you make service calls on commission, extremely bad weather is an extremely good thing.

That’s true. And it’s easy to take that logic a step further. When you think about it, a huge amount of business activity relies on bad weather, bad luck and – that key to bar fights and public construction estimates – bad judgment.

The state and its cities will spend crazy amounts of money this winter not to make any progress, not to make our children’s future brighter, but just to keep the streets passable. It may seem as if we’re not getting all that much for our money, but put it in perspective: The checks will go to the producers and distributors of calcium chloride and snowplows – real people just like you and me, except more enthusiastic about low barometric pressure. Government is still trying to figure out how to create jobs. Blizzards already know how.

Of course, we start the winter by celebrating the birth of Jesus, who taught his followers not to store up treasures on earth. Suspecting a bad translation from the Aramaic, we honor him by purchasing several million dollars’ worth of presents that will go straight to attics and closets. But that’s all right, too. Remember, if not for Christmas, many people in the crucial “useless junk” segment of the economy would be unemployed.

Eventually, after a character-building interlude of missed free throws and general despondency, spring will arrive. Then the flooding can resume. We were taught that water seeks its own level, but it actually prefers below-grade family rooms with Berber carpeting. Thanks to all of the home buyers who didn’t notice the high-water marks on the house next door, a fortune will be made by companies that clean up gunk.

Then, all the year round, there are profits to be made by the manufacturers of yellow crime scene tape, horse racing guides, 22-inch chrome rims and amalgams of caffeine and alcohol. If all of the available slots for human beings were to be suddenly filled with prudent, sensible types – imagine Sally Field as president – these fine employers would be out of luck.

OK, we have established that sharp business people can make plenty of money from misfortune and suffering.

This proves that winter is nothing to be miserable about, but rather something to celebrate, like the Fourth of July or seeing your competitor’s delivery truck with a flat tire.

True, most of your commutes for the next several weeks will be like a combination of ice hockey and the first turn at the Talladega Superspeedway. Your heating bill will resemble a Pentagon funding request to Congress after input from Halliburton Co. In February, even your best moment is likely to involve slush.

Just remember that nobody’s holding a gun to your head and forcing you to live in this climate. At least we hope not.

Your current situation results from a carefully considered decision by you or your spouse or your parents. Or maybe your grandparents, who wanted nothing more out of life than a nice little farm and thoroughly enjoyed chopping ice out of cattle tanks.

Somewhere along your family storyline, somebody decided to set up camp right where frigid air from Canada collides with moist air from the Gulf of Mexico.

Does that sound like a good idea, now that you think about it?

Sorry to be so blunt. It’s hard to maintain a courteous attitude with January and February looming ahead, the calendar’s equivalent of Russian border guards.

But we have to deal with it.

With apologies to Jimmy Buffett – when it comes to winter, we don’t have a bad attitude so much as a bad latitude.