Slackers Who Won’t Shovel Their Snow Test Neighborliness [Block Talk]

ACROSS AMERICA — Steve is that guy — the one whose neighbors in Joliet, Illinois, wake up to discover has cleared their sidewalks of freshly fallen snow.

“I have a large snowblower and walk around the block twice to clear the sidewalks,” the Joliet Patch reader said in answer to our survey on what to do about neighbors who don’t shovel their walks for Block Talk, Patch’s exclusive neighborhood etiquette column.

Steve doesn’t wait to be asked. It’s one way he can help others who may not have the same luxury of time or health. “I’m a healthy retired man,” he said.

His neighbors are grateful.

“I’ve been thanked,” he said, adding that an older neighbor whose driveway and sidewalk he cleared showed her appreciation with a bottle of wine.

Most Patch readers who answered our survey are similarly benevolent. Some have been in the past — until they got burned.

Ursula And Voldemort, Though

Concord (New Hampshire) Patch reader Samantha said her husband cleared their neighbors’ walk “until we discovered our neighbors were Ursula the Sea Witch and Voldemort.” (Respectively, Ursula and Lord Voldemort are the main antagonists in “The Little Mermaid” and “Harry Potter” franchises.)

“Don’t bum yourself out trying to be a good neighbor,” Samantha said. “Do a good job on what is your responsibility, and maybe an ‘oomph’ more toward your neighbors. Of course, if they are elderly, etc., then do more.”

Charles, who reads Phoenixville Patch and a few other Pennsylvania Patch sites, thinks shoveling others’ walks is a neighborly thing to do, but there are limits to his generosity.

“If they have respected me in the past, I will shovel theirs,” he said. But overall, Charles said people who don’t take responsibility for snow removal “have no respect for others” and don’t care they are “forcing them to walk in the roadway.”

Milford (Connecticut) Patch reader Miguel thinks it’s OK to alert authorities when neighbors don’t follow local ordinances requiring snow removal within 24 hours of the storm’s end. Oftentimes, though, he’ll shovel it himself.

“I do it because my dog needs to walk and not get hit by cars in the street, thanks,” Miguel said.

A few other readers were equally surly.

“My neighbors are idiots who don’t even know where the property line is,” said an Across America Patch reader who goes by “A.”

A would like to tell these people their snow shoveling practices are “idiotic,” but instead clears their walks, “because they are idiots.”

Patch reader John said he avoids his neighbors’ snow-packed sidewalk “so I don’t fall and get hurt.” He’s not going to make an issue of it but noted that “their grass-cutting never gets done in the summer,” either.

An Illinois Patch reader whose family members “complain silently to ourselves about what crappy neighbors we have” said her husband clears their walk when he uses the snowblower for heavy snow.

“It infuriates me, though, when he does it for the neighbor who doesn’t do (expletive),” the reader said. “Most neighbors [clear snow for others] and that’s okay with me. I just hate it when people expect someone else to take care of their property for them when they are able.

“Get off your lazy (expletive) and clean up your fall leaves and winter snow and ice,” she said. “Clean up after your dog, too.”

‘I’m Not A Spring Chicken Anymore’

But don’t just assume your neighbors lack the gumption to get off the couch and exert themselves, several readers said.

“See if they need help, maybe it’s a senior citizen or a person with disabilities,” Joliet Patch reader Linda said. Snow removal ordinances exist for public safety reasons, but “just see if help is needed before reporting them,” she said. “They may have a hard time finding someone, or be on a long waiting list ’til someone comes.”

“Be empathetic,” said Morristown (New Jersey) Patch reader Beth. “People can’t always get help right away. Sometimes, people have physical limitations.”

Sometimes, she is the person who clears her neighbors’ walks after starting her snowblower; at other times, it’s someone else.

“All my neighbors are kind that way,” she said.

Beth sounds like a lovely, non-judgmental neighbor. “If someone clears a shovel-width path and calls it good, then so do I,” she said.

Another Patch reader named Steve thinks able-bodied people should clear their sidewalks, but he is happy to help out veterans, older or disabled people and others who don’t have kids who can shovel snow.

Patrick, who reads La Grange Patch, Burr Ridge Patch and other local Illinois Patch news sites, shovels sidewalks for some neighbors who don’t have functional snowblowers. As for others who simply blow off their responsibility, it’s “not my issue,” Patrick said, “though I do feel bad for others who walk along it.”

Lower Providence (Pennsylvania) Patch reader Jay doesn’t spend a lot of time worrying about his neighbors’ sidewalks, but said, “If I have the means, I’ll try to do more than just my own.”

Narberth-Bala Cynwyd (Pennsylvania) Patch reader Amy will shovel her neighbors’ walks if they don’t, but would like to remind them, “I’m not a spring chicken anymore, and it would be nice to see the younger generation do as we have for the last 26 years.”

Snowplows Vs. Snowblowers

Princeton (New Jersey) Patch reader Sue said she’ll shovel her older neighbor’s sidewalk while she’s at it, but that’s it.

“That is their worry,” Sue said of her other neighbors. But she called out a couple of them.

One is a neighbor who uses the snow blower after I shovel, and that snow gets placed back on my sidewalk, and he doesn’t clean up.”

Also, Sue would like for someone to have a conversation with “neighbors who blow snow into the street prior to and after the plowing of the street.”

Warminster (Pennsylvania) Patch reader Tammy welcomes a talk like that, too. Her neighbors blow snow into the street and onto her property, and she doesn’t like that. Like many other readers, Tammy clears her elderly neighbor’s walk but thinks everyone else should take responsibility for theirs.

Tinley Park (Illinois) Patch reader Jim’s issue isn’t with his neighbors.

“They have snowblowers — depends on if they want to use them If they want to clear their sidewalks, it’s up to them,” he said, but if they choose not to and “get something from the city, it’s on them.”

But he does have a problem with snowplow drivers who he said “don’t like to go to the curb and leave about 5 feet of snow there.”

“I get tired of pushing the mail truck for the driver when he or she gets stuck and can’t move,” Jim explained, adding he has “been complaining about this for years, but nothing.”

Jim has spent hours making streets passable after a snowfall.

“When I used to plow, we went curb to curb,” he said. “Apparently, they only do two passes per residential street, one on each side.”

About Block Talk

Block Talk is a regular Patch series on neighborhood etiquette — and readers provide the answers. If you have a topic you'd like for us to consider, email beth.dalbey@patch.com with "Block Talk" as the subject line.

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