Snow doesn't always bring out the worst in people.

There’s currently a pit thread going about people who don’t shovel their sidewalks. Every winter we get the obligatory thread about people not clearing off their cars or the one about people stealing cleared parking spots. I think it’s time we talk about the nice things people do in the winter.

  1. My boyfriend’s father decided to help out his son-in-law’s struggling employer by buying a brand new, wicked expensive snow blower. Since there wasn’t actually anything wrong with the one he had, and he didn’t need two, he gave us the other one.

  2. When we were new to the neighborhood last year, our neighbor across the street used his mini plow thingie to clear our driveway twice just because he saw us shoveling.

  3. The first blizzard this year was a bad one - about 20" of really heavy snow. My neighbor’s mini plow thingie just couldn’t handle it. When there was about 15" of snow on the ground, my boyfriend and I used our free snowblower to clear his driveway. When the last 5" was on the ground, neighbor guy used his plow thingie to clear our driveway. We still don’t even know the guy’s name.

  4. There is a really bad shortage of roof rakes in this area. Our lack of ceiling insulation had actually served to keep us free of ice dams because the rising heat kept the snow melting steadily. Well, this week we ran into a bit of a heating problem. Our 2 bedrooms don’t benefit from the fireplace and the heat isn’t running so we ended up with huge thick ice dams above both bedrooms. Last night it started raining in our bedroom. I spent hours trying to find a roof rake. Just as I was about to give up, I started looking on craigslist. Of course there are a bunch of people selling used rakes at a 200% or more markup on the cost of a new rake. There are also people renting our rakes for $30 or more per day. Then there’s the guy who came up with a design for a homemade rake ($22 in parts) and is offering the instructions, for free, to anyone who wants them.

  5. My boyfriend’s dad and the guy across the street from him have become their neighborhood caretakers. A large portion of his street is either single or widowed ladies, elderly couples, or people who have been away. Since Pop and his neighbor are newly retired and both have nice snowblowers, they have taken to clearing the driveways and walkways for every house on their street (about 4 extra houses each). They don’t ask for money for gas and they don’t ask for thanks. They do it because someone needs to look out for the people who can’t do it for themselves.

  6. My mom recently had kidney surgery and my stepdad has a bad back. Neither of them is supposed to be shoveling. I don’t live close enough to be able to get there during a blizzard to help them out and I shouldn’t be shoveling either (bad arms). Random neighbors have taken to helping them out, some for free and a couple nice guys who asked for $20 but came back repeatedly during the 24 hour storm to keep their driveway and sidewalks clear, for no extra charge.

So, tell me about the people who make your snow days more pleasant. I know the whole world isn’t filled with snowy bastards.

I didn’t expect the building manager to have the decking shoveled. There are 40 units and a LOT of decking - way more than just clearing the walks out front. But they did it. That was really nice of them. All of the buildings on my street and the adjoining one that gets me to the el have cleared their sidewalks. Truly unexpected when there’s always one jackass who never clears the walk. My dad is that guy with the snowblower who clears the sidewalks and driveways of the 2 adjoining properties and one across the street.

I can claim no niceties of my own. I just go out and trudge through it and marvel at it and appreciate the people who made some efforts. Then I make snow angels.

I don’t like making snow angels. I somehow always manage to get snow in my buttcrack, even with multiple layers and a shirt tucked into the longjohns. Guess I’m just talented. I prefer to stand in my warm house and laugh at my dogs as they gingerly walk across the frozen snow and then PLOP they break through and end up buried up to their fuzzy ears.
That was really nice of the building manager! When I was growing up, our landlord lived too far away to clear our sidewalk. So, he paid my mom to do it for him. He certainly could have put it in the rental agreement that it was her responsibility, as the first floor tenant. Instead he chose to be nice. My mom wasn’t as nice. She got paid but made us do the work. She never paid us though. Of course she did feed and clothe us so I guess it all worked out.

LOUNE and I got stuck in the snow when turning a corner the other night. Three men came over to help get the car unstuck. It was appreciated.

We got four.

There wasn’t much snow down here in Dallas/Fort Worth, but it all turned to ice on this one stretch of road. My light-in-the-back pickup slid gently against a curb as I tried to stop for the sign, and wouldn’t move. First a guy from a plumbing company pulled over, then his buddy came by, and then two more, all within five minutes. They took turns pushing and shoving, to no avail. (Zyada said you could smell the testosterone.) Finally one of them backed up his big truck, another hooked us up with a bit of rope, and we were free.

Thanks, guys!

It has snowed and snowed and snowed here. And I have each time dug out my car without (too much) complaint. Time before last, we closed the office, so I was home alone, and trying to dig out a foot of snow by myself. My parking spot is next to the road, so the plow always builds this wall of snow and ice on the driver’s side, and I was laboriously working through there when the neighbors kitty-corner from us brought their snow blower over and did it in ten minutes. Then we went across the street and all of us shoveled out the old lady’s driveway. It felt really nice.

Was coming home from a friend’s one night, took the turn into the parking lot too sharp and got stuck in a snowbank. After wistfully staring at the empty parking spot I was so close to, a guy with a big truck came by and pulled me out. He said he was just driving around, having fun in the snow and helping out anyone who was stuck.

We don’t have snow down here often, but these are wonderful examples of humanity’s goodness. Thanks.

We did have a freak snowstorm during the overnight hours of December 13-14, 1997. We were on our honeymoon, stuck in Vicksburg, MS. Anyone who has been there knows that city has a whole lot of hills. An 18 wheeler overturned on the exit to our hotel. We were supposed to head back home that Sunday, because our church’s Christmas program was that night (and I had a solo!) and hubby had to start final exams on Monday. Everything was cancelled. The hotel gave us a comp night because we couldn’t leave and we were on our honeymoon. We really appreciated that.

A few years ago I started automatically snowblowing the sidewalks of each next-door neighbor whenever I did mine. Now, both neighbors have taken to doing mine whenever they do theirs.

Sometimes I’ll be the first one out there after a snow; other times, one of the two neighbors will venture out first. It has become automatic, and it’s pretty cool.
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