Are
you one of those people that plows out your driveway by making
a straight run and pushing the pile across the road and stacking
it on the opposite edge of the street?
Are
you one of those people that fire up your snowblower and toss
the white stuff anyplace it lands—especially out into the road—with
the only concern being that it isn’t in your driveway anymore?
I
hate you.
(Ok…
that’s a bit strong. I don’t hate you. But I definitely don’t
understand you.)
A
few days ago, I was driving along a fairly main road. Ahead of
me, two people were out clearing a driveway, with one of them
using a snowblower. I was easily close enough to be within sight,
and far enough away for them to adjust, when they began pouring
snow out into the road. As I passed, forced to move in a certain
way by oncoming traffic, it covered my windshield. And the crap
hitting the road would be there for other drivers coming along,
creating a slick and icy patch on otherwise dry pavement.
And
yet, all that can be said is how amazingly inconsiderate it is.
Might not be legal in many places, but often legal is judged by
what you are caught doing and if you are told to stop.
When
I bring out the snowblower, I put a lot of care and effort into
making sure I’m blowing the snow off into my yard and not the
flow of traffic. I’d like to think I’m not alone, but it’s quite
obvious that many people just don’t care.
Years
ago, Terry and I had a drive to work that passed by a house with
a long driveway, which reached the road at a strange angle near
a bend. Their process for clearing it involved using a truck with
a plow blade and shoving the snow across the street into a pile.
As the winter progressed, multiple plowings would mean the pile
crept from the side of the road onto the shoulder and once even
into the edge of the travel lane. To my knowledge, based on multiple
seasons of viewing the growing pile, there never was an official
stop made to the practice.
Winter
seems to bring into play—what I suppose can only be described
as pet peeves, given the occurrences repeating whether or not
the activities violate any law—on a far more frequent basis. And
as I turned off the wipers on my car the other day… recovering
from the snowshower we were treated to, I began considering some
of the joys of winter.
What
joys?
Wipers
frozen to the windshield. Snow building up in wheel wells and
rubbing against the tires. Car batteries more annoyed by being
out in the cold than you are. Dirt and salt and messed up clothing.
It’s
a funny thing though… since times do change. Keyless entry of
any kind has reduced how many of us fight with frozen locks. But
the winter does create scenarios we all get frustrated by, and
it seems to create them far more often than other seasons. I’m
guessing there are plenty of reasons why the dangers of palm trees
and coconuts don’t result in the same bad feelings.
For
now, there’s a bottle of washer fluid I need to find. Storm on
the way. Slush on the road. And at least one street I need to
avoid.