Bad Weather & Bad Manners ... but not in Ocean City, New Jersey
Over the weekend I had an opportunity to read Saturday/Sunday WALL STREET JOURNAL (2/12-13/2011) and the article on A3 entitled: "As Weather Worsens, So Do Manners." It goes on to talk about a guy in Chicago who had his snow shovel taken, continued with talk about "amateur winter drivers, dog problems in the winter snow, and cars flying down the road looking like igloos." All of it covered "bad snow manners" during the winter weather.
I thought I'd post about the above topic from a perspective of Ocean City (NJ) where we only have 15,000 people in the winter months (with a high number of them in Florida off and on all winter) and a 100,000 plus number in the summer months (when it doesn't snow). Our manners tend to go downhill in the summer, but stay quite calm and friendly in the winter. The past two years have brought us much more snow than usual here in South Jersey. But let me talk about the topic: bad weather and bad manners."
I live on a short two block street in the Gardens ... a residential "single family" section in the norther part of the island known as Ocean City (NJ). We have quite an active population during the summer months, but only about 5-8 families during the winter living year-round on our street. First of all, almost no one in Ocean City shovels their sidewalks ... why ... because most properties do not have anyone living there in the winter. Second, even if one should shovel a sidewalk, the next property's sidewalk would remain covered. I try to shovel from my front door to the mailbox, and from the mailbox to the street ... so that the mailman can deliver during the bad weather. That is my "good manners" gesture for the winter months. During snow weather, almost no one walks around since most sidewalks are covered ... and if they do, they usually walk on the road since we get so few cars during the winter months in our neighborhood.
I gave up my good snow blower when we moved permanently from Pennsylvania to Ocean City (NJ). Storage issues dictated that it was not a major item. I wisely purchased a cord operated 12-inch snow blower for the limited amount of snow we were expecting here in Ocean City. That worked for a number of years, but in recent years the cord operated 12-inch snow blower has done well. I manage to clear my driveway, and the sidewalk, and often a bit more. And my manners remain excellent during bad weather. Of course, my neighbors on both sides of our side of the street, and my other two neighbors on the other side of the street, have never been here during a snow storm. dap
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