A Note on Neighborliness

 

If you have ever lived somewhere with significant snowfall (and perhaps other forms of weather/natural occurrences lead to similar things), you might know the mostly unwritten rules about dealing with the snow. In particular, I am thinking about shoveling your sidewalk.

I remember as a young child waking up to the rare snowfall and hearing my father toiling away with the shovel to clear our sidewalk. Perhaps I am imagining the conversation, but I sort of remember asking him why he would get up so early in the morning to do what was a pretty grueling chore. And he responded that it would be horrible if one of our neighbors walked along the sidewalk, got to the portion in front of our house, and either tripped or got their shoes all wet because we hadn't done our part to clear our sidewalk. It did not have anything to do with appearances or rules, he just wanted to make sure the sidewalk was still free for walking.

More often than not, if one of the neighbors got outside earlier than someone else, that person would shovel well past "their" area, taking care of six or seven feet of their neighbor's sidewalk. Sometimes parents would send a teenage kid over to an elderly person's home to shovel their front path and sidewalk too. 

A similar kindness would often surround clearing off cars. If you are outside clearing off your windshield, and you notice your neighbor hasn't gotten to theirs yet, you may go ahead and clear off their car too.

As I have gotten older, I have learned more about these kinds of things and heard how they can be warped into a fairly unneighborly thing: for instance, in Chicago, there are unwritten rules about the street parking space that you dig out belonging to you. I also have a more active imagination when it comes to things like liability and quid-pro-quos. Is it really smart to clear someone's car? What if you scratch it? Also, I know some things about citations for failure to shovel and take care of your property. What if it isn't neighborliness--what if it's just avoiding a fine?

But so much of something like clearing your sidewalk still does come from a sense of neighborliness. If kids are walking up the block, and your sidewalk isn't clear, they may feel like they have to walk in the street, which puts them in harm's way. And if someone trips and hurts themselves because your sidewalk isn't clear, that person will go through unnecessary discomfort just because you didn't do your part.

We recently got a heavy snowfall, and even though our neighborhood mostly keeps to itself, the storm was followed by diligent sidewalk clearing by the people who have stand-alone homes. And the apartment complexes, including ours, all seem to have an army of little plows to clear the paths and sidewalks. Even if we aren't the most community-oriented neighborhood, everyone still seems to have a good sense of watching out for others. I was able to take a long walk around our neighborhood through the little tunnels the neighbors had carved through the snow.

My vehicle was parked outside when a plow went by. The plow really packed my car in, and we don't have a shovel. But at some point during the day, a neighbor had dug my car out for me. I do not even know who it was. But it was exactly the kind of neighborly thing that brightens a day.

Are you familiar with these snow rules? Or is there anything similar for other kinds of weather? Has a neighbor done something kind for you lately?

Today's delights:

• I've started 2021 well with my intended habits: I meditated, prayed, did a Peloton workout, wore makeup, took a walk, and drank lots of water yesterday;
• last night, my husband cooked Chrissy Teigen's Literally Stovetop Pork Chops from Cravings, and they were delicious;
• I am still reading These Beautiful Bones, and loving it; and 
• I think I am going to organize my closet today.

Delight in something today, A