The Government is killing people!

[KenJackson]

We are also required to shovel our sidewalks where I live, and I suppose you could be fined if you don't, though I've never heard of anyone actually being fined.

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

The law says us old folk have to do it ourselves.

Well, okay. I guess you gotta do what the law says. Sorry 'bout that. It was nice knowin' ya.

[GeoffC]

We have no sidewalks, hereabouts ....

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

We have no sidewalks, hereabouts ....

Oh my! You could come over here and shovel my sidewalks and driveway.

We have two more days of snow coming next week.

[Mickey330]

I can sympathize with ya, living up here in the frozen wasteland of western New York state.

Pretty picture, though.

Marilyn

[wannabee]

A lot of our side walks in our neighborhood are grass. It's rare that people don't mow them. It might take a while but when you have the only jungle in front of your house you are seen as unneighbourly and don't care and a lazy bum. Eventually the local government will get a complaint and they will mow it after complaints come from multiple sources.

But I bet that snow drops faster than the grass grows.

[SameOldStory]

I've worked up at Ft Drum in the winter. No thanks.

But if you want to come down to PA to warm up, you're welcome. WE only have 3 feet of snow.

[wodin]

I would think that having such an ordinance on the books would leave the town open to a HUGE liability suit.

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by wodin

I would think that having such an ordinance on the books would leave the town open to a HUGE liability suit.

Which law? The one about killing off the old people with heart attacks while shoveling? Or the one about having to clean off the sidewalks at all?

On the latter I can see the reason. Safer for kids going to school (as opposed to walking in the street). A clear area for emergency services - ambulances, fire, and police. Pedestrian safety - slips and falls from icy pavement.

But there can be no denying it, every winter some old farts die shoveling their sidewalks. Some don't have the money to pay others to do it, and some have done it all their lives "I ain't a cripple, I'll do it myself"!

[KenJackson]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

On the latter I can see the reason. Safer for kids going to school ... Pedestrian safety - slips and falls from icy pavement.

The different mindsets evident by some localities not having, and others having, the ordinance are revealing. Let me see if I can summarize two of them.

One says, everybody benefits when the sidewalks are cleared of snow, so we'll be sure to shovel the walk in front of our home, and if our neighbors are old or crippled, we'll shovel theirs too.

Two says, everybody benefits when the sidewalks are cleared of show, so we'll mandate that everyone shovel the walk in front of their homes, and we'll punish those that don't.

I think these two mindsets very roughly capture conservative and liberal thinking, respectively.

[vivaldirules]

To heck with the motivation for the law, I wanna know how well it's working. It's been three days since you posted, SOS. So how many old folks have they knocked off so far this week?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

To heck with the motivation for the law, I wanna know how well it's working. It's been three days since you posted, SOS. So how many old folks have they knocked off so far this week?

Besides, they are just a drain on the system anyway, ask Sarah.

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Besides, they are just a drain on the system anyway, ask Sarah.

Death Panel hearing:

"I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Egan, but your conditions are both terminal. Sometime in the next 40 or 50 years or so you will likely both die for some reason or another. And the potential costs are so great that we hereby sentence you both to shoveling your sidewalks daily until the end comes. You can pick up your shovels on the way out. But there is a $20 copay for those - each. Cash only."

[SameOldStory]

ALL YOU PEOPLE THAT SENT ME PM's TELLING ME TO SHOVEL HARDER, SHOVEL FASTER CAN JUST GO TO HECK!


Just for fun (???) I did a google search snow shoveling deaths and limited it to the past month.


This looks to be a good article - Medical: Snow removal raises risks for shovelers.

"There's little doubt that snow shoveling can kill. Published studies based on death certificates and weather records in Massachusetts and Michigan have showed that heart disease deaths generally and deaths from exertion-related cardiac arrest specifically rise by 22 percent or more in the weeks during and after a heavy snow."


I would rather die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather. Not screaming like the passengers in his car.

[vivaldirules]

A question for Death Panel members out there: Should we give them bigger shovels (more snow so heavier) or smaller shovels (takes much longer to clear the sidewalk and more frustrating)?