Shoveling - Part 2

 It snowed again last night. This one only dropped about 5 to 6 inches on us. The Bubs still had the last snowfall fresh in his mind, so I took him outside shoveling with me. I handed him his shovel and rake (pictured) and he went right to work. I did catch him eating some snow between breaks, but I let it slide. It was the first time that I could go about clearing the driveway and leave him to play. I was able to keep watch on him from the corner of my eye without worrying about him running off somewhere. Even if he did slip from my radar, I would have a fresh set of tracks that I could follow. 

As I delve into my memory bank of past shoveling experiences, I realize that I already shared the shovel-at-an-angle story. So this frees my mind up for other stories. Let's see... ah hah! Chief No Nose. 

When I returned to school to complete my undergrad program, I lived with a couple of friends in Northeast PA. We had tight street parking only and this made for interesting behavior after a snowfall. Some neighbors can be uncivilized about their shoveled-out-parking-spot on a public street. There is an unwritten rule (or perhaps written in some towns) that if you shovel out your car, after a snowfall, then you have dibs on that spot for when you return later in the day. The only requirement is that you leave something on the shoveled spot. Some people leave a piece of lawn furniture. Others leave something not-so-valuable, but big enough, that says, "this (blank) is saving my parking spot." 

One of my roommates owned a three-foot tall statue of a Native American. The nose was broken off, the paint was peeling from it, it was dirty and it was heavy - but we all loved it. I should also say that we didn't own any lawn furniture. Long story short, this statue was supposed to save my roommate's parking spot one night. My roommate was only going to the store - 6 blocks away - for an item or two. So he pulled from his just-shoveled spot, got out of his car and placed the statue in his spot. He then realized that he forgot something inside the apartment and quickly ran inside to grab it. Two minutes later he ran back out the door to his car, which was idling in the middle of the street. Within that two-minute time frame, somebody not only stole his statue but somebody else took his spot (since the statue was no longer saving it). He ended up parking further away from the apartment (than the store was from the apt) when he returned. 

Is there no decency in the world?

I'll teach the Bubs about "neighborhood etiquette after a snowfall" when he gets a little older. For now, I just need to teach him to shovel.