<p>Last year, we had so much snow that an elderly neighbor left for a few days to stay with her daughter. When she came back, most of the men on the street went over to clear out her driveway and sidewalk. We only have two shovels, and D2 and I were using them, but H was around and he went over to talk to them.</p>
<p>After a little while, I sent D2 over to help and a few minutes later went over myself. The work was over pretty quickly and she was so grateful she brought over a bottle of scotch later for H!!! He hadn’t done a thing! One of the other men brought him some beer too. That’s snow-bonding for you – you get something if you shovel for others, and sometimes even if you don’t!</p>
<p>We did have one enterprising teen boy knock on our door in December, the night before a pending snowstorm. He was offering his services for shoveling the next day. When I declined and told hime “sorry, we have a snowblower”. his reply was “man, those things are killing my business!” </p>
<p>Which got me thinking…most of my immediate neighbors have snow blowers now. Probably because we have all aged, and our kids are away at school or moved out. There are a couple of boys who cut lawns in the summer; between the two of them they do about a third of the neighborhood. (But not our lawn…I think the yard work is good excercise and don’t mind doing it.)</p>
<p>When we moved in, we had a “paper boy” who delivered to our doorstep. He grew up and was replaced by another boy, who had to give up the route to a “vehicle carrier” who throws the paper somewhere near the end of our driveway. The teen had to give up the route because the newspaper would no longer drop his order at the corner…instead he would be responsible for driving into town to collect his order by 4 am. It was too much to ask one of his parents to get up that early every day. So in that case, there was a teen willing to work a paper route who was phased out because of cuts at the newspaper.</p>
<p>I don’t think we should automatically think that teens are lazier than we were at that age…</p>
<p>My hubby woke up the 17-year-old whose school was cancelled; they shoveled our drive, went next door only to be told the man across the street had had bypass and his wife needed to get to the hospital, so they cleaned out her drive. Then they helped the first neighbor finish his driveway. No complaints, either. </p>
<p>Oh, where was I? In bed.</p>
<p>Should he use this on his applications next year? harhar</p>
<p>My kids all shovel our driveways and walkways if the snowblower can’t do it. We had a snowstorm Tuesday night and son was off school on Wednesday. I had to work at noon but before I left I asked him to re-shovel the bottom of the driveway where the snowplow had shoved it back in and the stoops where the snowblower couldn’t go. It was a very nice surprise to my husband and I when we got home and found that son had done what I had asked him, plus the driveway again! </p>
<p>But, yes, the snowblower has changed everything. In our neighborhood six of us share three snowblowers and everyone else either has a snowblower or a plowing service.</p>
<p>For the OP asking where all the boys are - yes, that is very sexist. I was the youngest of a family of all girls in the snowbelt, so I did a lot of shoveling. (My dad had heart issues; they got a snowblower when I went to college.) Assuming only boys can do physical work has always bugged me. I still do most of ours because I enjoy shoveling, usually while everyone else is at work and school. When we have a lot of snow my kids go out too; when I couldn’t shovel because of surgery my S did plenty. My neighborhood doesn’t have many teens, but I do see them out shoveling when they can.</p>
<p>With only two girls in the family, I also participated in shoveling growing up and we never distinguished between the kids (2 boys, 1 girl) when they all lived at home. I think my son, now a senior in HS, is realizing that he won’t be here next winter to help out. Another part of the empty nest I’m not looking forward to. I don’t mind shoveling walkways but our steep driveway plus the walkways is too much for me and the snowblower is really unwieldy.</p>
<p>I agree that whether kids should even attempt some of this depends on where they live and whether they know the neighbors or not. </p>
<p>Newspaper delivery by kids seemed to cease quite some years ago now - I only ever see adults delivering in vehicles. I don’t know if this is because no kids will do it or because the companies don’t want the liabilities and won’t hire them.</p>
<p>As far as working in the neighborhood shoveling snow, doing yard work, etc. - I wouldn’t want the kid to randomly go door to door but it’s certainly possible they might know some neighbors who could use some help and might be willing to pay for it. The kid usually wouldn’t need to venture far to find some work.</p>
<p>
Lighten up Calvin. I don’t see anyone blaming kids for anything - it’s just a phenomenon being pointed out and a difference most of us see between now and when we were kids in this same society. Obviously the parents are at the root of it (with kids not needing to go out and earn money), society is an issue with overall safety and litigation, many (but certainly not all) kids have a lot of schoolwork, etc. although that usually doesn’t cover the summer and most kids, even the fairly busy ones, could manage to work 2-3 hours on a weekend to earn some extra cash if they were so inclined.</p>
<p>The “angry” post wasn’t really directed at the OP, but the general mindset that many adults such as the OP seem to have. I apologize if you were offended or if it sounded too harsh, but I still stand by my point.</p>
<p>Calvin:
(We’re probably mostly in agreement)</p>
<p>If the parents keep their kids’ time completely filled with structured activities (including the time school/HW consumes) then the kid likely would have no time for a lot of entrepreneurship and if the parents/relatives basically provide enough funding for almost all activities/wants the kid would have then there’s perhaps not much incentive for the kid to try to earn extra money.</p>
<p>I happen to think some unstructured time is important for kids. I also think some incentive for the kid to become somewhat entrepreneural and earn some of their own money is important for kids. </p>
<p>I also see how much time some (not all) kids spend on facebook, video games, and TV and think these kids, which IMO is most kids, could manage to find the time to spend a few hours a week, a month, or on occasion to earn some money or at least try to. There are a lot of benefits to it in addition to the extra bucks which most kids don’t mind having.</p>
<p>Some of the kids also might not have the physical stamina that it takes to do a lot of strenuous physical labor (I know a lot of young people who have invisible physical conditions that really affect their stamina tho they look just “fine”).</p>
<p>Also, a lot of kids, adults & families have crazy schedules, especially those on CC. How does one fit snow shoveling fit into an already packed schedule? Sorry, I have no personal experience here.</p>
<p>Hey, I woke up at 5 a.m. every morning every day to shovel the new three feet of snow. And with a shovel made for the beach because my mom refuses to admit that in Connecticut it snows.</p>
<p>I honestly think it’s mostly about parental expectations. I know my mom has a lot of work to do, and I have midterms to study for just like all other kids, but two or three hours shoveling instead of reading is hardly much of a sacrifice, the exercise is relieving really, and I know my mom has way more work than I do, and it’s a lot more intense, so she expects me to shovel the snow. That’s the least she can ask of me.</p>
<p>I highly, highly doubt any kids can’t take the few hours out of their schedule that it takes to shovel snow. I do a lot of work: I tutor and babysit every day, I spend a few hours arranging the newspaper format and editing, I study, and I can do all of that as well as shovel the stupid snow. I think procrastination’s the major enemy of schedules.</p>
<p>It’s never difficult to find time to do the things you put first.</p>
<p>There are a group of brothers in the subdivision next to ours that run their own lawncare business. We hire them from time to time but for the most part I think they take their business elsewhere, I have never seen them working a house in our sub or theirs besides ours. People around here just aren’t willing to pay for that kind of thing, so the kids do their own parents driveways and that’s about it. In this economy, at least around here, one of the first things to go was lawn and snow removal service. </p>
<p>Nobody in my family is quite able bodied enough to handle a heavy snow besides my dad, and none of the women in my family are <em>allowed</em> to touch the lawn mower. I don’t even know how to mow a lawn, my dad feels that is a “mans job” and he keeps the lawn mower locked in the shed. I did do snow shoveling when I could but once I kept getting hurt doing it my dad took over. We have a lot of medical issues in this family that make snow shoveling really hard.</p>
<p>Both of my kids have been shoveling snow for years, but I do see houses where the driveway/sidewalks are not shoveled and I know that teens live there. In the summer, the same houses are having the grass cut by the adults or a lawn service…</p>
Sure - they wouldn’t be expected to do the kind of labor we’re talking about but I think the point is that there seem to be no teens out looking for this type of work anymore - at least compared to the way it was when I was a kid.</p>
<p>It seems that like here, there’d be a fair amount of yard work needed year-round in Hawaii (in lieu of any snow shoveling).</p>
<p>wanton - You sound like a great help to your mother and you have a great mental approach to it.</p>
<p>himom, snow shoveling is just something you have to fit into your packed schedule otherwise nothing on your schedule will get accomplished. it may put you behind a little bit, but it has to be done. if you don’t shovel your driveway, you don’t get to work. example… my dad works about an hour away from home on a normal day but when it’s supposed to snow he gets up three hours early, snow blows the driveway, and heads out to work - giving himself at least 2 hours to get there because of snow traffic.</p>
<p>Ha! A local topic this week. Friends park a car in my long drive (no garage) when away in the winter. The neighbors tend to pile their snow on that section of my drive. Our mutual friends stated they’d hire the neighbors 17 year old to clear the spot. Fine, though I had my doubts, knowing the lack of work ethic. Sure enough, one hour from the deadline the spot hadn’t been touched, so I shoveled. No neighbors home. Parents were embarrassed, but resigned. Old pattern. </p>
<p>Some adults came around offering to shovel a few years ago for $10. I offered them $5 if they’d help. I wanted to check out their work, and was not happy when they left before the job was complete-I was out working hard with them. </p>
<p>My Ds, home from college, know they’d better shovel if home when I’m working all day. Being from AZ, I still like to shovel and need the exercise too. Sometimes they’re scurrying to get it done when I pull in, but am glad they absorbed the message.</p>
<p>kids today don’t know the meaning of hard work! I was such a good kid compared to the crappy teens of today, blah blah blah</p>
<p>why do you ask where the teenage boys are? maybe they can’t shovel because the females haven’t provided them with adequate nutrition because they don’t live in the kitchen anymore like in the 1950s? The females should stop having careers and focus on the kitchen so the males can shovel snow productively, right?</p>
<p>I live in a subdivision where most people can afford to have someone shovel their driveways and mow the lawn. We hire companies because we’ve tried hiring kids and none are willing to do a half hour’s work for $25. I find that ridiculous. It’s not that parents are keeping their kids busy, it’s because they are providing spending money so the kids have no incentive to work. I would have cringed had my 16 yr old been too lazy to mow a lawn for spending money.</p>
it may put you behind a little bit, but it has to be done. if you don’t shovel your driveway, you don’t get to work. example… my dad works about an hour away from home on a normal day but when it’s supposed to snow he gets up three hours early, snow blows the driveway, and heads out to work - giving himself at least 2 hours to get there because of snow traffic.</p>