So tonight we are sitting in front of the fire and we hear a noise. I look out and there are two guys shoveling out front walk and driveway, it’s 9pm and???
Twice today guys have showed up wanting to shovel the snow, but we are in Detroit and who the heck is going to be shoveling snow at 9pm???
So we go into paranoia mode and figure they must be casing the place or are going to ring the bell and want to get paid. I mean who shovels snow at 9pm!
So I called a neighbor because the association pays to have the snow plowed, the city only does downtown, and ask if this is something the association pays for.
Aislinn, has a more positive out look, that turns out to be the case, and says maybe they are the neighbor kids - more later...
But still it seems weird so we are paranoid. Too much of the “hype” of Detroit...
Well earlier we were out walking the dog. We were coming home and a car was stuck in our driveway. Because of where our house is our driveway get used as a turn around place for neighbors so it is not unusual for people to turn into our driveway to turn around. It’s a neighbor a few doors down and she has gotten stuck because of the snow. So we put the dog in and we and another neighbor help push/ rock her car so she can get some traction and make the move.
As it turns out it’s her kids! She has sent them out in the cold to shovel our walk and driveway.
It’s a good thing and our paranoia, maybe more my paranoia, has gotten us on the defensive over a good neighbor thing.
It’s funny because in San Francisco where there is less “paranoia” (for no good reason) we would have been shocked at this, but here in Detroit there is a very strong neighbor helps a neighbor culture and in reality we should have expected this. It was one of the first things Aislinn thought but it just seemed “strange” from a west coast orientation so we got paranoid.
Maybe it’s because we did have 5-6 inches of snow and that is a bad thing to be stuck in, and there is no way we would let someone sit out there in stuck in those conditions but it never occurred to me that someone would “repay” that “kindness” by going out in sub freezing temps to shovel out snow.
So it changed from paranoia to a “It’s a Wonderful Life” kind of moments.
It’s great when life surprises you in a good way. It happens more times than not in Detroit.
Kind of the opposite of the press that you read on Detroit.
Maybe after we live here awhile it will seem normal, but right now it still is one of those “wow” moments.
And a great cap to the Christmas week.
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