No Money for You

Yesterday a mild (4-6 inch) snowstorm hit our area. As I was layering up to do the first round of shoveling there was a knock on the door. In the year and a bit we've lived here we've never gotten a "Can I shovel/weed/etc knock." My husband bemoans the how unindustrious the kids in the neighborhood are, thinking back to the money making snowstorms of his childhood.

Generally I like shoveling snow, but this is our 4th shovelable* snow this season. And the season goes until about April.

So a guy knocks, offering to shovel once yesterday and then come again in the morning to take care of the overnight snow. He asked for $15 for the first day and $10 for the next.

We pooled our cash and came up with $16. The huz was doing an airport run last night and was supposed to get cash on his way home. This morning he hadn't gone for cash before the guy left, but the bank is 10 minutes away so he figured he would be back before the guy was done.

The guy shoveling and his fiancee finished up pretty quickly. She showed me which house they would be moving to and said they'd stop back later. The she thanked me profusely, letting me know that the money they earned today would pay for their Christmas dinner.

After 30 minutes and I called the huz to make sure he's not stuck in the snow. Apparently folks in our neighborhood like cash for the holidays- he'd been to five different places (including 2 banks with multiple ATMs) and every ATM was out of cash. I suggested cash back at a store which was finally successful.

I'm glad that our shoveling duties for the moment are done. I'm happier that our laziness may have made the season a little brighter for a neighborhood family.

*Less than 3 inches and we only shovel the walkway