Good Friends And Neighbors

In The Worst Of Weather

No matter how much our various technologies try to insulate us from the inconveniences and frustrations of delay, or incapacity, or inability to shape and define our experience by sheer force of machinery and gadgetry, a tough New England winter can bury whatever modern advantages we might think we have under snow and ice overnight. Last week it was two feet of snow. On Tuesday it was snow, sleet, and ice. On Friday, it will be more snow. In sports, such piling on would be considered bad form, but the forces of nature have rules of behavior that completely ignore human convenience. This winter is turning out to be a case in point. So when winter fully exercises its prerogatives and there are so many things we just cannot do, there remains something we can almost always do — even in a nor’easter: Be a good friend and neighbor.

On stormy days when it may be impossible for you to get to your workplace or school, remember there are a few important things to attend to right in your own neighborhood. First think of the people who may be elderly or infirm, who may be stranded, worried about their heat, or their supply of milk, or even getting the mail from the mailbox. Just checking in with these neighbors, and perhaps a little extra shoveling, if you are fit and inclined, will go a long way toward making them feel safe and secure in their homes.

If you do shovel, snowblow, or plow, make sure your work doesn’t make more work for others. Leaving snow from your sidewalk and driveway clearing efforts in the street creates hazards for motorists who are facing enough challenges already. It also creates more work for highway crews who already face many long hours behind the wheel. They don’t need the extra work. If you truly appreciate the efforts of Newtown’s emergency volunteers, who frequently must head out in the middle of a storm to respond to calls for help, you can show your gratitude by shoveling the snow away from a buried hydrant, if there is one nearby. And don’t forget the mail carriers. Despite their motto, a little snow clearing around the mailbox will help speed the mail and brighten the “gloom of night” for those who deliver it.

While favors done for friends and neighbors are often returned in kind, the helping hand to the stranger is often the most gratifying to give. If someone’s car is stuck in the snow bank in front of your house, go offer them a push, a cup of coffee, or a call for a tow truck. It’s a small thing for you, but they won’t soon forget it.