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(Cathy Weeks) wrote:

$10/hr
That seems low to me. I'm thinking back to that "mother of all
snowstorms" that hit the east coast about a year ago. Here in NJ we
got two feet of snow. We dug out only one of our cars and the bare
minimum of driveway and a path to the door (only about 5 feet of
path). This is actually a very small area (our front door is RIGHT by
our driveway, and our house is VERY close to the road). The job took
hours (4 or so). If I could have paid someone $25 per hour I would
have HAPPILY paid the $100 (or perhaps more). I was stiff and sore
for days after that job.

We got about 3 feet of snow in Baltimore over one long weekend in
about 1998. (Also ice storms, but that's another storm).

No one was doing anything or going anywhere, and dh voluntarily
shoveled our sidewalk (short - about 8 feet), and also shoveled the
lady across the street's passageways (she's in a wheelchair so she has
ramps) for free of course, and then shoveled the entire street (both
lanes) (our frontage was about 50 feet- hers was about 100 feet).

We don't often get snowplows, and people park on the side (no curbs)
so there's sometimes only one lane through which is why there aren't
many plows. The other men on the street (younger) were kind of
guilted into doing the same. It made it very nice along our section
of street. No icy ruts and snowplowed in driveways. We also had a
pile of snow along inside the fence until mid June.

My mom will pay to have her walk shoveled, but the neighbors will
often come and clean off her car and dig her out. This is partly
guilt because the lady next door to her of about the same age
apparently came out of her house last winter, slipped and fell and hit
her head and froze to death. She wasn't discovered until the next
morning by one of the neighbors who was out jogging.

But it is still the case that everyone values their time differently,
and as long as the teen wasn't rude, the man shouldn't be insulted
about "today's kids" because the kid wouldn't do it for less than $40.

By the way, *I* might shovel someone's snow for free (if they were
friends, and were unable to do it) but I wouldn't take on a shoveling
*job* for $10 (unless it were quick and easy).

The guy next door felt that dh was taking money from teens who might
have shoveled the ramps of our neighbor across the street, and so he
didn't do that for subsequent storms.
grandma Rosalie