Said the snowplow truck driver, quoted in "New Hampshire lawmaker arrested for obstructing snowplow" (NY Post).
In case you were wondering, does the snowplow driver feel bad leaving that mountain range of snow across the end of your driveway or is he gleefully exulting in his power to impose this brutal new load of work on people who have already shoveled their driveway clear?
What difference does it make if he feels bad, though? He might just as well enjoy what he does, but it's nice of him to feel bad.
As for the New Hampshire lawmaker — do you need to know his political affiliation to decide what you think? — he's just another snow-shoveling human who's worked very hard clearing his drive and gets mad at the inevitable undoing of his work by the snowplow. Of course, he's an idiot to confront the driver, and a lawmaker should take special care to behave himself in public, but would you arrest him for this?
The video is humiliation enough, don't you think? Or do you still need to know his political affiliation?
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Anyone who lives where snow flies knows that the plows keep life moving during and after a storm. The reps behavior was stupid and likely due to frustration at something else, I imagine. He was at fault and should not have berated and obstructed the plow driver. An arrest seems like a waste of time and money, though.
If we need to know the political affiliation of people in these skirmishes, it’s pretty sad. If we have to know for one, we should have to know for both, though.
I'm assuming that he just had a bad day and the snow was a last straw. Let the publicity be a lesson for us all -- cameras are everywhere.
Is this lawmaker new to New Hampshire? To snow?
This is how people behave when you turn the word 'adult' into a verb.
He yelled at a guy in a snowplow truck, and for that was charged with three separate crimes. This kind of overcharging takes place all the time, and is designed to force guilty pleas to lesser charges rather than risk the cumulative time that could be handed down. Same as with the q anon shaman. It is wrong, however, and likely disproportionately affects minorities.
The priority is getting the roads open for emergency vehicles which you might understand if you have a heart attack from shoveling snow. Personality types who yell at snow plow drivers are especially vulnerable.
I plowed snow working for the Street Department in the Illinois city where I grew up. I took a year and a half off after college to work and save some money.
My experience was that people were uniformly happy to see us out on the roads working, including the unavoidable result of plowing it back into the end of their driveways.
Greeson is lucky he didn't get his clock cleaned. His behavior was inexcusable, but undeserving of an arrest.
I once had an exchange like this with a snowplow driver. It was 8 am and I arrived at my office to find the entry blocked by a huge pile of snow. My first patient was at 9. I was livid. Why the hell did the guy put everyone else’s snow in front of my office walk? Luckily, he didn’t film me.
Thank god climate change has made snow a thing of the past.
"New Hampshire lawmaker" isn't as impressive as it sounds.
There are hundreds of them and they get paid next to nothing.
At one time, the NH state legislature was the third or fourth largest in the English-speaking world.
"In case you were wondering, does the snowplow driver feel bad leaving that mountain range of snow across the end of your driveway or is he gleefully exulting in his power to impose this brutal new load of work on people who have already shoveled their driveway clear?"
Can't speak for all drivers but with this guy it's pretty clear.
My issue is that here in Milwaukee they wait all day and take multiple passes on each side of the street, each time putting up a new wall at the end of the driveway. Ridiculous.
Both the representative and driver are public-facing workers. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Was DIEversity a motive?
In fairness to the politico, he did not once say "Do You Know Who I Am?"
Maybe if he just asked the guy politely to do him a favor and push the stuff aside--but I suspect that the video was not the beginning of the entire incident.
I once lived in a house right at the end of two streets that came together in an L. Had about 20' of sidewalk plus the driveway. The plows would push the snow from both streets into the corner. A nightmare. I was a lot younger then. I shoveled. Today I might be out there yelling at the plows.
I believe NH still has pretty much a part-time citizen legislature.
More rough around the edges, perhaps, but that also means not as schooled in hiding who they really are.
Am I the only one who thinks that the snowplow truck driver only wanted him arrested after he found out that he was a Republican rep? And that he was only arrested because of who he is?
"Of course, he's an idiot to confront the driver, and a lawmaker should take special care to behave himself in public, but would you arrest him for this?
The video is humiliation enough, don't you think? Or do you still need to know his political affiliation?"
In order for the roads to be clear during heavy snow the truck drivers need to get the snow off the roads. If they stop to plow out every driveway they will not be able to keep the roads clear.
So people in the area need to be able to clear out their own driveways.
The first people to demand special treatment are always these government first leftist types who do not think or care about what it takes to make the entire system and community work.
People like Robert Cook.
Really what they are demanding at a fundamental level is that everyone else in society act as their slaves.
The people who really care about things and about the community will take time to understand the system and how a free high trust society is built. It takes a critical mass of people to maintain such a society.
Curious George said...
Can't speak for all drivers but with this guy it's pretty clear.
My issue is that here in Milwaukee they wait all day and take multiple passes on each side of the street, each time putting up a new wall at the end of the driveway. Ridiculous.
What alternative plan do you have?
I have plowed snow before. You don't just plow snow once. Shockingly it is quiet heavy especially when it is wet. It pushes the tractor around.
You have to take multiple passes. That is how it works. In a situation where there is over a foot or two of snow shit is just not going to happen.
I dealt with it by moving south.
tommyesq said...
He yelled at a guy in a snowplow truck, and for that was charged with three separate crimes. This kind of overcharging takes place all the time, and is designed to force guilty pleas to lesser charges rather than risk the cumulative time that could be handed down. Same as with the q anon shaman. It is wrong, however, and likely disproportionately affects minorities.
Not the same.
If the snowplow driver is accosted by every jerk who has their driveway plowed they will not get the snow off the road.
So in order to maintain a society where we have roads without snow conduct that prevents the system from working must be suppressed.
Until you come up with another system you can either have a pile of snow in your driveway and roads or you have no roads.
It is a binary choice. The people who yell at snowplow drivers and interrupt their work are attacking everyone.
In the 1950s, Berkeley students lobbied to end the University of California's ban on speakers. The University's president had complete control over who could address the student body and faculty. When the ban was lifted, students celebrated by inviting a series of controversial speakers like Malcolm X and Capt. Ralph Forbes of the American Nazi Party. That was cheeky and confrontational. And cool.
Today things are different. How did young people get so reactionary and dull? Not only are they not having sex anymore (probably because they are too fat), they're also advocating for speaker bans. What the hell?! The kids are like old people.
Or do you still need to know his political affiliation?
"Republican" is literally the second word in the article. Had he been a Democrat...well, you know the rest.
There are 400 NH state representatives.
Here in NW Montana, we use snow blowers at home to remove excess snow from walkways, driveways and the end of driveways. Where I live (in a county rural area) there are no sidewalks to clear. And when, early in the morning, we hear the large plow truck clearing snow from the state highway in front of our house we revel knowing that getting to the city will be easier and safer than if there had been no road clearing. I don't mind at all working a bit with my blower so that the big plow truck can do its job.
The NH legislature has 400 seats. It works out to one state rep for every 3,300 citizens. So, yeah, the "politician" aspect of this story is kind of clickbait-y.
Making it a criminal matter is just a waste of time and resources and doesn't accomplish anything but engender more resentment toward the government. People who are committing real crimes -- theft, threats, vandalism, etc. -- get arrested and charged, yet rarely face any real consequences. I'm sure this matter will be resolved in similar fashion. So it ends up resulting in a lot of paperwork for the cops and clerks and some court time for a couple of lawyers, and nothing of real value for anyone involved, or the public.
This guy is an idiot and needs some rage control therapy. That he is an elected representative is stunning. We lived in a Colorado mountain town for many years. You expect to get plowed in every time there is a sizable snowfall. Its why everyone in town owns a snow blower or hires someone who does to plow their driveway.
Correct, NH has a part time legislature - it meets once a year for a minimal number of days, and pays $200 per term plus milage costs. These are not professional politicians.
I would note that this senator yelled (and made "rude gestures") at a plow driver who was passing by in a truck, and who stopped the truck - why would he do that? Just keep driving and there is no issue! Instead, he got out and confronted the senator, then went back and got his phone and filmed the senator, then went home and called the police on the senator. Seems like the plow driver was the asshat here, not the senator.
I would note that this senator yelled (and made "rude gestures") at a plow driver who was passing by in a truck, and who stopped the truck - why would he do that? Just keep driving and there is no issue! Instead, he got out and confronted the senator, then went back and got his phone and filmed the senator, then went home and called the police on the senator. Seems like the plow driver was the asshat here, not the senator.
Interesting. This is how handmade tales are brayed, how progressive conflicts are conceived. Maybe they can get together for a quasi-organic mug of adulterated Joe?
Why would he be gleeful? Projection, AA?
Sioux Falls has a partial solution to this issue.
Without having read any comments above.
You live in a state where it snows. Get used to that fact. If you live on any road the town, county, township or state plow is going to come by and block your driveway. It isn't their goal to block your driveway. It's their goal to make sure people can safely use the roads. It is your job to see to it that your driveway is cleared without dumping the snow back in the road. The reason is two fold. One so that you have unimpeded access to the road. Two if you don't remove it when the snow melts you have an ice dam that holds water and when it refreezes you now have a skating rink at the end of the driveway.
People whine about the dumbest shit.
If it's as bad as the roads needing to be plowed, do you you really need to be driving on those conditions?
Plowing the driveway can wait until the road is plowed. That is especially true now that we started staying in more and having nearly everything delivered.
My recollection, this was not a major problem before, when schools wouldn't close for 12 inches.
Now is a problem because every little thing is a problem.
The equipment is different in different areas. In Anchorage AK the plows have an end piece that comes down to hold back the snow as they pass a driveway and raises to release it after the are past the driveway. Not sure why it's not used everywhere. Icy berms from wet snow are a heavy hassle. Whatever.
Snowplow drivers are responsible for clearing the road, you are responsible for clearing your driveway. End of story. When I lived in CT, I dealt with this every single Winter- the end of the driveway would usually be packed with a small mountain of compacted snow from where the plow had cleared the road- while I didn't like it, I knew the order of responsibilites, and never once thought to myself to blame the plowmen. On occasion, I would get to clearing the snow before the roads were plowed, and I would use the snowblower to clear the road at the end of my driveway deep enough so that the plow wouldn't recover the end of the driveway.
And the driver here behaved badly, too. From what I can tell, he is the one who stopped and started recording. A more decent and smarter man would have just driven on without stopping (which is what he is supposed to do), thus avoiding the conflict altogether. If I were this driver's supervisor, he would get a dressing down from me for stopping in the first place.
New York's Manhattan is a maxi-crowded place but it has two assets that are very handy for snow removal, the Hudson and East Rivers.
New York's Manhattan is a cramped, crowded place but it has a relatively easy way to get rid of snow. Truck it to the Hudson piers and dump it.
Repeat as necessary.
New York's Manhattan is an over-crowded place but it has a quick way to get rid of snow: truck it to the Hudson River piers and dump it.
Repeat as necessary.
Attacks of the Snow Gestapo is a Northern European problem. My thought is why not wait for it to melt. Go south young man , go south.
The problem is that when the plow pushes the snow into the end of the driveway it is usually slushy and it iced over quickly. You can’t use a snowblower.
It was always the most miserable part of shoveling.
Yancey Ward is correct. The citizen - who here in NH has a higher chance of being a state rep of some sort, because we really do try to do that part-time volunteer thing here, despite the downsides - should be used to this by now. Wherever you move in NH, the snow is going somewhere, and no one researches that before purchase and then curses or blesses their luck the first winter. He should know: it's NH, snow sucks, sometimes you draw the short straw. I have lived in 9 different houses in NH, and sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't.
But the driver also knows that a certain percentage of people he is plowing for - which is an extremely valuable service - have nonetheless just strained their backs and frozen their toes clearing snow, and the long discouragement you feel when you here in the distance the plow coming just as you are finishing up is something he has experienced himself. He knows it is an unfair complaint against him, but he has also been there.
The snowplow driver has no way to clear the road without blocking driveways. That is just physics. You try it sometime. He can "feel bad" all he wants but it is unavoidable.
Mr. D said..."Sioux Falls has a partial solution to this issue."
That's awesome! Why isn't the City of Madison spending my tax dollars on THIS!
"In case you were wondering, does the snowplow driver feel bad leaving that mountain range of snow across the end of your driveway or is he gleefully exulting in his power to "
impose this brutal new load of work on people who have already shoveled their driveway clear? "
Depends on the driver. Have seen bus drivers pretending to wait while old ladies run up, then pull away at last minute.
I grew up in Chicago in a nice neighborhood that is now a violent black ghetto. The neighbors all pitched in to pay a guy with a jeep and a plow to clear the sidewalks. I lived a year in New Hampshire and paid a guy with a plow to clear my 1/4 mile driveway. He also mowed my 5 acres in summer.
It's not that hard.
All of you Rocky Mountain folks pooh-poohing the snow across the driveway: Your snow is not the same as what we have in New England. The man's frustration was borne of the certain knowledge that he had been gifted with several hours of very hard work. And probably made him a lot later for whatever he needed to get to than he already was. Not an excuse for losing his cool, but an explanation.
That's why I clear snow from the street in the direction the plow will come from so it doesn't dump back in my drive. Because the snow has to be placed somewhere and the entrance to my drive is also the side of the road. If a portion of the pavement is cleared there is no snow to redeposit in my drive.
This is part of the reason why I took a cut in pay to move back down south after five grim winters in the People's Republic of Taxachusetts.
(And, as it turned out, my standard of living, in financial terms, stayed exactly the same, due to the difference in the cost of living.)
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