Blech.

Well, the snow finally came with a vengeance this morning. I swear, people seem to forget that this is Canada. We have winter. We get snow. I know it came late, but it's the same snow as last year. Winter driving isn't rocket science. If there's snow on the ground, drive slower than usual and don't cut people off. D'uh. You wouldn't believe the yahoos and morons that I had to deal with on the drive in to work.

It took me 45 minutes to make a 15 minute drive. There's nothing I hate more (besides scraping off my car) than watching someone blast by me in the breakdown lane then cause a backup by trying to squash in 3 cars ahead of me. Grrrr!

I know I'm a safe driver. If I'm going to get into an accident (and I haven't yet, knock on wood), it'll be because someone hit me. Watching fools drive around Ottawa today without snow tires was incredible. They were fishtailing all over the road. What the hell's wrong with people?

Anyway, when I got back home there was too much snow in the driveway to pull in. So I pull to the side, go in and drop off my purse. I put on my snowpants and grab a shovel out of the garage. Yes, we have a snowblower but truth be told, I'm afraid of the thing so I never learned how to use it. And Scott's not due home for another couple of hours. And our driveway is huge. Good times.

So I start. I put my head down and shovel as long and as hard as I can. When I looked up I had shoveled a path about as wide as the shovel itself and only about 10 feet long. Not even a fraction of the driveway was done. Oh my hell, it was time to call in the cavalry. I saw my neighbour Willie across the street stowblowing his drive with style and panache. I leaned on my shovel and watched and waited. Oh, and tried to look tired and a little sad. Pathetic, really. Who says a theatrical background doesn't help you in real life? He looked up and caught my eye. I waved friendly-like, smiled big and pretended to continue shovelling. Then I heard the engine cut (yes!). He yelled across the street:

"You want me to do yours?"
"No!" I lie, "Scott'll be home soon, anyway. "Thanks, Willie."
"You sure?", he persists like I knew he would.
"Well... okay", I fake reluctance. "Thanks so much!".

That bit of enthusiasm was absolutely true. Woohoo! I watched as he spent 10 minutes doing what would probably have taken me until tomorrow to do. Hey, at least I watched from outside. I could have gone inside and watched him from my picture window. So the moral is, it always pays to be kind to your neighbours. And don't get me wrong, I'm kind right back. Don't they get homemade cookies a few times a year?

kxx