TBow Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Yesterday we got a fair amount of snow. Considerably less than what was forcast, or what the mid-west US got hit with, but still enough to make for some sore backs in shovelling the modest amount of snow we did receive. I made my rounds yesterday to my mother-in-law's and my mom's houses to clear them out and then came home to finish off what I had in the driveway. And no, my vent is not about the snow we got, or the shovelling I had to do. This morning I peered out the kitchen window and noticed my next door neighbor, an 82 year old widow, shovelling snow on her sidewalk and driveway. Now most of you are likely thinking, "Why didn't you go out and help her by shovelling?". Well this old girl could likely buy me 10 times over, and has contracted a man to snow-blow her sidewalks and driveway for her. So why in the world was she putting herself at risk by shovelling at her age? And kitty-cornered to my house and across the street lives a 90 year old widow. Well guess what? She was out shovelling her sidewalks too. Now I'm sure you guys got'ta be thinking, "Well c'mon TBow! 90 years old! You should'a been shovelling her out for sure!". Ah but wait Grasshopper. Her son lives right next door and he always comes over to her house with his snowblower to clear her snow. So what in the heck was she thinking by trying to shovel at her age? I commented to my wife how ludicrous these ladies were by jepoardizing their safety not to mention the issues that they'd put their neighbors and relatives through should something happen to them. Then I headed off to the other end of town to shovel my mother-in-law's driveway and sidewalk prior to my brother-in-law picking her up for one of her 3 trips a week to the clinic for her dialysis treatment. My mother-in-law is 83 and can sometimes barely make it from the house to the car without support from her driver. So what do I see her doing when I round the corner this morning? That's right! She's shovelling the sidewalks!!!!!!! I mean, like I hate to be disrespectful, but when women get real old (And that may go for men too, but around here, they just don't seem to last to long. Must be all the shovelling they had to do and died of heart attacks), do they just become stubborn, or do they get really really stupid? I gave my mother-in-law heck and told her to never again do any shovelling. I threatened to take the shovel away from her house. I said I'd feel like heck if anything ever happened to her, plus when she does stuff like that, it just puts pressure on me to rush to her place to get ahead of her. And if she ended up in the hospital, the whole family would be making countless trips to the hospital in addition to the additional home care we'd all have to provide, if not suffering the ultimate final care for her. O.K. That's my vent for the day! And if women truly are from Venus and men are from Mars, I think they should change places, cause there's sure to be snow on Mars as it's further from the sun than Venus and has to be colder. And Venus is just a sunburn just waiting to happen. I can tell you from first hand experience that men don't like shovelling snow, but apparently women seem to love it! Silly wabbits! TBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Not sure if I should laugh or just shake my head in disaproval....but I sure can relate. The other day caught my ol' man who can hardly walk a straight line on flat ground prancing acrossed the roof with his shovel on snow removal duty. When he was done with that he fired up the blower and cleaned out the driveway. Before putting the snowblower away he proceeded to poke a 12" crowbar in the auger blades to remove the ice while it was still ideling.:robot: Old enough to know better....but too old to care I guess. Heaven forbid you tell them they're loosing their minds with some of the stupid things they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 My neighbor is 84 now I think. I've never caught her shoveling, but I've caught her doing some things that I feel were pretty stupid for someone of her age for the weather conditions. I can't speak for the ladies that you caught, but I can say in Marge's case, I think it's a feeling of independence for them. They grew up during the depression, and they know what hard work is. Marge is a pretty tough little lady. The snow before this past storm I took my tractor down to her place and cleared her out. A day later, when temps were in the single digits, I heard a knock on the door. I go to the door, and there Marge is with a grocery bag full of fruit. :eat: I thanked her, then read her the riot act for going out shopping on a day like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Wish my mother-in-law would catch that independence bug! :taped: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbeck Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 You need to remember our minds still see us in our 20's heck I'm 44 and I was playing ice hockey with 20 somthings and tried to keep up. I'm betting I was the only one paying for it the next day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddyboman Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 It has something to do with I use to be able to do and I still can or I don't want to burden someone else with it......Or at least that is what I think. My grandmother in her (80s) is the same way......She has crawled up on her roof to put tar down in spots or cleaned out her gutters, mowed her yard, moved snow, tried to till her garden and all the stuff she really doesn't need to do.....MY dad and I can and DO do this stuff for her.....but she often tries to do it first....so "we don't have to". So my dad has simple taken the mower, ladder, shovels, tiller and what not from her so she can't do it anymore...... It is crazy and frustrating..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 most folks are pretty aware of what they can and cannot do. i suspect it was all for some exercise. i'll bet they actually felt better after shovelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBow Posted February 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 O.K. I've made a terrible terrible terrible mistake. At first thought, I was upset that the mother-in-law was out shovelling snow last week. I have since changed my mind. After she made her 9th telephone call to my house last night, I'm now of the opinion that if we get a major major snow blizzard, I'll be encouraging her to get out the shovel and not only clear out her house and driveway, but I now want her her do mine as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ANYTHING to get her away from the telephone! PLEASE MAKE THE RINGING STOP!!!!! TBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.