This Washington Post article about having a snowblower during a snowy winter has a particularly interesting passage:
When Marcia Nilson and her husband, Pete, bought the first snowblower on their block 20 years ago, they were the toast of their Silver Spring neighborhood. But the expectations ended up being too much.
“We’d do our driveway and the elderly couple across the street, then the lady with the bad back next door,” recalled Marcia, 63, a retiree. “But it got to the point where we’d do the people across the street while their 190-pound star football player for Georgetown Prep was in bed resting for the big game. Long story short, we get a call from a neighbor we didn’t even know angry we hadn’t done her driveway yet. So Pete said, ‘This is ridiculous. No more driveways!’ “
That’s human nature, I think. Most people normally don’t know what they are entitled to as a matter of first principles, so they make that judgment based on what their peers appear to receive.
josh says:
As a Chicagoan, I’m marveling at the East Coast’s reaction to the blizzards. Fascinating to see issues of common knowledge here sound so foreign there. Not judging. Just noting.
February 11, 2010, 3:24 pmJRL says:
We have a neighbor with a skid steer or a bobcat or something like that (I’m heavy equipment ignorant). He does every house on our street for free everytime it snows and won’t take any money. Fortunately it’s still fun for him. The only problem is that everybody’s gravel always ends up in their yards.
February 11, 2010, 3:34 pmSuperSkeptic says:
Seems like an originalist argument to boot!
February 11, 2010, 3:44 pmgeokstr says:
A long time ago, when I started working for a small CPA firm that did personal tax returns, every friend, relative and their mother and cousin, some of whom I had never met before, came out of the woodwork wanting me to do their taxes, pro bono, of course. Once I put a reasonable price on my services, even though it was way below what my firm would charge, they faded back into the woodwork once again.
February 11, 2010, 3:45 pmcboldt says:
– Once I put a reasonable price on my services, even though it was way below what my firm would charge, they faded back into the woodwork once again. –
February 11, 2010, 4:11 pmExactly. The fellow in the snow blower story didn’t practice pricing himself out of undesirable assignments, and his elderly neighbor and neighbor with a bad back just lost a neighborly benefit on account of an unrelated boor. Such is life.
lucas says:
This is ridiculous. No more driveways
February 11, 2010, 4:15 pmlucia says:
I’m really really lucky. My neighbor loves to use his snow blower. When I introduced myself when we moved in, the first thing he said was that he had a snowblower, and I should count on him to run it in my driveway. (No argument from me.) Not only does he come over and do our driveway, but two weeks ago, he saw me shoveling out the area in front of the mailbox to make it easier for the mail man and he lectured me that I should stop and not shovel because he’d do it as soon as he got back from the grocery store.
Mind you– I am perfectly able bodied and even with him blowing out the driveway, my husband and I both still sometimes shovel– especially if we need the driveway cleared at 7am. The snowblowing is free– but it’s not done at the crack of dawn. But let me tell you, when there is an ongoing blizzard and a neighbor blows out the first 6″ that fell before 3pm, that’s a real blessing. I cannot possibly imagine every complaining that he didn’t do it fast enough. I mean… wow!
Last winter, I noticed he gave priority to the 8-9 months along pregnant neighbor across the street and blew out her driveway first. Go figure.
This neighbor has mentioned he loves to see red flowers. Guess what color annuals I plant along the side of the garden facing his yard? :)
February 11, 2010, 4:28 pmneurodoc says:
Unsolicited, a fellow several houses up from ours, who we don’t know, just came down our common sidewalk the other day snowblowing his way along. I tried to hail them to say thanks, but don’t think he could hear me. Must not forget to come up with something suitable as a token of appreciation. (What does one do when they don’t know the person at all when trying to come up with something appropriate. I can think of a possible negative to any number of things edible or potable that I might like to get.)
BTW, how much too reasonably good for small jobs snow blowers cost, maybe $500? If we had a teenager in the house, I expect we would buy one for them so as to launch them in a small business. And such a purchase would probably ensure that we would experience no substantial storms for years to come. (They’re saying Washington hasn’t had so much snow since they started keeping records in 1899. Pretty hard to recoup one’s investment in a snowblower if not going to get substantial use out of it at least every 2-3 years.)
February 11, 2010, 4:28 pmAlast says:
Wait… I thought it was from each, according to his abilities, to each according to his need.
February 11, 2010, 4:34 pmSplunge says:
Most people normally don’t know what they are entitled to as a matter of first principles, so they make that judgment based on what their peers appear to receive.
Ah, a preference for measurement over theory. Proves “most people” are a bit smarter in a practical sense than quite a lot of their more educated peers, who do indeed deduce from “first principles” (the Bible? Talmud? US Constitution? Nostradamus? Psilocybin hallucinations?) to what they (or everyone!) is entitled, and proceed straight off the cliff into unworkable hyperideological fantasyland.
God save us from those fond of deducing things from first principles, like medieval monks bent over Scripture in their cells, deducing from the first principles laid out therein whether the Earth went around the Sun or vice versa.
February 11, 2010, 4:35 pmIlya Somin says:
I think this is just an example of the basic economic point that a free good is likely to be overconsumed.
February 11, 2010, 4:54 pmBT says:
I have had a small snow blower for years and do the sidewalk from alley to alley on our block (I live on the northside of Chicago). The other day I did it three times in one day as we had over a foot of snow in about 10 hours. I obviously don’t mind doing it and as for compensation, etc., what makes my day is when someone says “thanks”. I can’t speak for others but it is a small way to make the neighborhood a little more like home.
February 11, 2010, 5:07 pmEH says:
Winner’s curse?
February 11, 2010, 5:08 pmkdackson says:
I think I paid $700 for mine in 2000, at Home Depot (Brand was MTD, I think). 4 Stroke motor, electric start, 24″ wide path, 18″ high. Put $300 more into it over the years for maintenance. Only thing it does not have is a light, but that has not been a big deal.
So far total investment is $1000 and I have had it for 10 years and it is still going strong.
If you do decide to buy one, I recommend ski goggles (yellow tint) and HEARING PROTECTION. The little SOB has no real muffler and is LOUD. Plus, they will keep your ears warm (store them inside though).
February 11, 2010, 5:44 pmkdackson says:
Kind of makes you think what will happen if we are “blessed” with “free” government health care.
February 11, 2010, 5:48 pmkdackson says:
Before they died, I used to do the elderly neighbors sidewalk and driveway mouth whenever I had the blower out (didn’t do the gravel driveway for obvious reasons). She offered to buy me a gallon of gas on a number of occasions, but I always refused.
In fact I usually do 2 or 3 driveway mouths after the plow comes by. Since I got the blower out, no big deal, and they do thank me.
February 11, 2010, 5:52 pmJSG says:
I live in the eastern panhandle of WV, and on the December storm our neighbor snow-blowed everyone around him out. On the big one last weekend he was not able to do it, so we paid people to do it, along with shoveling ourselves. This morning, he snow-blowed everybody out again. It was about a 2 hour task to get everything done.
He refuses to take any money.
I asked around and found out that he likes to eat at Outback, so he’ll get a gift card in the mail from his neighbor but he won’t know who.
I hope it does not offend, but he can give it away if he doesn’t want it.
February 11, 2010, 5:55 pmOrin Kerr says:
JSG,
I think that is an excellent gesture; I can’t imagine it offending anyone.
February 11, 2010, 6:26 pmRandy says:
“She offered to buy me a gallon of gas on a number of occasions, but I always refused.”
” he’ll get a gift card in the mail from his neighbor but he won’t know who.”
Bravo. When someone does you a favor, it’s really really nice to reciprocate in some fashion, even if all you do is say “thank you, I really appreciate it.” I try my best to reciprocate when my neighbor shovels out my front — usually I just take care of his small garden in the summer when he’s away and make sure things are watered. It’s called neighborliness, and I wish people would capture the concept.
February 11, 2010, 7:36 pmkentuckyliz says:
Which reminds me, I’m overdue in getting a restaurant gift card for some neighbors who look after my cats when I’m traveling. They are on a fixed income and it would be a big deal to them.
February 11, 2010, 7:37 pmRandy says:
Just curious, though: How would Ayn Rand handle the situation? How would she instruct the following people in accordance with her principles:
a) The man who bought the snowblower?
February 11, 2010, 7:41 pmb) The elderly couple who get their driveway plowed for free?
c) The man who mailed an anonymous gift card?
d) The football player?
e) And would she try to seduce the football player?
Kent says:
While reading the comments I was trying to think of a fitting Atlas Shrugged quote…you beat me to the punch.
February 11, 2010, 8:12 pmKent says:
Karl Marx via Atlas Shrugged I guess…
February 11, 2010, 8:22 pmkrs says:
I don’t think most humans have this sort of entitlement problem. People like that deserve to be publicly humiliated.
February 11, 2010, 8:33 pmkdackson says:
Well, my guesses are:
a) The man who bought the snowblower can use it in any way he so chooses. If he chooses to play with the thing and clear other people’s driveways for free, that is his choice.
b) The elderly couple can show their appreciation any way they see fit. He made no demand of them, they have no obligation to compensate him because they did not ask. If they asked, they they are obliged to make an offer for the man with the snowblower to accept or reject on his terms.
c) The man who mailed the anonymous gift card was simply showing his appreciation in the manner which he chose to do so, since the man with the snowblower would refuse direct payment.
d) The football player is a leech.
e) No because the football player is a leech.
February 11, 2010, 8:43 pmrpt says:
Horrors! Healthier people who didn’t die of treatable illnesses! How terrible!
February 11, 2010, 10:32 pmSarcastro says:
[Don't be quite so dismissive, rpt. The idea of overuse of a free good does seem to apply to health care. The principle would indicate that some people would overtest, and overmedicate.
Of course, there is the MD gatekeeper, the copay disinscentive, the experience of other countries and other evidence that things are not so simple.
Also, I gotta disagree with kdackson's answers to Randy's Rand request.
Rand would not like the guy using his snowblower for others was causing dependence - never live for the sake of another man.
Similarly, showing appreciation is asking another man to live for the sake of the snowblower. Absent a formal contract, such altruism might create dependence of the snowblower guy.
Anonymous gift card guy isn't causing dependance, but he is irrationally throwing resources away that could be used more productively elsewhere.]
February 11, 2010, 11:06 pmegd says:
It’s not like any other country has people who die from treatable illnesses.
February 11, 2010, 11:06 pmrpt says:
egd:
Quite true. It’s just that many other countries make a much greater effort to avoid this result. On the other hand, our medical insurance companies are much more profitable.
Sr. S’Castro: Someone I can’t see people going to the doctor for the fun of it; perhaps in the beginning, but I doubt it would continue. In addition, more visits for preventive care will have a back end effect reducing illnesses and later visits.
February 11, 2010, 11:16 pmSarcastro says:
[No need to convince me, rpt! I was just pointing out that there was a bit of meat to the economic truth above illustrated.
Though, of course, those poxy foreigners are gonna take all our health care if it's free. Like how people from other blocks are always stealing that guy's snowblower.]
February 11, 2010, 11:40 pmBrian G. says:
I am sure the neighbors all vote Democrat.
February 12, 2010, 12:28 amAultimer says:
I don’t think so – some folks are more self-interested, others have a more balanced view of the world.
My father bought the only snowblower on our street as he was mobility-impaired and I was a toddler. After the first year, he installed an unmarked cut-off on the gas line so he could “run out of gas” as he finished our drive. The neighbors who offered to fill the tank got loan of the machine (nobody asked the crippled guy to do the work, at least), and they all returned it full. When I was old enough to run it, the same neighbors who used to fill the tank offered compensation when I helped them out.
February 12, 2010, 9:27 amDotar Sojat says:
From the other guy according to his capability to do my work to me according to my wants.
February 12, 2010, 10:42 amDavid Chesler says:
I don’t usually have a snow-blower. (I did have one that I was given by a friend of my brother who likes to fix things when I gave him my father-in-law’s old lawnmower. I haven’t taken enough accounting to explain that.)
My father-in-law does have one. When we get a big snow he enjoys taking it out and showing nature who is boss, and is glad to do a few other driveways. (He is the elder on our block, with many strong social connections.)
Same thing when I’ve had a truck, or my brother and his arc welder. Guys with guy toys. (I get called to do things like jump-start cars and climb ladders and pull rip-cords. I no longer have a truck, but my van holds more than anybody else’s vehicle, so I get called for that.)
Which doesn’t address the expectations issue, but it does explain why many people don’t mind doing stuff like that as long as they don’t feel taken advantage of.
There is a moving company around here whose founder exploits a similar principle: He hires guys from college crew teams and the like, who actually enjoy running up and down stairs carrying heavy pieces of furniture, especially when they’re getting paid instead of paying for the privilege at a gym.
February 12, 2010, 11:08 amtheobromophile says:
Crikey. Has no one read Miss Manners?
Yes, you do the neighbourly thing and help out the old lady next door. In term, she, being a sweetheart worth helping, makes you all steaming bowls of soup to enjoy once you come in from the cold. Thus you keep helping her.
Should someone else ask you to do their driveway, you have several options. One is to say that, with doing three driveways anyway, you’re rather tired and it’s a lot of wear and tear on your snow blower. Or just be enjoying the aforementioned soup when your able-bodied neighbours call. Say no gracefully.
In the alternative, if they keep asking because they are selfish boors who don’t get the hint, say this: “You know, even though the snow blower makes things a lot easier on us, it’s still a tremendous amount of work and time in the cold to do the Joneses and the Smith’s driveways, too. I’ve been meaning to ask you; since your football-player son is home from college, could he do Sally’s driveway? My wife and I are exhausted and would love to spend time with the kids, and Sally would so appreciate it.”
February 12, 2010, 1:48 pmAmerican Psikhushka says:
You mean people will take another’s labor, time, and property for free if they can get away with it?
And then become angry and claim that the person is not “neighborly” (or even “selfish”, “greedy”, etc.) when they try to stop the taking?
I’m shocked. How dare someone not stand still while “neighbors”, “family”, and whoever else try to take him for anything and everything of worth. They didn’t even get to setting up the peeping tom website and pimping him out yet…
How selfish. Doesn’t he know it would be for the “common good”? We need some wealthy politicians and others to help force it on him.
February 12, 2010, 3:24 pmBZ says:
Um, well, maybe I’m biased, but when I read the article, one thing that jumped out at me was the comment about the 190-lb running back from Georgetown Prep lying in bed during a snowstorm. The Georgetown Prep football season ends in early November, http://www.gprep.org/team.aspx?pageId=52681, and when was the last time we had a decent snowstorm in early November? [Disclosure: I used to coach freshman football for Prep.]
But it was a good story. Note the followup today, where a letter to the editor complained that it is sexist to call them “snowblower GUYS” since there are also women who use them.
February 15, 2010, 2:27 pm