02-27-2015, 02:14 PM
I'm not in the habit of shoveling snow onto the street (it's against the law, and I guess there's a reason for it), but I know why people might take less exception to that behaviour than to someone who simply doesn't clear his sidewalk.
When a sidewalk is not clear, you are creating a potentially dangerous situation, and some of the people experiencing that situation are those who are already disadvantaged (the elderly, children, people with mobility impairments). When someone pushes a couple shovel-fulls of snow onto the street, at worst he is very slightly inconveniencing a few motorists, who are- let's say- the opposite of marginalized.
The responses also might seem more "visceral" because some of us have been directly impacted by negligence on the part of property owners.
When a sidewalk is not clear, you are creating a potentially dangerous situation, and some of the people experiencing that situation are those who are already disadvantaged (the elderly, children, people with mobility impairments). When someone pushes a couple shovel-fulls of snow onto the street, at worst he is very slightly inconveniencing a few motorists, who are- let's say- the opposite of marginalized.
The responses also might seem more "visceral" because some of us have been directly impacted by negligence on the part of property owners.