Jackie Krawczak

I wish I was surprised when I saw the statement from the City of Alpena asking citizens to refrain from, “using abusive language or threatening gestures” toward the Department of Public Works (DPW) snowplow drivers. But I wasn’t surprised. I was disappointed in humanity. Again.

Some people have become so terribly disrespectful and rude, saying whatever they want to whomever they want. Sure, we have freedom of speech but just because we are allowed to be rude and speak our minds, common human decency would dictate that we remain respectful.

I have no idea who was treating DPW workers poorly, but I imagine it was more than one person to warrant the statement. I would also guess that the ones being rude weren’t all that familiar with the job of plowing for a municipality. There is no way the City of Alpena is home to a significant or high-than-average number per capita of experts on the topic of snow removal from City streets who truly know better than those doing the job every day.

I know I am not an expert in snow removal. Especially snow removal using a massive piece of equipment on City streets. I am unable to put myself in a mindset where I think it is ok to yell obscenities at a snowplow driver or make offensive gestures. I just can’t get myself there.

What it would take for me to complain through the proper channels are rather ridiculous scenarios. Maybe if the snowplow driver plowed up my grass in the summer, dumped an entire ash tray of cigarettes on my lawn, or attempted to park in my garage and tore it down in the process, I can see myself getting upset. But those are ridiculous scenarios that are very unlikely to happen.

I believe what people are upset about are not crazy ideas as suggested but are things like heavy snow being dumped at the end of a driveway after it was cleared, making more work for the property owner. Or perhaps people are upset that their road doesn’t get cleared quickly enough. Maybe the disrespect came from a mailbox getting destroyed from the plowed snow hitting it.

That happened to me this year. I had a family member help me fix it. Full disclosure, he fixed it when I wasn’t even home. I don’t think I would have been much help anyway. A broken mailbox wasn’t the fault of the snowplow drivers. I didn’t call the City to complain, and I certainly did not give a particular finger to the next snowplow driver I saw. It was heavy snow that had to be cleared from the streets, to which my mailbox was not a match.

If people are unhappy with the work of the snowplow crew, perhaps the crew should stop clearing the roads (I am sure there is an ordinance or law about maintaining the roads, however). I guarantee though, that people would still complain. Because no matter what,

someone whines and complains. And so often the issue isn’t worth the energy it takes to complain. If you are a complainer, or one of the people who the City’s statement was about, try instead to use that energy to research and understand the process.

Tempted to give a snowplow driver a middle finger because they left a pile of snow in your driveway when you just finished clearing it? Try instead to come up with realistic solutions to that problem and then seek to fully understand why what you think is feasible may or may not be. I’m sure snowplow drivers don’t enjoy doing that to people but there hasn’t been an effective way to avoid that and still get the roads cleared.

Are you on the verge of yelling obscenities at a plow driver because they finally showed up at your road, three or more days after the actual storm came through? Instead, try understanding the process they use for clearing roads and the reasons behind the order in which roads are cleared. You don’t really think they have one employee and one truck for every road, do you?

We seem to have arrived in place where people don’t bother to understand why something is before suggesting it be different or complaining about it. Understanding why is incredibly important before making assumptions and judgements. That applies to everything, not just snowplowing.

I’m disappointed by those who feel that disrespect is warranted in the snowplow, or any, situation. Let’s bring back effective communication, empathy, selflessness, and kindness in all four seasons. Sunshine or not, be kind.