Through Snow, Sleet, Ice, Frost�

I guess ice scrapers were only made for people like me. And snow brushes? To use one makes me an even rarer breed yet.

This morning, I thought I was going to have to make a dive into a neighbor's yard when a man in a Lexus, who is obviously too good to put an ice scraper in his splendid, noble hands much less use the thing, veered toward me on the side of the road. You know what I was doing out there don't you? You know I don't walk around the neighborhood at 8:15 in the morning because I'm a health nut. No, I was out there walking my daughter to the corner, so she could go to school. My child and several others were walking on these same streets that this moron was navigating through the six inch gap the defroster had cleared on his windshield. I'd like to think sidewalks would help, but I'm afraid not seeing is not seeing when you're driving.

Not scraping the frost off your windows is the equivalent to my griping about taking the 10 seconds to rip the plastic off the apple crumb of my TV dinner. It's not that hard, especially if you get a decent ice scraper instead of that credit card shaped piece of plastic you got for free at the Home Show. It will probably take more than 10 seconds but rarely more than a couple minutes. Will two minutes really make a difference in arriving late or on time to work? Do you punch a clock? I'm sure Mr. Lexus doesn't, so what's the rush? It doesn't come down to time in the end. It's all about laziness, and anyone who can't scrape a window elevates himself into the ranks of ultimate laziness and recklessness.

As if that's not enough, there are the people that don't sweep the snow off their cars. They might sweep it off the windshield if it doesn't come off with the windshield wipers, and some, but certainly not all, even sweep off the headlights if those happen to be needed. As you move back on the car though, the snow removal becomes less and less common. I can't even count the number of cars I see pass by here in the morning with the snow off the windshield and back window but piled high on the roof, trunk and even the hood of the car. They drive along, wipers running to keep the snow blowing off the hood from sticking to the windshield, while an even bigger flurry of snow streams behind them from the roof and trunk of their cars.

And God forbid those people own a minivan or SUV. In fact, the owners of those vehicles are the worst offenders, because they don't want to bother sweeping the top of their big, tall cars. They might be able to make their way through all kinds of rotten conditions, but they leave worse conditions behind them as the mountain of snow and ice collected on their oversized roofs blows and slides off.

But it's no big deal, right? It's just a little snow, not much more than comes down during a normal snowfall. If you can't deal with that you shouldn't be driving. To that, I give a resounding "Bullshit!" If it's not snowing, I don't need you creating Winter Wonderland for me because you might burn a calorie sweeping the snow off your vehicle. Why make driving conditions even worse? More than likely, there is snow on the streets too, or slush and salt and sand and God-knows-what-else, creating less than desirable driving conditions. It's bad enough without your contribution. Plus, half the time, that snow on your car doesn't come off in a pleasant flurry. No, it comes off in chunks, and I have yet to see snow fall out of the sky in six inch chunks that splat on my windshield and make it quite impossible to see a damn thing. I've even see an entire roof of snow slide off in front of me, but I was smart enough to see that one coming and sat at the stop light long enough not to get in the path of that one.

Really, it all comes down to a little courtesy. Expend some effort, clean off any of the frozen mess Mother Nature dumped on your vehicle, and make life for other drivers a little easier. It's a law in most, if not all states for a reason. It's not some kind of conspiracy to make Americans less obese. It's not to throw a wrench in your day or make you late to work. It's to keep other drivers a little safer. The next time it snows or frosts, just think about that 80 year old grandpa with cataracts who can't see anything on a clear, sunny day but insists on driving anyway, and don't add to the hazard. There are a lot of people on the road that shouldn't be. I can deal with the effects of your laziness, even though I don't want to do it. Others can't deal with it at all.

I clear all the snow and junk off our 4Runner, and I'm one of the laziest people I know. I scrape all the windows, sweep off all the snow, even clean off the brake lights and license plate. It's not only a nice thing to do, but it adds to the safety of us all. If this sloth can do it, you can too. Or try parking your car in a garage, so then you don't have to do a damn thing. That's what this lazy person does, but even if I do get caught in some snow, ice or otherwise, I still remove it. I whine the whole time, but I do it. Next time you almost get run over by a frosty Lexus, you'll thank me for it.