New neighbors insisted on using my snowblower

[Anonymous]

I probably would have offered to do it for them. You only get to use a snowblower like once a year around here, might as well make the most of it.

Neighbor on my street cleared sidewalks on the opposite side of the street.

[Anonymous]

I'd never loan out my snowblower to someone I didn't know. They are expensive and have a short life span and I have no reason to believe that these folks would repair it if they broke it. I'd offer to lend them a shovel or refer them to a neighborhood teen who might be wiling to shovel for a a price. I do, on the other hand, regularly shovel the sidewalk of my disabled neighbor because that is neighbors taking care of neighbors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They only moved in 4 months ago, so maybe this was their first big snow in a house vs. a condo or something.

Probably. I got caught in a 100 year snowstorm situation at a rented campus townhouse where the lot was normally plowed. I had to ride a bus and then walk to a store in deep drifts to see if I could buy a snowshovel and only metal digging spades were left. Then my boot leaked on the way back. Needed the shovel to dig the car out since there was no covered parking. The whole situation was ridiculous.

I haven't been caught out again.

That said, I do not know how to operate a snowblower so I wouldn't ask a stranger to use theirs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You're selfish for not having shared your equipment and taught them how to use it. My snowblowing neighbor does both sides of the whole street.

You're also nasty and stupid for generalizing one incident to an entire generation.

np.. but imagine if the whole neighborhood asked OP to use their snowblower.

But they didn’t, did they? It was one neighbor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spent 2-3 hours last night clearing off my sidewalks, driveway, and curb next to mailbox with our snowblower (2-stage Ariens). Probably about 2000 sqft total. Greater DMV area.

This morning our relatively new neighbors (4 months) knocked on our door and asked if they could borrow our snowblower to clear out their driveway. All other neighbors are either shoveling or have their own equipment. We say that we’d rather not: liability, not sure they even know how to use one, etc…. We then have an awkward back and forth until they finally roll their eyes, mutter something under their breaths, and walk off. They finally ended up flagging down one of the small plows clearing the road and I guess they convinced or paid the driver to clear out their driveway.

Totally blown away by this situation!!

Our neighbors are young, probably late 20s or early 30s. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? Is this the new normal for younger generations?!?

Had a similar situation occur several years ago years ago with a power auger that I lent to a neighbor. They were putting in a fence and wanted to make quick work of the hole digging. Problem is, they punctured a buried water line and it created a massive flood in their front yard. They ended up suing us for negligence and for knowingly loaning them a so-called defective piece of equipment. Ended up hitting our homeowner’s insurance to the tune of $34K and caused our insurance rates to increase by about $200 per month.

You made the right move, OP. Millennials are the unprepared and selfish generation that takes and takes and takes.

[Anonymous]

People ask stuff. People say no.
There's nothing to see here

[Anonymous]

We are surrounded by neighbors with snowblowers who were out yesterday doing their own driveways. We only had shovels yet we were the only ones who walked and shoveled out the driveways for the elderly neighbors. I thought that was interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You're selfish for not having shared your equipment and taught them how to use it. My snowblowing neighbor does both sides of the whole street.

You're also nasty and stupid for generalizing one incident to an entire generation.

np.. but imagine if the whole neighborhood asked OP to use their snowblower.

All those people who OP said owned their own equipment are just waiting to put their snowblowers away and use OP's.

[Anonymous]

I get it. That's pretty heavy duty equipment. We're a lawyer family and would never be able to open ourselves up to liability, or put them in possible danger not knowing what they're working with, just to be nice.

We'd probably say "Hey, I get it, but the thing is it's really heavy machinery and it's a huge liability and I'm a lawyer and I just can't. But I can come take a pass this afternoon at 2pm. Would that work for you?"

Sometimes people get mad. I'm not gonna change my principles though. I'm that way to protect everyone.

[Anonymous]

A neighbor I've never met snowblower my sidewalk without ever talking to me.

OP is trashy, but not every one is like that.

[Anonymous]

I live somewhere with more snow but we all help each other out, borrow things, shovel each other's walks. One neighbor will plow for us.

I love that I live in a neighborhood that has a neighborly communal feel.

I wouldn't think twice about asking a neighbor to use something of theirs. But they would probably offer if they saw I needed it before I even asked.

[Anonymous]

Wow. I appreciate my neighborhood so much more after reading this. Here, we help each other out. Hope you never need anything from your new neighbors in the future - I'd probably slam my door on you if you ever came around after that. And I'm not even a millennial.

[Anonymous]

What kind of world do we want to live in? Personally, I prefer to live in a world where neighbors help each other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spent 2-3 hours last night clearing off my sidewalks, driveway, and curb next to mailbox with our snowblower (2-stage Ariens). Probably about 2000 sqft total. Greater DMV area.

This morning our relatively new neighbors (4 months) knocked on our door and asked if they could borrow our snowblower to clear out their driveway. All other neighbors are either shoveling or have their own equipment. We say that we’d rather not: liability, not sure they even know how to use one, etc…. We then have an awkward back and forth until they finally roll their eyes, mutter something under their breaths, and walk off. They finally ended up flagging down one of the small plows clearing the road and I guess they convinced or paid the driver to clear out their driveway.

Totally blown away by this situation!!

Our neighbors are young, probably late 20s or early 30s. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? Is this the new normal for younger generations?!?

Had a similar situation occur several years ago years ago with a power auger that I lent to a neighbor. They were putting in a fence and wanted to make quick work of the hole digging. Problem is, they punctured a buried water line and it created a massive flood in their front yard. They ended up suing us for negligence and for knowingly loaning them a so-called defective piece of equipment. Ended up hitting our homeowner’s insurance to the tune of $34K and caused our insurance rates to increase by about $200 per month.

You made the right move, OP. Millennials are the unprepared and selfish generation that takes and takes and takes.

What did your insurance pay out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A neighbor I've never met snowblower my sidewalk without ever talking to me.

OP is trashy, but not every one is like that.

This is what happens in our neighborhood too. We give them a bottle of wine or some other thing we know they would like.