Going rate for teen shoveling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the difference is that it is a state of emergency where I am, and not a typical occurrence to have snow so deep that power is going out, the grocery stores were running out of food, roads are not passable, etc so the right thing to do in an "out of the norm" and possible emergent situation is to help the elderly without expecting payment.

If it was typical lawn mowing, getting mail, or things that are frequent and expected I would agree that a discounted rate would be appropriate, but in the case of a freak snowstorm it feels a bit predatory and opportunistic,
and therefore inappropriate to have your 12 year old out hustling an 85 year old lady for money for a safety issue such as slip/falls and the necessity of being able to get out of the house safely or allows others in safely.

Just my two cents and I realize the OP was not specifically asking about this situation.
Fwiw we called all of our elderly/widowed neighbors when my DH and teenage son walked to the store last night to see if anyone needed anything, and wouldn't think of trying to make money off a grocery delivery service. We have called every day and made sure their walks are shoveled (granted they are not driveways).
I would be mortified if my sons asked for money rather than just cleaning them off for a nice surprise when they look out the windows

Your kids are outside shoveling out all of the elderly/widowed neighbors on your street, huh? What perchance are you doing today?

While I am thrilled that you saw the opportunity and ran with it to use the word "perchance", I wish you had written what I wrote and not snowballed it into something it was not intended to be. (Yes I saw my chance and took it as well). I specifically said I realized this was not what OP was talking about (still she responded indignantly) and acknowledged that my street does not have driveway and my kids were just shoveling the walks.
I will not tell you what I was doing all night and into this morning because it will make you look like a real jerk

(Ok fine I will:was at the ER working. We were slammed and I got called in)

OP here.

I got what you were saying. As I posted, I was talking about "all these other posters" (ie, not you, the other people).

So while indignant, it had nothing to do with you except that I was agreeing with much that you had to say.

[Anonymous]

I have a very small driveway - it's not long enough to even park a car in, although you could park one sideways if you could parallel park it. I'm out in Western Fairfax County, also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a very small driveway - it's not long enough to even park a car in, although you could park one sideways if you could parallel park it. I'm out in Western Fairfax County, also.

?

Is this an add on to another post?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the difference is that it is a state of emergency where I am, and not a typical occurrence to have snow so deep that power is going out, the grocery stores were running out of food, roads are not passable, etc so the right thing to do in an "out of the norm" and possible emergent situation is to help the elderly without expecting payment.

If it was typical lawn mowing, getting mail, or things that are frequent and expected I would agree that a discounted rate would be appropriate, but in the case of a freak snowstorm it feels a bit predatory and opportunistic,
and therefore inappropriate to have your 12 year old out hustling an 85 year old lady for money for a safety issue such as slip/falls and the necessity of being able to get out of the house safely or allows others in safely.

Just my two cents and I realize the OP was not specifically asking about this situation.
Fwiw we called all of our elderly/widowed neighbors when my DH and teenage son walked to the store last night to see if anyone needed anything, and wouldn't think of trying to make money off a grocery delivery service. We have called every day and made sure their walks are shoveled (granted they are not driveways).
I would be mortified if my sons asked for money rather than just cleaning them off for a nice surprise when they look out the windows

Your kids are outside shoveling out all of the elderly/widowed neighbors on your street, huh? What perchance are you doing today?

While I am thrilled that you saw the opportunity and ran with it to use the word "perchance", I wish you had written what I wrote and not snowballed it into something it was not intended to be. (Yes I saw my chance and took it as well). I specifically said I realized this was not what OP was talking about (still she responded indignantly) and acknowledged that my street does not have driveway and my kids were just shoveling the walks.
I will not tell you what I was doing all night and into this morning because it will make you look like a real jerk

(Ok fine I will:was at the ER working. We were slammed and I got called in)

OP here.

I got what you were saying. As I posted, I was talking about "all these other posters" (ie, not you, the other people).

So while indignant, it had nothing to do with you except that I was agreeing with much that you had to say.

pp here, tail between my legs and head hung in shame for being mean. I think you are doing the right thing from your OP, I actually just read on our list serve that some young men are doing it for "tips only" which has netted them gift cards (who has gift cards lying around but I suppose one might from Christmas) cash, one lady who is embarrassed now that she quickly wrote them a thank you note because she misunderstood (she is amazing in general btw and is going to knit them all hats instead which will be even more spectacular than her thank you note), so I think that is a way to go for neighbors as well. I think people are being "over" generous if that makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a very small driveway - it's not long enough to even park a car in, although you could park one sideways if you could parallel park it. I'm out in Western Fairfax County, also.

?

Is this an add on to another post?

Yes, it was an add on to the discussion about going rate for teen shovelling. There's a college freshman offering to shovel our drives, and I want to pay him a fair amount for the job.

[Anonymous]

Our Toro snowblower needs to be repaired. Does anyone know where can we take it? Our 15 y o was about to use it for a couple of neighbors, so we all ended up shoveling the super long driveway!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our Toro snowblower needs to be repaired. Does anyone know where can we take it? Our 15 y o was about to use it for a couple of neighbors, so we all ended up shoveling the super long driveway!

Where do you live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Michigan and my mother would have torn my ass up if I charged a neighbor to shovel their driveway...especially an elderly neighbor.
You people are raising a**holes.

We plan to charge our elderly wealthy neighbor. Thank you very much.

Youre proving my point.

Do you not see that her neighbor is wealthy? Why shouldn't someone pay if they can afford to? Discounts for services should be based on income, not age.

[Anonymous]

Have you read the Cleveland Park listserv? Just a bunch of rich old people whining about not getting free services fast enough and asking whether "any kids want to shovel out my car" with no mention of payment. Come on! You're rich and if you are able to drive you're able to dig out your own damn car.

[Anonymous]

Last winter my teen neighbors came to help me shoveling. My husband was in a business trip and I was all by myself with my 3 y o. The teens came up because their mother asked them to do so. The did not want to charge a cent, they were ere to help. Of course I rewarded them the following day with a gift card.

[Anonymous]

Good for you! But you offered to pay- that's a lot different than someone who lives in a million dollar house and has a lot of money to demand free shoveling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our Toro snowblower needs to be repaired. Does anyone know where can we take it? Our 15 y o was about to use it for a couple of neighbors, so we all ended up shoveling the super long driveway!

If you are near Fairfax, Caliber Repair on Old Picket. Cash or checks only.

http://www.caliberlawnandgarden.com

[Anonymous]

PP here with the 16 year old son. He cleared driveways for 3 of our neighbors today. Each job took at least 3 hours with a high powered snow blower. There were working crews in the neighborhood charging $150 per driveway. He charged $80 per driveway. I don't see anything wrong with an enterprising young man going out to make money. He would never spend 9 hours working for nothing, and I would not encourage it. We live in an affluent neighborhood and all of his customers got a bargain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the difference is that it is a state of emergency where I am, and not a typical occurrence to have snow so deep that power is going out, the grocery stores were running out of food, roads are not passable, etc so the right thing to do in an "out of the norm" and possible emergent situation is to help the elderly without expecting payment.

If it was typical lawn mowing, getting mail, or things that are frequent and expected I would agree that a discounted rate would be appropriate, but in the case of a freak snowstorm it feels a bit predatory and opportunistic,
and therefore inappropriate to have your 12 year old out hustling an 85 year old lady for money for a safety issue such as slip/falls and the necessity of being able to get out of the house safely or allows others in safely.

Just my two cents and I realize the OP was not specifically asking about this situation.
Fwiw we called all of our elderly/widowed neighbors when my DH and teenage son walked to the store last night to see if anyone needed anything, and wouldn't think of trying to make money off a grocery delivery service. We have called every day and made sure their walks are shoveled (granted they are not driveways).
I would be mortified if my sons asked for money rather than just cleaning them off for a nice surprise when they look out the windows

Your kids are outside shoveling out all of the elderly/widowed neighbors on your street, huh? What perchance are you doing today?

While I am thrilled that you saw the opportunity and ran with it to use the word "perchance", I wish you had written what I wrote and not snowballed it into something it was not intended to be. (Yes I saw my chance and took it as well). I specifically said I realized this was not what OP was talking about (still she responded indignantly) and acknowledged that my street does not have driveway and my kids were just shoveling the walks.
I will not tell you what I was doing all night and into this morning because it will make you look like a real jerk

(Ok fine I will:was at the ER working. We were slammed and I got called in)

Did you work in the ER for free? Or would it mortify you to accept money for your services?

[Anonymous]

If an elderly neighbor is wealthy, in my experience, the would insist on paying the teens for the snow shoveling performed. No one wants to have to ask someone to do something for free. It's a source of pride to be able to pay for something.

In our neighborhood, the elderly people for whom my teenage son and his friends shoveled have way nicer houses than our house. They are retired, but I figured that they would pay, and they did.