When I was a girl, the rule was, you shoveled your driveway and the sidewalk in front of the house as far as your property line. I don't know if that was the law, or just the custom, but all the kids at the local elementary school walked to school, so it made sense. There was always one house where they didn't bother shoveling the sidewalk, and we would always make it a point to throw snowballs at their house as we walked by.

Where I live now, there is no such law, and there is definitely no custom. Most people don't even shovel, if it's any serious snow (and we do get serious snow up here in the frozen North); in my schmancy town everyone has a plow guy.

But the plow guy only comes if it's a significant amount, and today we had this ugly slushy mess, that I knew would turn into ice this evening, and I really hate having a messy driveway (I hate having snow all over my car, too. When I lived in Jersey and parked outside, I always made sure I cleaned off the whole car -- not just the front windshield. And I *always* cleaned off the roof, even though I'm short, and had to use a broom to do it. If you don't clean off the roof, big sheets of frozen snow slide off your roof when you drive and hit the car behind you, which makes you a jackass. So clean your roof.) So I was out there today shoveling up slush, and feeling guilty because of the big drifts on the sidewalk where the plows push all the snow. I know I'm not responsible for that, and really, I couldn't shovel it if I wanted to, by this point it's a foot high pack of ice. But I felt bad nonetheless.