“Another Consequence of Snowy Sidewalks”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Melanie Cohen

“Dear PoPville,

The past two days walking home from the metro at around 5 I have encountered more than a dozen drunk men hanging around my neighborhood. It was a little unnerving yesterday to hear them aggressively yelling at each other (on the verge of blows) but I kept my head down and tried to avoid them as best I could. If it weren’t for their age I would have thought I had stumbled upon a tail gate or something, the atmosphere was so similar.

Fortunately, the sidewalks in my neighborhood are mostly clear (there’s a few piles that have caved in from the side of the road) but unfortunately the cleared area is small and only wide enough for one person at a time. Tonight, a man saw me coming and jumped over the snow bank in front of me and asked for money (not a theft, just begging) and when I said no he got aggressive and touching my arm saying “please, please just a few bucks for the store…” He didn’t move aside or stop when I asked, so I had to step into the ice covered snow to get around him and almost fell. Normally I take advantage of the full width of the sidewalk, but with the snow I couldn’t do that. My purpose in sending is just to remind everyone to be aware of your surroundings, and to keep your eyes open for one another. Also, shovel your damn sidewalks more than just one shovel length in width!”