I'm laughing at you (not with you)

The mid-Atlantic region is being pounded by record snow falls this week and last week. Being from a region that would routinely get snow falls, it is amusing to me to see how people are handling it. It is also illustrative of a people that depends on the government to fulfill its needs. A couple of examples:

First, many people in my apartment complex spent a day or two complaining that our parking lot and walkways had not been plowed. They stand there decrying their situation, but they don't lift a finger to change it. They want somebody else to come and change it.

To be fair, there is also a group of neighbors that took whatever shovels they could find and started shoveling the parking lots and cleaning off the vehicles. Well, they actually carved a pathway through the parking lot to the road rather than shoveling the whole lot. The point is, they saw a problem and came together to solve it. They acted. Still some them complained about the lack of help they got from the city or the complex, but they decided to be self-reliant.

Finally, a news story this morning was asking a question about plowing roads. The area is obviously not prepared for weather like this, so the city governments are having a difficult time clearing the roadways. The news story was asking the question whether or not citizens with plows "should" plow the the roadways. This is the most ridiculous question I have ever heard. "Should citizens act neighborly?" The answer is "YES!" People asking the question were worried they might be breaking the law. If so, that is a silly law. It does nothing but put the countries (states, counties, cities, etc.) citizens in fear. Here are citizens that see a problem and are willing to act, but are paralyzed by fear of the law. Where I grew up, this was common place. During storms like this you help each other out. Here, people are afraid to help because of a silly law. A law like that forces dependency on the government and perpetuates the mentality of the first kind of individual I mentioned: the kind that does nothing to help themselves and nothing to help their neighbors.

One more point: please stop using the word "snow" in various puns, for example "snowblivion," "snowpocalypse," "snowtorious," etc. Please stop. You're not funny. It is a snow storm. Albeit a bad one, but people in other parts of the country deal with things like this every year. You'll live.

Update: Apparently the city has seen the error of their ways and are looking to employ those with private plows. Probably only have to make a phone call... then go in and fill out two days worth of paper work. (Yes, I'm still skeptical.)