Learning the Hard Way

Apparently, I misunderstood the snow removal policy where I live.

In my defense, up to this point plow guy's behavior has not been consistent with the policy as it was explained to me, thus contributing to my confusion about when, exactly, plow guy comes to clear things out (and when, consequently, our vehicles need to be out of his way).

Long story short: this past weekend, Hermes the Honda was still sitting in its parking space when plow guy came to clear out the parking stalls. This irritated plow guy to the point that he conducted an experiment in behavior modification, using what psychologists would refer to as "negative reinforcement."

In other words, the bugger plowed me in. The three sides of Hermes he had access to were piled with knee-deep snow (as high as the wheel wells, which to Hermes is the equivalent of hip-deep snow). The thickest pile was blocking the only direction I could possibly go to get out of the parking stall.

It took an hour and a half of non-stop shoveling to dig Hermes out. It had to be non-stop because InVocation had a 5 pm call time in Hastings, and I was due to meet fellow singers for a carpool to Hastings at 4. I discovered plow guy's experiment at 2.

Believe me when I say that by the time I was done, my parking stall was as clear (if not more clear) as if plow guy had plowed it himself.

Believe me when I say that the lesson has been learned, the behavior has been modified, Hermes will never be in plow guy's way again!