Can anyone explain to me why people who live in the Northwest/Mid-Atlantic (or anywhere where they have real winters) rush out to buy snows shovels every time a winter storm is coming? (This is not a trick question).

They were too lazy to buy a new one when their old shovel broke last winter, or they are new to the area. just a guess

Wow, you have snow shovels that have lasted ten years? When I was growing up in Denver, our snow shovels broke or went bad (ragged edges) so bad we sometimes went through two in a season.

These are people who have not bought shovels yet. Maybe its their first winter or their old one broke.

I am sure not everyone buys a shovel, most of the population does already own one.

Someone stole my two snow shovels two years ago so I bought a new one last year. It’s already been put to good use. Why do people forget how to drive os snow-it’s only been like 6 mos!!

It got buried in the last snowstorm!

The handle broke on the cheap one I bought two years ago.

Actually, I live in southern Texas, where it snows about once every twenty years or so, but I have a snow shovel. I use it to scoop up leaves from my Cedar Elms.

When I used to live in Connecticut, the darn wooden handles would break off, or one of my siblings would have wandered off with it during the summer, so it was never in any condition to be used or found when the snow fell. Hence, we would generally have to head off to the hardware store for yet another snow shovel each year.

It was really wonderful the last time we lived there because we lived in a neighborhood with private roads so the whole neighborhood automatically hired Mr. Cassone the Garbage Guy (as opposed to his brother, Mr. Cassone the Baker, or his other brother, Mr. Cassone the Builder) to come plow all roads and driveways.

@faye someone stole your snow shovels? That is really low. I have left my snow shovels practically in the middle of the street and no one has ever touched them.

My neighbors always want to know what kind of shovel is that. They don’t recognize snow shovels. I bought it from a Michigander who sold it in a garage sale, expecting not to need it ever again.

Lots of newbies that never saw snow before.

Perhaps the new snow shovel buyers are the ones who loaned their snow shovels to the people whose snow shovel broke and they were never returned.
Or, in my case, their spouse ‘put it away’ last spring and can’t remember where. We have a two car garage that has a black hole that devours tools and snow shovel. Things are ‘put away’ in the garage and never surface again.

Cuz you borrow mine. Can I have it back now?

We all know how rough Vikings are with anything that has a handle.

I live in the Midwest where we have LOTS of snow. I don’t know anyone who continually buys new snow shovels. We’ve had the same ones for eons. Some people just aren’t organized and probably “lose” them from year to year and it’s easier just to buy a new one.

I think shovels are reasonable, it is the “stock up on milk and toilet paper” thing that I don’t understand. I usually keep a fair supply of toilet paper on hand regardless of the weather. And there are always a couple of boxes of long life milk in the cupboard as well.

Doesn’t everyone do that?

Maybe the shovels get buried in the snow and then run over so the handles break.

In MN my shovels last a few years. Then, the rivets that hold the blade to the handle start to loosen. I buy a new one every “few” winters. i think i have four serviceable shovels. One, I keep in the car. These are just necessary tools. I must have an extra for the time one fails in a big bang.

Great question.

Every Fall, if you look up on a clear night, you can see the silent migratory flight of the snow shovels. They creep out of their cobweb-encrusted dens to gather on street corners, have a cup of coffee and argue about the merits of I25 vs I75 and the traffic of Chicago.

After a time (usually involving more coffee) they group tighter and start their lumbering, yet oddly graceful, ascent into the night sky. Their cries of freedom silent to the human ear, they ride the air off to sunnier destinations.

For years, the only known evidence of this migration was people in Florida remarking to themselves on a warm December day “Well, I guess I did buy a shovel”.

Mine is plastic! Do they even make metal ones anymore? If they do, the next snow storm we’re expecting, I’m buying 3…one for me, and one for each of my daughters! I’m not the only one who uses the driveway and sidewalk anymore!

As others have said,
lost, stolen, broken, borrowed, more people to shovel than you have shovels for, etc.

I live in Michigan, we shovel often. I’m still looking for the perfect shovel for each kind of snow.
Wet and heavy snow, that is hard to shove, you need to lift it up and away. My back can not longer do that.
Light and dry snow, easy to push out of the way, and just the right type of shovel makes this an easier job.
Porches and steps also need special considerations when clearing them of snow.
I have a snow blower, but still you have to shovel the places where you can’t use that.

I don’t buy one every year… I actually have several serviceable(non-migratory) ones right now. The thing I usually have to buy every winter is the car scraper/brush thingy. Pesky things always disappear over the summer.
@faye That bugs me too! Does snow cause temporary driving amnesia? lol

I am in a very snowy area and I have had my snow shovels for probably 10 yrs as well. But one of them does have a broken handle. And I just don’t wanna go and buy a new one. So my GUESS is something along those lines. The snow shovel handle broke and they didn’t take the time to go buy another one before the snow season ended.
.
Same concept with the FANS each summer. BIG HUGE “Go by a new fan” rush when the hot weather comes upon us. HAHAHAHA! Been there, done that, too!

We ran out an bought our first snow shovel when we were new homeowners. It’s not generally something you think about until the snow is eminent. Then, we had to buy a new one last year because the old one broke. Same with ice scrapers. I think we buy new ice scrapers every year. And next fall, we’ll need to buy a rake!

I’ve never experienced this and I grew up in suburban Philly. I’m sure some people have broken/lost their snow shovel in the last year, and wanted to buy a new one but I doubt this is the majority. Most people I know ran out to buy groceries or rock salt, but not shovels.

Lots of new home owners.

Screw the snow shovel. Right before winter started, I bought a snow blower. :-)

So when you guys move to California, do you bring the multiple shovels, scrapers and ice cleats you find in the garage or do you leave them behind for the family that bought your house?

Here we have to buy sandbags every year.

@galileogirl I cant imagine living anywhere there wasn’t a white Christmas, but…if I did…I’d leave the snow tools behind for the new family.

Ten years? That’s a pretty long time. You obviously must not have kids who have discovered what a great little makeshift sled snow shovels make.

maybe people get rid of them every year because they trick themselves into thinking they’ll never see snow again. because people hate snow for some reason. ITS BEAUTIFUL. i love it. we just got a good amount last night and it is soo fuckin pretty out right now. ive probably spent an hour already today just gazing outside.

@deni I agree. Snow IS BEAUTIFUL…right up until the 1st of the year, anyway.

@deni Try living here… where we pay out the ass in taxes but can never get them to salt or plow the roads. Combine icy roads with the fact that we are the number one state in DUI fatalities per year for like 10 or so consecutive years. I fucking hate snow.

@King_of_Sexytown where?

@deni Montana.

I’ll admit it, I woke up today without an ice scraper, so we borrowed one from a neighbor and went out to purchase one! No driveway to shovel, or we would have picked one up too! Although we’re originally from CA and we’ve never owned a car here before, we should have planned ahead!

@King_of_Sexytown Yikes. I suppose that makes sense- so many rural roads -but I thought Texas always has the most DUI fatalities. Or do you mean in the snow? I could see per capita. Either way, it doesn’t lessen the severity of the weather’s influence, and you have no less reason to hate it.

@Beta_Orionis Well they seem to make a point about bragging about how we are the number one state in drunk driving fatalities each year. I think they mean the most people per year of all the states. I’m not sure what per capita means but all the deaths each year is something politicians hit on a lot during election years promising to fix it. Ironically a lot of the drunk drivers are politicians cough cough Judy Martz, Denny Rehberg, and Karl Ohs cough cough

@King_of_Sexytown Per capita is when statistics are related to the number of individuals in the population. Strictly in terms of the total number of DUI deaths, Texas pulls ahead, but has more people over which to “spread” the death (i.e. the percentage of the population that dies from DUI fatalities is smaller, which skews the statistics.)

@Beta_Orionis That’s confusing. I just know there’s quite a few of us.

I am with @stranger_in_a_strange_land here because we get a bit of that in Seattle too. Less than an inch and the whole fucking city shuts down and people start sliding all over the place because they don’t know that snow is not dry pavement. Contrast this to where I used to live where anything under four inches wasn’t worth shovelling; just brush it off the windshield and drive on your merry way gently so as to avoid skidding.

@jerv People in Seattle are crazy and should all be locked up though anyway. If you can drive in Seattle and survive you can drive ANYWHERE. That’s where the Indy racers oughta practice during off season. And the ones that don’t make it weren’t good enough then anyway.

@King_of_Sexytown You’ve obviously never been to Boston then :D You have to do 85 in a 55 on Route 2 to avoid being rear-ended, and they don’t always change lanes when they go to pass you.

Norfolk, VA area is pretty interesting driving too!

—try living outside of your town King!!!!! hahahaha! I am in your town at least once a month to see my mom and the streets are nothing compared to my town. We got over 2 ft of snow in the past week. And in the Mountains 4 ft at the cabin anyways. (in the Snowy’s)

@jerv That’s how it is here too about speeding.

I rush out and buy potatoes, milk, bread and butter. And flour. And candles and batteries. And firewood. ......I don’t shovel snow. That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard of doing, shoveling snow.