Mid-50s dad scolded for removing snow from neighbors' property, neighbors get $350 fine after he stops helping them: '[The neighbors] were gone for 4 days during the worst storm of the season'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Nov 29, 2025 11:00 AM EST

This dad has a helpful spirit, but 1 of his neighbors wasn't receptive to his efforts. 

Some neighbors are just naturally helpful, and these people are a delight to live near. This is the kind of person who wakes up on a Saturday morning and does all of the chores at his house, then starts mowing the lawns or blowing leaves for those in the surrounding houses. Why? There's no real reason — they just feel driven to do this. Some folks find zen in doing chores like that, and they're perfectly content to beautify their neighbor's homes in the name of getting lost in the zone for a few hours. Plus, there often are some rewards for doing a little extra, whether it's a plate of cookies or just a big smile from the person who lives next door. 

This dad sounds like that kind of person who enjoys staying busy and being a helpful guy. However, some people aren't friendly, and they'll let you know it. Dad tried to blow some snow from the neighbor's property, and they told him off! I can't imagine why — using a snow blower is like, 20 times faster than manually shoveling it, and it's not like Dad was asking for money. Some people just can't accept a good thing at face value. 

However, as you can read all about below, things did take a turn for that family… but only after they'd already been given a 3-figure fine from the city! Check it out and see if you'd side with the dad, or with the unneighborly guy next door. 

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    Man in brown jacket and winter attire shovels snow, in foreground man in blue shirt shrugs
    via yousef samuil on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    I am reminded of a story that happened while I was living at home. You may enjoy it. On mobile and names have been forgotten, so I'm gonna make them up. This happened in the late 90s, early 2000s for reference.
    via u/eGrant03
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    My dad owned a snow blower. During the wicked weather this side of the Rockies, he would use his blower to take care of the sidewalks in front of everyone on both sides of our block. Most of the families on my block were either seniors, those with small families, or younger
    via u/eGrant03
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    couples that inherited their dead relatives' home. Everyone knew everyone, and they understood that my dad was doing this as a courtesy. He was in his 50s and just trying to be a good neighbor.
    via u/eGrant03
  • 05
    So, my neighbors two doors down divorce and sell their house to a family from out of state. Fake name time: Picards sounds good. I know they were from a snowy state, but I don't remember where. They moved in during the late summer, close to the start of the
    via u/eGrant03
  • 06
    school year. A couple months later, our state has a massive snow storm. It would snow for nearly 24 hours for almost the entire winter. You would shovel and clear snow just to get another dump, and you'd have to keep going and going. We had something
    via u/eGrant03
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    like 350% of average snowfall that month alone. So my dad is out there during the first big dump with his snowblower, just taking care of business as he's nice and the third house down had an occupant that walked on
    via u/eGrant03
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    arm crutches. He just made a path from our house to their's. No big deal; been taking care of this for a while now. He gets done and heads to work. He gets home late most nights so he's not expecting anyone to be at the door as he walks in. Low and behold, the
    via u/eGrant03
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    Picards must have been watching out the window for him as they walk up on him as he opens the door. "Hey. Did you shovel our walk?" "Huh?" "Our walk! The one that runs in front of our house!" "Oh yeah. I did your sidewalk." "Well,
    via u/eGrant03
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    we're not paying you for the shoddy work you did! You sprayed our tree with snow." My dad is out of it after a 10+ hour day, commute not included, so he's not getting what's happening.
    via u/eGrant03
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    "I'm sorry?" "You should be! That tree is too small to handle that much snow blown on it. You need to blow it somewhere else." As my dad was one that religiously read city bylaws, he knew the time frame for removing snow and where you could put
    via u/eGrant03
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    shoveled snow. The city doesn't allow allow you to blow snow into the street cause it messes with the plow's ability to take care if the streets. But Mr Picard insisted that he had to blow the snow elsewhere. Knowing what he knew, my dad
    via u/eGrant03
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    directed the snow into the only other spot available, his driveway! A driveway that is almost 45 degrees down from the carport too! Or so it seemed; Wicked steep either way.
    via u/eGrant03
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    So the next day, the neighbor comes by to complain again. He didn't know that a small snowfall can get cars stuck in that driveway, let alone what we had plus a snowblower! His car got stuck halfway in the street and he had to get it towed out. (If my dad
    via u/eGrant03
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    were home, he could have saved them the tow fee, but Picard didn't know that). So Picard is fuming and saying he's going to do his own walk from now on. My dad tries to tell him he's just assisting the neighbor on the other
    via u/eGrant03
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    side, and he doesn't charge for being a good neighbor, etc. It's cold and my dad wants the door shut, but Picard doesn't want to step in and my dad doesnt have his shoes or coat. So Picard just says "I know what I'm doing. I'm a grown man. I can deal
    via u/eGrant03
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    with a little fluff!" The next day, my dad knocks on the neighbors' door and tries to tell Picard about how strict the city is about snow removal, and how he has 24 hours from the start of snow fall to get things removed, etc. He wrote
    via u/eGrant03
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    down a website where he can go to read the rules, but Picard didn't take it. The city was constantally driving down our block for reasons I won't go into here. The Picards were doing a semi sufficient job manually shoveling snow away properly, but then...
    via u/eGrant03
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    October in my state has a big teachers' conference, and most families go out of town for a late camping or early hunting trip. So did the Picards! They are gone for 4 days during the worst storm of the season. They hadn't arranged to have the walk shoveled, and the snow
    via u/eGrant03
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    was piling so high, city inspectors came out! Parents and neighbors complained to the city that they couldn't walk down our street. It was obvious that the walks were being taken care of, so why not their's? The city posted a 48-hour compliance notice, but it
    via u/eGrant03
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    would be 72 before the Picards got back to town. The city charged them with hazardous conditions and failure to maintain property accessible to the public. On top of the labor fee to shovel the walk, it was like $350 easily! The city kept a watchful eye on
    via u/eGrant03
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    the property for the rest of the winter for any issues from then on! Once the city has you on their radar, it's hard to be done with them. The cherry on top of the entire situation: There's a knock on the door in early November, same year.
    via u/eGrant03
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    One of the Picard kids handed my sister an envelope and just walked away. We give it to my mom, and inside there's a note saying something like, "This is for the shoveling you did already." There was $100 bill inside. My family tried to return it, but they
    via u/eGrant03
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    never answered the door. So we used it to take our large family out to our favorite buffet later that week! Thank you Picards, for paying for a free service. We spent it well.
    via u/eGrant03
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    Man in brown jacket and winter attire shovels snow with trees in background
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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dads neighbors snow neighborhood neighborhood-drama neighborhood-stories dad shovel
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