Some people complain about winter.
Other people complain about people who complain about winter. These folks argue that if you live here you should just manfully (or womanfully) deal with cold and show, even take a kind of pride in not letting winter bother you.
This argument falters when considering people with mobility problems. For the elderly, the ill, the alone, winter is not a deal-with-it inconvenience. It is a threat to their health and well-being.
In winter as in summer people with mobility problems must go to the store, go to the doctor, go to church, go to work, go to the drug store, go to all those places to which people who are healthy and limber must go.
But when there is snow and ice they may be stuck unless the Village of Oak Park, business owners and residents do what they should do, what they are required to do.
Plow and shovel.
Oak Park even has an ordinance that states, “The owner, occupant, lessee or person otherwise legally in possession and/or control of any lot or parcel in the village shall remove and clear away, or cause to be removed or cleared away, all snow and ice on the public sidewalk fronting or abutting any such lot or parcel.”
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This snow and ice has to be removed within 24 hours of a snowfall.
There is a $30 fine, which can go to $50, for violators.
I was snug in a bed in Rush Oak Park Hospital during the latest blizzard, but virtually everyone I talked to complained the village’s plowing efforts were inadequate.
And I know from decades of Oak Park living what a lousy job many residents and businesses do about fulfilling their shoveling responsibilities.
In addition to these home owners and business owners who just will not shovel, the major snow and ice problems are at corners and in business areas at which merchants do not shovel entryways between parking meters.
These might as well be snow-covered Mt. Everests for those people with mobility problems. For them, the choices are isolation or physical danger.
The answer? Shovel and plow, dammit!
But beyond that, Oak Park prides itself on not just being a place, but a community.
Perhaps I’m dreaming, but is it not possible for Oak Parkers to work together as a community? Could not those who are able shovel corners, shovel out street-entry points?
Might not Scouts earn merit badges for snow shoveling? Could students earn community service credits for shoveling?
It’s a thought.
Snow removal is a public health issue. It’s time we treated it as such.