Yesterday we had another snow storm, probably the biggest all year. The landscapers who shovel and plow our yard have been here almost a dozen times by now. Yet every time they come, I've had to go outside and remind them to shovel in front of where my van ramp deploys, even though it's part of the driveway, lest they jump in their truck and drive away first, leaving me unable to use my car or having to pay someone else to finish the job. Same guys come every time too.
I was on the phone with someone when the landscapers arrived and said to the person on the phone "I may disappear for a moment here or there because I have to go out and explain how I need the shoveling done so I can get into my van." I had to go out six times as a matter of fact.
Why?
Because it's different. Because it's seen as extra work, even though they are contracted to do the entire driveway. Because it's disability-related.
Anything that is disability-related in my world costs extra usually, because so many people just aren't used to providing services for disability-related needs. Many expect to be paid extra and sometimes that may be appropriate. But even if they don't want to do it for free, at times the service you're asking for is really included in the service you're already paying for. There's no reason as a consumer to pay someone to shovel/plow in a way that doesn't even allow us to get into our own cars when it doesn't involve any extra shoveling to shovel in a way that meets our needs.
This is the first winter I've had the van. One solution to avoid those on-the-porch chats in frigid weather each and every snow storm is to hire different landscapers. Will be working on that. In my spare time.
2 comments:
I thought I was the only one with this issue. My driveway is short and wide and I park sideways to let the ramp down but there isn't more of an area to shovel than for my neighbors driveways. I know what they pay the guy and he tried to charge me more when he found out it's for my handicap van. My son shovels now but when he goes to college I'll have to deal with this.
Bob- What's so interesting about this is that sometimes there's an extra car parked in the driveway - and sometimes there isn't. Yet the "extra" snowblowing of that empty spot is never questioned - just the spot where I need the ramp deployed although the spot where the extra car goes is much larger.
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