This past week we got a big snowstorm on the east coast, which halfway through switched to sleet and finished off with rain. It created a thick ice sheet on top of about 6-8 inches of snow. I live in DC, the city has been a mess since Sunday. Snow everywhere and plowing on my street is not the top priority. By Tuesday the got to my street, parking is all on the street, so every car in buried by this snow with a thick ice sheet on top. Which I can stand on without breaking through.
Wednesday, it gets sunny, the temp is about 25 by noon. So I take my opportunity to begin shoveling out my car. The ice is requiring us to chop the top layer of ice with a metal garden shovel to break it up.
Now, the entire space between the curb and the sidewalk is covered in a 2 foot pile of hard snow. The grassy area beside the apartment building is melting pretty well and only has small chunks from when a crew removed the ice from the sidewalk. Not wanting to spill the snow and ice onto the sidewalk or build up a greater snow pile next to cars parked on the street, begin removing the snow from around my car and placing it in the grassy area next to the building.
3 hours in I am almost done removing the snow from around my car and the portion of the road the city isn’t plowing. Covered in sweat, I feel pretty proud of chopping through all that ice and shovel to clear roadway. Mind you this is the rule in DC, clear your sidewalks and around your cars after a snowstorm. They explicitly state in the space between the sidewalk and curb or yard space.
While removing the last of the snow from behind my car, a woman that lives in an apartment with a balcony above about 6 feet above the buildings grassy area comes out and begins screaming at me. “Excuse me, did you do this? What do you think you are doing? This is my yard!”
I say where else can I put it the curb area is already too high.
She responds “that pile of snow is going to take days, weeks, months, years to melt!!!” Yes she said years.
I say “come on lady be realistic”
She demands I remove the snow, still screaming at the top of her lungs and creating a scene. Going on about her yard and how would I like it if I dumped snow in your yard.
I’m tired from shoveling this heavy snow for three hours, and I say “I get your point, I’ll move it.”
She was being so ridiculous, I knew she wouldn’t listen to anything I said. So I just tired de-escalate to get back in her apartment and stop screaming.
I was following city rules for snow removal. The grassy area next to the apartment building gets direct sunlight nearly all day. It’s an apartment building, not a condo association, she doesn’t own the grassy area. A storm like this hasn’t come through DC in 20+ years, everyone is struggling to dig out with this much ice. But this lady screams at me, when I’m just trying to dig out my car and make my street more passable. The plows won’t get any closer to the cars parks on the street.
Am I the Asshole?
Unless you were dumping it directly on someone else’s car, then for sure NTA.
Lol, 20 years? I seem to remember 2016 was ridiculous too.
Don’t worry, she will try to steal your parking spot later.
NTA
This ice layer is something else, you stand on it without breaking through.
OMG NTA. It’s snow, not nuclear waste!
I live about 5 hours north of you. Our grass is sometimes covered by snow from November to May. The only thing snow does to grass is water it as it melts. And no one cares if you put snow on their yard. We all understand it has to go somewhere.
NTAH Some people can’t wait to find something to complain about and someone to yell at.
She was the problem and I would not have moved the snow.
If you threw at least 5 ice balls at her, NTA. Less than 5, nta.
I mean pretty obviously NTA. It’s not even actually her yard.
Report her to your landlord/building. That’s harassment
> The grassy area beside the apartment building
This is my yard!
Um, no – it is not. That space belongs to the building unless she has a door that opens up directly to the area in question. NTA.
As you said, where the hell else is it supposed to go?
>that pile of snow is going to take days, weeks, months, years to melt!!
This is your first hint she’s deranged.
The “weeks, months, years!” Comment actually made me laugh, because she said each word louder and louder. It came off like a hysterical Tim Robinson character
NTA. You did what you were supposed to do.
NTA, that lady can get wrecked. Go move that snow back or better yet leave it on her doorstep.
How is this even a question? NTA all the way. Mail that lady a glitter bomb.
NTA at all. That’s an entitled person.
NTA Snow melts. We got 2 feet of snow and now we all have 3-5 feet in our tiny yards but clear spots.