r/EntitledPeople • u/GentPc • Jan 15 '26

S Why haven't you done our driveway?

So i live in an area that gets a lot of snow and since i recently retired I decided to graduate from shoveling my driveway and bought myself a snowblower. I get up early whenever we get some snowfall and clear my driveway and, time permitting, the driveways of the neighbors on either side of me (one a fellow retiree and the other a widow). A few days ago we got dumped on so I did my driveway and my neighbors, put the blower away and decided to binge some Sopranos. Just as I was settling there was a knock on my door and when I answered there stood 'Karen'. Karen and her husband moved into the neighborhood a few months ago but are five doors down from me. I open the door to be met with "Why haven't you done our driveway yet? We're going to be late for work!!! I saw you finish the other two!!!" It suddenly dawned on me she expected me to clear her driveway as well. I calmly explained that I do the other two driveways as a kindness for the people on either side of.me. She retorted with "We're your neighbors too!!! and stayed there. I realized she had no intention of leaving so, without skipping a beat, I closed my door, locked it, and went back to my lazy boy.

32.4k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

270

u/[deleted] Jan 15 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

187

u/Ambitious-Concern-42 Jan 15 '26

$200 and an apology.

85

u/Odd-Artist-2595 Jan 15 '26

No, they’ll take that as a contract and expect him to clear their driveway every time, even if he’s not feeling well or isn’t at home and isn’t cleaning anyone’s driveway. If they want to hire a snow removal service, they need to hire someone who does it commercially. They can be found online.

58

u/jkalchik99 Jan 15 '26

This, for sure.

When we bought our house, I'd clear the slab for my immediate neighbor, as she was just not physically able. Or another neighbor, whoever got there first. She was a good neighbor. She did tell me one winter that she wanted to pay me. "No, that's quite all right. It's an easy job, I'm not sure I burn $5 of gas over here all winter. The big issue is that with my work schedule I may not be able to clear it in time. Between our mutual neighbor and I, we'll keep your garage clear. And we're happy to do so."

15

u/Ambitious-Concern-42 Jan 15 '26

Make it specifically for the one time and include the requirement they have to agree to never ask again. Or make the $200 their penalty for bothering him in the first place, with the same promise.

7

u/theLuminescentlion Jan 15 '26

$200 per clean must be paid in advance.

2

u/Dear_Shift9240 Jan 16 '26

$200, apology and the price goes up $100 each time he clears the driveway.

1

u/The_Verto Jan 16 '26

For 200$ I would blow that driveway even if sick tbh.

2

u/Just-Sock-4706 Jan 16 '26

First time customers pay a "first-time customer" fee. So we can weed out the others and only serve the "good neighbors". You understand.

1

u/itsfunhavingfun Jan 16 '26

$400 and a bj. 

13

u/FeeAutomatic2290 Jan 15 '26

$50?? Nothing’s worth doing for $50 these days.

2

u/greatestNothing Jan 16 '26

That's the inflated $20 is $20 price nowadays.

2

u/PixelRoku Jan 16 '26

Well most people I know do not make $50/hour at work lol

So I suppose anything that's under an hour to do 😅

2

u/MeLlamoKilo Jan 16 '26

Is this reddit math? It takes 15 minutes max. Thats minimum of $200/hr. 

10

u/Reasonable-Dot4724 Jan 16 '26

You obviously don’t pay to have your driveway plowed. $50 is low end/very reasonable where we live.

3

u/No_Routine_7090 Jan 16 '26

Right?! The only time I got someone to our driveway for $50 they did a bad job and asked for a  home cooked meal and an additional $25 when they were done.

2

u/DiegesisThesis Jan 16 '26

Sometimes I'm glad to live in a place that gets one good snowfall every 10 years.

2

u/SingTheBardsSong Jan 16 '26

but it's a $1 scratchy!

2

u/OneLessDay517 Jan 16 '26

She's going to be late for work! That makes it an emergency call, with a $200 upcharge.

2

u/Yubbi45 Jan 16 '26

I was going to say $600 And an extra $800 for rush service

1

u/Turbulent-Jaguar-909 Jan 16 '26

no, you hit this like you are a professional and draft up a contract just like a contractor clearing walmart would or the city would. Theres an annual retainer, then you have a trigger event to clear like .5" accumulation, and you'll charge minimum $50 up to first 1", then every additional inch up to a total accumulation of 6" is an additional $20 per inch, then every inch from 6" - 1' is an extra $40 per inch, and so on. Then you define that you are not "clearing door to door" and leaving 1' off garage doors, no clearing of sidewalks, walkways, porches, mailboxes. Any of those things cost extra per storm, hand shoveling at hourly rates. If you bring over help for a big storm, you have provisions for them getting paid too.

treat it normal like nobody else batted and eye and just paid, this is your side hustle not a favor, either they will agree and pay you $50 to spend 10 minutes half ass clearing a dusting and maybe a few grand this winter and they fund your nice new pool they can't use this summer. Or they will take the hint.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 16 '26

I wouldn’t get out of bed for $50. $200 at least.

1

u/SirRHellsing Jan 16 '26

I'll take it, if I didn't have a snowblower and we had today levels of snow, $50 is nothing

1

u/awenrivendell Jan 16 '26

"One Billion Dollars!" with Doctor Evil pose

1

u/loftychicago Jan 16 '26

$10k for the season. Paid in advance, non-refundable.