Ode to the Plow Guy
By Patricia Racine
April 2025
All winter long I was reading posts on the local Facebook community forums (not Otis) complaining about how their roads were plowed or not plowed and I just sat back laughing at them. Otis may have a small highway department, but they certainly do a great job in my opinion. But not to be forgotten are the plow guys who take care of our driveways, and personally, I have had a couple of great ones!
Clearing the roads - Photo: Derek Poirier
Growing up at my parents’ house my dad had a strict rule that I had to move my car out of the way for the plow guy so he didn’t charge us for a second cleanup pass. To this day I am up early on storm days with my car cleaned off just waiting for my current plow guy to pull into the driveway so I can get out of his way. Not only am I saving on a second charge, but it’s showing respect for the person just trying to do their job.
I have had the good fortune to have two of the best plow guys in town. I’m not going to name names because they know who they are. I’ve even done a few routes with my current one, and although it sounds like a good time it really isn’t fun. First of all, you are cruising around alone at night in the snow, and honestly it looks like you are in the Millennium Falcon until he drops the plow and then you can’t see anything because of the big poof of snow. Then depending on the driveway, you either go straight into a snow bank stopping with a jerk, or for those sadistic curvy driveways there is a plethora of push-jerk-reverse until you get a slight case of car sickness. This process is repeated over and over again until you’ve had enough of being a real life bobble head doll and ask to be brought home.
My point is that these guys are out in the middle of the night, and sometimes well into the next day, during big storms making sure that the roads and driveways are passable. They are fueled by massive amounts of coffee and are constantly interrupted by phone calls from homeowners wanting to get out immediately and their fellow plow guys, who sometimes need a tow out of a ditch. They put an immense amount of wear and tear on their trucks which require frequent repairs, and this is all done while it is cold and miserable outside and we are sitting inside our homes. They are doing an essential, thankless job and should be thanked and recognized for their efforts.
In my humble opinion these guys are the heroes of winter, and they have my respect for doing a difficult and thankless job. And to my two aforementioned plow guys, thank you for taking such good care of me and my driveway!
