Kindness matters - Some South Lake Tahoe plow drivers being threatened, assaulted

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Most of us learned at a very young age to treat others with kindness and respect. We learned how to be courteous.

Remember learning that respect is about treating others the way you would want to be treated, at all times and in all situations?

If COVID taught us anything, we learned that many people missed these important lessons, and the long, cold winter with heavy snowfall has also brought out a new set of bad behaviors.

You read about it - people increasingly berating front-line service workers including those at restaurants and grocery stores. Airline stewardesses could also tell tales of the disturbing behaviors of flyers. Drinks being thrown at baristas. The list goes on and now you can add snowplow drivers to the growing list of victims of attacks and threats.

Yes, a snowplow driver, the person who sits in a cab and drives heavy machinery for 12 hours a day in conditions most don't want to be in. The person responsible for getting streets clear so one can move through the community in their vehicles. This season, South Lake Tahoe plow drivers have been yelled at, cussed at, had snow and items thrown at them, and threats left on the public works department phones. Some people have even blocked the plow or stood in front of it, all to try and intimidate or get some point across, apparently.

"It is frustrating we've had such a reaction from the public," said South Lake Tahoe Public Works Director Anush Nejad. "We get lots of kudos and great compliments too, but a few people treat drivers and staff badly, this is troubling."

Nejad said this not only frustrates the streets division but also the office staff who have to answer the phone calls.

He said a person came into their equipment yard this winter a person and threatened staff. Those staff workers then locked the gate and called the police. Police also had to respond to one person who left a message on the department phone that he would harm the drivers. The officers talked to the caller who ended up apologizing.

Nejad said people need to be patient.

"They all have all the right to complain should they wish to, but do not have the right to use profanity and throw things," said Nejad.

The Director said they are not perfect but do not deserve to be treated badly. He said the correct way to complain is to lodge a complaint and he investigates every one of them.

"The public should respect others - they have the right to call and complain," said Nejad. "I answer all and we will work on a solution together."

He wanted to clear up some fallacies about snowplowing:

No, we don't give certain people special privileges with plowing.
Berms are not intentional, it happens with all of the snow received this year.

During COVID we lived in an anger-filled age. Customers got ruder and more abusive during the pandemic because of clashes over mask-wearing, rules the customer may not have agreed with but ones the workers had to follow.

The Harvard Business School did research on rudeness and bad behavior being on the rise in 2022. They said stress plays the biggest role here, and in recent years we've all been more stressed. "The pandemic, the economy, war, divisive politics, the changing nature of work, and continued uncertainty are all taking a toll," said Christine Porath, a professor of management at Georgetown University who's long studied incivility.

She pointed to weakening community and workplace connections; as well as the greater disconnects wrought by technology.

It is now just in South Lake Tahoe where snow plow drivers are being treated this way.

A New Hampshire State Representative was arrested earlier this month after he was accused of verbally threatening a snowplow driver and blocking the plow. He ended up being charged with disorderly conduct, criminal threatening and simple assault.

A frustrated man threatened a snowplow driver with a gun in Providence, Rhode Island.

In Spokane, Wash., unusually heavy snow caused snow plow rage when two plow drivers were threatened by people infuriated when their driveways ended up blocked with berms.

"It is not right to threaten staff with bodily harm if they left a berm," said Nejad. "Most people just clean up the berm with a blower or shovel."