Shoveling your walkways when there’s a snowstorm is a thankless job. Depending on your block, maybe nobody would have even needed to walk down the sidewalk in front of your home until long after the snow melted anyway. Or if someone does walk past your house and you haven’t shoveled yet, they’ll probably be fine in all but the deepest snowfalls. A lot of people only bother shoveling for fear of the liability if someone slips and falls on a walkway that was their responsibility, so they begrudgingly get out there and do it after the snow has stopped falling. 

        It’s one of those things that’s kind of expected of you, but maybe people won’t call you out if you don’t bother. Like putting your shopping cart back in the cart return spot in the parking lot at your local grocery store. The harm caused by not doing it is minimal, and so are the consequences. But it’s a good litmus test for whether a person is the kind of person who does the right thing even if nobody is looking. Your quiet side street may see almost no foot traffic. Even more, what if it’s a Sunday and you can’t even expect any deliveries? Who could blame you, then, for blowing off the task? You’ve got enough to do. 

        But you get out there and shovel for that 1 in 1,000 chance that someone is going to come down your road, struggling through the snow. You put away the shopping cart to save an exhausted store employee a dozen steps. You hang on to your garbage and throw it out when you find a trash can instead of littering. None of these actions is noteworthy, none of them will garner praise. You’re the only one who will ever know either way. But that’s the thing: nobody but you has a front row seat to every decision you make. So although each of these events is insignificant individually, in the aggregate they’ll give you the sense of who you are. And who you want to be is the kind of person who tries to make things a little better, just in case it can ease a stranger’s day just a little bit.