I spent the weekend doing some cleaning at my dad’s house with my brother. Finishing up a bunch of work, our last task was to clean up our mess in the driveway. As we both systematically used our old push-brooms to sweep up all the garbage and sawdust, I couldn’t help but realize that theses were probably the same brooms that we used as kids to do the very same job. They certainly didn’t look any newer than the ones we would’ve used.
I then made an observation out loud, with which my brother whole-heartedly agreed. These days, you hardly ever see kids – or any homeowners for that matter – sweeping their driveways. They are either washing them down with the hose, or blowing them clean with a blower.
I will agree that a driveway probably needs a good washing off every now and then. Usually the best time to do this is when you’re washing the car, since it will already be done for the most part. But – I think that there are a lot of people who just use the hose to sweep their driveways. Not only is this a waste of water, but it basically eliminates 90% of the physical exercise you might get while actually pushing a broom and working up a sweat.
Blowers are just offensive. Although – as much as I don’t like them – there might be the need every now and then to blow the driveway clear… but again, I think the majority of them are just used instead of a broom.
When I grew up in the ‘70s, we had chores. Sweeping the driveway would’ve been one of those chores. It was part of our routine and it was usually physically demanding and required time and effort. And if we tried to skimp and do it too quickly and did a poor job, we got the opportunity to do it again the very same day. It seems to me that most kids today could do with a reintroduction to chores and the physical labor that accompanies them. It might help educate them in dealing with responsibility, physical health and energy conservation.
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