Someone's gotta do it!

Before moving back to Pennsylvania from Chicago last February, a well-meaning but clueless friend asked me about snow removal. Over the course of dinner, I filled him in on going out overnight in my plow truck and clearing several properties, as well as checking in on my team to make sure their equipment was running, they were fueled up, and we were staying ahead of the storm. "Man," he said, pushing back from the table, "I'd much rather stay in bed than go out and do that. That's why I went to college." Ouch.

I'd graduated from Penn State's Landscape Architecture department twenty years earlier, while my clueless friend was still in high school and waiting for the next episode of Dawson's Creek. My career path took me into the service sector, because I go crazy sitting indoors for too long and love being outdoors. I didn't accidentally wake up one day behind the wheel of a plow truck (though I've been really close to falling asleep at times!), it was a choice to follow a career that I enjoy--and that choice meant part of my job duties include waking early in the morning to clear snow out of the way so others can get to their jobs safely and in one piece.

It's the same for the men and women I currently work with at Scott's. Given the choice, any normal person would rather get a few more hours of sleep! But the group I've gotten to know here since I started has been at it a long time, and they're good at what they do. We've got some great mechanics to keep machines running despite cold temps, some great operators to move heavy equipment safely around the properties we clear, some dedicated shovelers to take care of the detailed areas, and some great managerial staff to quarterback the efforts and be sure all goes as planned.

So while the weather is warm this week, it'll be cold again soon, and it'll snow soon enough. And when it does, I know the team I'm getting to know will be up early to meet whatever comes our way!