Last winter and this year’s have been polar opposites. Last year, we didn’t get enough snow worth mentioning in most parts of the Times News area - 5.3 inches all season at the Lehigh Valley International Airport’s National Weather Station. This year, we are threatening February’s all-time record, thanks to several major storms and a seemingly endless stream of smaller ones, including yesterday’s and today’s moderate event.

So in 2021, along with the winter of lots of snow, questions have returned: What do we do with all of this snow? Even more urgent: Is the person who shovels out a space, especially in front of his or her own property, entitled to it?

The answers can get ugly, even deadly.

In nearby Plains Township, Luzerne County, to start off the month, a dispute over snow-shoveling ended with a murder-suicide that left three people dead, including the shooter.

Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie J. Salavantis said that Jeffrey Spaide got angry when James and Lisa Goy, who lived across the street from him, started shoveling snow onto his property.

Spaide asked them to stop, but things turned nasty, and the three of them got into an argument. Police said Spaide went into his home, returned with an assault-style rifle and killed the Goys.

After police arrived, they said that they heard a gunshot from Spaide’s home and found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A day later, another incident occurred, this time in North Scranton, Lackawanna County. Thanks to some quick action by police, who de-escalated the tensions between the two parties, no one was hurt.

One man thought another was shoveling snow onto his car. When he complained, the shoveler pulled a knife. This sent the aggrieved man into his car for a baseball bat.

What the heck is going on? You’re going to kill or maim a person over an argument about snow removal? Have we lost our minds?

Don’t you think that with about five more weeks of winter in front of us it’s a good idea to calm down, be thoughtful and help one another?

Many of our area communities are discussing how to handle these issues. There are ordinances about moving cars when there is more than a minimal amount of snow, but in some communities such as Jim Thorpe, officials have found that people would rather pay the fine than give up their coveted parking space. Maybe it’s time to up the ante and tow violators’ vehicles.

So, let’s talk about what many call “winter dibs,” the unofficial rule that whoever shovels out a parking space on a community’s street is entitled to that space. The social penalty for disregarding this tradition can range from an angry note on the windshield to all-out war.

It’s impractical for a person who has done the backbreaking task of shoveling 20 inches of snow to then stand guard over the cherished space indefinitely. That’s when the laborer calls upon a surrogate to help until he or she reclaims the space.

This can take the form of a lawn chair, trash can, ladder, ironing board, pieces of furniture, etc. Police do not take kindly to these objects to reserve spaces, because, not only are they impediments to snowplowing, they can spark unacceptable behavior that can turn violent, such as what happened with the neighbors to our north.

The practice has been outlawed in many communities, although the level of enforcement varies depending on the nature of the ordinances adopted to address the issue.

In the Lehigh Valley, Allentown and Bethlehem public works employees remove any of these parking-space savers and discard them, much to the annoyance of their owners. This may explain why these workers often perform this duty with a police escort.

In some of our tight-knit local communities, neighborhoods have unwritten courtesy understandings among residents that are strictly observed.

When I visit my brother in my hometown of Summit Hill, for example, I must be careful not to park in a “neighbor’s reserved spot,” because, if I do, there will be hell to pay, and my brother is likely to get an earful, too, for not educating me and being my enforcer.

There and in other older communities which rely on street parking because there are few garages, there has to be some give-and-take to maintain harmony.

While we might want to believe that this is our space, legally, it is not. Parking spaces on a public street are public property, and anyone can use them.

That said, though, after you have spent an hour or two clearing the spot of inches of snow, you are hopeful that your neighbors will respect your efforts, but you cannot legislate courtesy. Still, this might be a good time to invoke the Golden Rule - do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com