The neighbor who told me I was sweeping my driveway wrong - and I actually changed how I do it

My neighbor Gary came over last week while I was sweeping leaves off my concrete driveway and told me I was doing it all backwards. He said I should sweep from the edges toward the middle instead of pushing everything to the street, because it keeps the mess contained and is easier to bag up. I thought he was just being nosy at first, but then he showed me his method and within 5 minutes I had a neat pile instead of leaf bits everywhere. Now I feel dumb for twenty years of driveway sweeping, but also I save like 10 minutes each time. Is it weird to take advice like that from someone you barely know, or is that just how neighbors work? Has anyone else had a total stranger critique a super basic chore and actually change how you do it?

2 comments

2 Comments

laurabennett12d ago

Honestly I don't get why everyone is acting like Gary is some kind of sweeping guru. It's sweeping leaves off a driveway, not rocket science. @paige_martin I get that it works for you but calling it a "game changer" feels like a lot. I tried the edge thing and yeah the pile was nicer but it also took me way longer because I had to walk back and forth so much. Maybe my driveway is just too big for that method. Plus if the wind picks up it doesn't matter what direction you sweep, the leaves are going everywhere anyway.

paige_martin13d ago

Gary made me feel like I’d been fighting a war with a broom for 20 years too, I just switched to the edge-to-middle method last week and it’s a game changer.