Sunday evening, I did what I often do when I’ve had a sedentary day and took a brisk walk. I also felt the Sunday scaries creeping in, and so I braved the cold just ahead of sunset.

In our parlance, my wife and I call what I took a walk-jog, which is when I mostly walk, and then, feeling bad about not being the runner I was a decade ago, I trot. That lasts about 50 to 100 feet, and then the past 10 years reassert themselves and I walk again, but at least the short jogs get the heart rate up a little more.

You know what else gets my heart rate up? Trying to stay upright in the slush where unplowed neighborhood roads get into a deep, slushy freeze-thaw pattern. That’s fine. Neighborhood roads are a lower priority than arterials and collectors (the roads that feed into arterials) for city plowing.

But as for unshoveled sidewalks in front of houses, I’m far less forgiving. For the love of humanity, Bend, just shovel the snow off your sidewalks. It’s not just that it’s the law, although it IS the law: Per bendoregon.gov: “Residential properties have 24 hours to clear snow and ice from sidewalks after snowfall.”

It’s also the considerate, neighborly thing to do.

Admittedly, this is an odd moment in America for someone to appeal to people’s more thoughtful sides. I swear, someday, this solipsistic time will be called the Don’t Tell Me What to Do! Era in the history books, should books about history continue to be written.

This weird timeline makes now feel like it’s both the perfect and absolutely wrong time to remind people how our fates are tied together, how it matters if we are good citizens and how we should be civil to one another.

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Maybe the sidewalk is a great place to start: It’s a public space that traverses private property – I mean, I’m not a lawyer, so don’t quote me – and you’re responsible for it.

Ignorance of the 24-hour mandate is one thing, but if you just don’t care, I don’t know how to explain to you that even in this car-driven (ha) society, you should care about neighbors and strangers walking home loaded with bags of groceries or how their burden might be reduced a smidgen by not slipping and sliding as they cross in front of your home.

I complained about people not shoveling sidewalks to one of the urban walkers I know, and he wrote back, “I see people complain about it online. And then other people are like ‘cry about it snowflake’ or whatever.”

It is not weak or beta or whatever dumb term podcasters are using this week to care about others. Nor is it Karenish to remind others they have a moral obligation to those around them.

It is weak, however, to bristle and call others names because, wah, you don’t feel like shoveling snow. Maybe you shouldn’t live in Central Oregon if you can’t be bothered to remove snow, as snow is a fact of life here.

I have to think we are still capable as a people of being considerate of our fellow citizens, or else what’s the point of living in a society? If nothing else, shoveling is good exercise. Don’t like exercise? Give a few bucks to your neighbor with the fancy snow thrower he uses once or twice a winter.

If you have a senior or other neighbor for whom shoveling may be a problem, go ahead and shovel their sidewalk, too. I swear you will feel better having done that for them. Related: If you’re lucky enough to have a neighbor with a plow on their four-wheeler and for some reason does good portions of the sidewalks in your neighborhood, kick him or her some gas money. I know I would.

One thing I noticed is that outside of those who just do what they’re supposed to, which is one way or another remove the snow from sidewalks in front of their residence, there are all sorts of approaches people take.

For those people who muster just one thin path the width of their snow shovel: I salute your effort.

Those who live on corner lots are burdened by the location they chose because they usually have two stretches of sidewalk with which to deal. I saw on my recent walk a corner house where the presumed owner had removed the snow just in the front, but not the side. Weird, but at least a partial if not particularly valiant effort.

I don’t even know what to say about people who shovel only their driveway, sometimes even throwing the snow on top of whatever snow has already accumulated on the sidewalk.

I get it. Not everyone is a walker. I think everyone would be a lot more thoughtful about this stuff if they gave walking a try, but I get it: Not everyone is a walker or runner or jog-walker chasing away the Sunday scaries.

But I think everyone with a sidewalk crossing their property should get acquainted with a shovel or shoveler.

By the way, the city also reminds us “When shoveling, keep all snow on your property. Do not move it from the sidewalk into the street” and “street crews work hard to avoid plowing snow back onto sidewalks, but it can still happen. If it does, it is still your responsibility to keep the sidewalk clear.” More info on the city’s snow policies and practices, as well as resources for help with removal, can be found at bendoregon.gov.