To Clean Or Not To Clean FTLComm - Tisdale January 14, 2000 It is an age old question, do you leave snow on the walk and wait for spring, or do you shovel it off. Do you scrap off the windshield or just let the vehicle run until it melts off? Its problems like this that seem ridiculously trivial and yet are as fundamental and as important as any question that can be asked. The City of New York, one of the largest

metropolises in the world, has decided the little things are important. The city's subway system, for more then a decade, was a rolling mess of graffiti, paint over paint, mess on top of mess, to the point where they were truly unsightly. The city decided to clean them up and actively see that they were not messed up again. In the streets of New York things could be pretty outrageous and crime seemed common place. It was decided that if the city was going to be a livable place they had to look after the little things. Police were directed to police littering, to come down hard on shop lifting, and all other really minor crimes that we might consider trivial. The theory was that if you looked after the little stuff it would send a message that there was a matter of civic pride and crime of all types would not be tolerated The results of the campaign was absolutely startling. Not only did things look better, but all forms of violent crime declined remarkably. Muggings, rape, armed robbery all dropped significantly where ever the details were being looked after. They did not stop there, the city has moved to clean up the businesses that make their community look bad and seedy, strip joints, porno shops and porno video locations became the target of a tense battle using zoning bylaws and that too, has worked. Neighbourhoods, which were once simply off limits, because of streetwalkers and their clients, have been won back by the people and New York is a better place. How does all this relate to cleaning off your windows? People who take the time and effort to look after the details, improve their margin of safety, are less likely to experience a motor accident and there is a good chance they will use this same strategy in other parts of their lives. These same people will get along better, be more successful and in general experience less trouble then those who start up and drive away hoping they will be able to see through the ice and snow and they do not meet someone else guiding their vehicle by divine abandon.