Snow Days in Detroit are the Neighborhood Hustle - Shannon Cason's Homemade

Summary5 min read

Podcast Summary: "Snow Days in Detroit are the Neighborhood Hustle" – Shannon Cason's Homemade

Podcast Information:

Title: Shannon Cason's Homemade
Host/Author: Shannon Cason
Episode: "Snow Days in Detroit are the Neighborhood Hustle"
Release Date: February 13, 2025
Description: Homemade features short stories and commentary by writer and storyteller Shannon Cason. Known for his appearances on platforms like Snap Judgment, The Moth, TEDx, and RISK!, Shannon shares the multifaceted narratives of his life, encompassing both blessings and blemishes.

1. Setting the Scene: A Snowy Detroit Day

Shannon Cason opens the episode by painting a vivid picture of a snow-covered Detroit. As the city declares a snow day with an expectation of 4 to 7 inches of snowfall, Shannon reflects on his immediate plans:

“I think it's a lot of snow. So I'm gonna stay in today, maybe work on the next story for you.” ([00:00])

He contrasts the current winters with the past, noting that in earlier years, Detroit winters were harsher, often requiring significant snow removal efforts.

2. A Love-Hate Relationship with Snow

Shannon delves into his complex feelings toward snow, distinguishing his childhood joy from adult frustrations:

“I have a love hate relationship with snow. I'm not talking about cocaine. I'm talking about actual snow.” ([02:30])

As an adult, snow presents dangers such as slippery roads and aggressive drivers, particularly in Detroit where:

“Drivers here don't respect the snow. They'll cut you off over black ice on the lode.” ([03:15])

Yet, he appreciates the natural beauty of snowfall, a perspective he lacked as a child, who was more interested in playful mischief than aesthetic appreciation.

3. Childhood Adventures: Games and Risks

Shannon reminisces about his youth, highlighting the playful and sometimes perilous games he and his friends engaged in:

Snowball Fights:

“We had block wide snowball fights. And you'll get extra points if you could hit someone in the face with an ice ball.” ([04:45])
Bumper Skiing: A dangerous pastime where kids would try to ski on icy streets by holding onto vehicles.

“We would run behind a UPS truck or 18 wheeler and hold on for dear life and ski on our shoes on the road. Very dangerous.” ([06:10])

These activities underscore the heightened risk and thrill associated with wintertime play in their neighborhood.

4. The Snow Shoveling Enterprise

Central to the episode is Shannon's recounting of his childhood snow shoveling business, a venture initiated with his friends to earn money during the snowy months:

“If you had a snow shovel, me and my friends would get together to start our snow shoveling business.” ([07:25])

Key aspects include:

Team Dynamics: Shannon, Nate, and Bej managed the workload, with Bej often being the less industrious member.
Competition with Adult Crack Shoveling Services:

“Crackheads could shovel the whole block in 30 minutes for $10. We started on our own block, knocking on doors, asking to shovel people.” ([09:40])

This competition introduced the kids to the realities of entrepreneurship, including facing frequent rejections.

5. Memorable Neighborhood Characters

Shannon highlights interactions with notable neighbors who were part of their snow shoveling journey:

Mr. Bill:

“Mr. Bill had the home on the neighborhood with the most immaculate lawn. His lawn didn't even look real.” ([12:05])

Despite his strict demeanor, Mr. Bill valued precision in snow removal, often micromanaging the boys to ensure his property remained pristine. In exchange for their labor, he generously paid:

“At the end of it all, he did pay pretty well though. $20 in the 80s is a big deal.” ([13:20])
Kia's Mom: Shannon shares the allure of working for Kia's household, intertwined with childhood crushes and curiosity about Kia, the enigmatic girl next door.

“We would knock on the door, shovel the snow, and sometimes think we saw Kia looking out the window.” ([15:10])
Mrs. C: Representing the epitome of kindness, Mrs. C took a different approach by offering spiritual rewards instead of monetary compensation.

“Mrs. C held a bottle of olive oil, anointed our foreheads, and prayed for us. No money, but we felt the warmth and blessings.” ([18:45])

These interactions not only provided financial gain but also fostered a sense of community and personal growth.

6. The Rewards of Hard Work

Earning money from shoveling allowed Shannon and his friends to indulge in childhood pleasures, such as:

Video Games:

“We made enough money to go to the corner store and play video games. My favorite was the Faygo Peach.” ([20:30])
Snacks and Sweets: Indulging in treats like Better Made Red Hot Chips, Fago Pops, and various candies became symbols of their hard-earned rewards.

These moments underscore the tangible benefits and personal motivations behind their entrepreneurial efforts.

7. Reflections on Memories and Snow

Shannon wraps up the episode by contemplating how these childhood experiences with snow shaped his understanding of community, resilience, and the bittersweet nature of growing up.

“Fresh snow as a kid meant friendship and neighbors. So even now as an adult, it's hard to totally hate the snow. Too many good memories.” ([22:15])

This reflection ties together the themes of nostalgia, personal growth, and the enduring impact of childhood adventures.

8. Conclusion and Acknowledgments

While the core content centers on Shannon's nostalgic tales of snow days in Detroit, the episode concludes with acknowledgments to supporters and listeners, emphasizing the importance of community in sustaining his storytelling endeavors.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

Love-Hate Relationship with Snow:

“I have a love hate relationship with snow. I'm not talking about cocaine. I'm talking about actual snow.” ([02:30])
Dangerous Shoveling Practices:

“We would run behind a UPS truck or 18 wheeler and hold on for dear life and ski on our shoes on the road. Very dangerous.” ([06:10])
Mr. Bill's Precise Demands:

“At the end of it all, he did pay pretty well though. $20 in the 80s is a big deal.” ([13:20])
Community and Memories:

“Fresh snow as a kid meant friendship and neighbors. So even now as an adult, it's hard to totally hate the snow. Too many good memories.” ([22:15])

Final Thoughts

In "Snow Days in Detroit are the Neighborhood Hustle," Shannon Cason masterfully intertwines personal anecdotes with broader reflections on community and growth. Through his storytelling, listeners gain insight into the formative experiences of youth, the challenges of entrepreneurship, and the lasting impact of cherished memories. This episode serves as a heartfelt homage to the simple yet profound moments that shape our lives.

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Transcript1 lines

[00:01]
Shannon Cason
Question do you love the snow or do you hate the snow and why? And do you have a story about it? Join the conversation in the comments on YouTube and subscribe. Before we start this February, we're on a mission to make Homemade sustainable. With a hundred supporters becoming friends of Homemade, your support is needed. It covers production, all these subscriptions that keep going up in price and it blesses the storyteller. And you get more episodes, more Patreon and social posts, and more stories all year long. Let's make this month a celebration of storytelling. Now's the time to become a friend. Be one of the hundred friends of homemade@patreon.com backslash Shannon Casen or cash app dollar sign Shannon Casen. And there's more ways to support@shannon kayson.com thank you for listening, sharing and supporting Homemade. All right, enjoy the show. Welcome to Homemade. I'm Shannon Cason. Today is a snow day in Detroit. The school's called last night. It's no school. I think we're getting anywhere between several and a lot of inches of snow, whatever that means, like 4 to 7 inches. I think I just looked outside. It's a lot of snow. So I'm gonna stay in two today, maybe work on the next story for you. I will go out and shovel the snow. I'm gonna take my time because it's a lot of it, but I look at it like exercise. I don't feel like it snows the way it used to though. I don't know where you live, but I used to expect a lot of snow every winter in Detroit. Nowadays you can get through the winter with just a few snow days. One winter I think I got through the whole win sweeping snow. That's crazy. Just no shovel, just a broom all winter. Well, here's a story about the snow and shoveling. I hope you enjoy. I have a love hate relationship with snow. I'm not talking about cocaine. I'm talking about actual snow. As an adult, I don't care for the snow much because I drive a car. I can slide off the road and it can cause major injury or worse. And the drivers here in Detroit don't respect the snow. They'll cut you off over black ice on the lodge. Merging on i94 is like fast and furious, even in a snowstorm. But the snow is beautiful. So as an adult, I recognized the natural beauty. But as a kid, I really didn't care about the beauty of the snow. It was more about playing games in the snow with my friends and we weren't wholesome kids playing wholesome games in the beautiful snow. There weren't any snowmen or snow angels. The only snow angel would be if I pushed you down in the snow. And the deformed snow angel you would make getting back up to come chase after me to make more snow angels. We had block wide snowball fights. And you'll get extra points if you could hit someone in the face with an ice ball. We would write our names in the snow, if you get what I mean. And that's all I'll say about that. I have a long name too. I'm just saying. Pause, pause. We had another dangerous game. Very dangerous. We called it bumper skiing. If the streets were icy and slushy. What I hate about the snow now as an adult, I loved as a kid. If the streets were icy and slushy, we would run behind a UPS truck or 18 wheeler and hold on for dear life and ski on our shoes on the road. Very dangerous. Do not do that. It will cause major injury or worse. One positive thing snow always brought for me and my friends was money. Snow meant enterprise. If you had a snow shovel. Me and my friends would get together to start our snow shoveling business. Me, Bej and Nate all lived on the same. Block B was my best friend, but he was lazy though. So me and Nate would end up doing most of work. But bees was fun to be around. Nate was tall as me, but much stronger. Nate was huge. He could probably lift 315. As a 12 year old he was lifting 500. In high school we would get our snow shovels from our house after we shoveled our own snow and meet over Beej's house and make our plans to get rich. This is the early 80s before crack really really hit. After crackhead crackheads took over the snow shoveling market, kids couldn't keep up with crackheads. Crackheads could shovel the whole block in 30 minutes for $10. I'm serious. We started on our own block. Knocking on doors, going door to door, asking to shovel people. Snow is a crash course on rejection. You gotta experience rejection when you young to get the hang of it. Most people just don't have any money. So there were a lot of no's and then a lot of I'm gonna do it myself comments. But there were always a few homes that we could count on. One was Mr. Bill. Mr. Bill had the home on the neighborhood with the most immaculate lawn. His lawn didn't even look real. The grass looked like thick carpet. There was no variation in the green if you touched it, it was like a pillow, but you rarely touched it. I only remember Mr. Bill ever saying four words to us. Stay off my grass. I don't think any of us ever heard him say anything else, but oddly, he would let us touch his snow. Mr. Bill was the type of annoying person that would come out and shovel the snow with us, which meant he was micromanaging us through every step of shoveling the snow. He wanted his snow to look like his grass in the summertime. Perfect lines, complete symmetry. It was the worst. At the end of it all, he did pay pretty well though. $20 in the 80s is a big deal. He gave us the 20 and told us stay off my grass. Enjoying this story. We have a goal of a hundred friends. In February, become a friend of homemade@patreon.com backslash Shannon Casein or cash app $sign Shannon Casein and find more ways to support@shannoncasing.com I appreciate you. Back to the story. Another house we knew we could get some snow shoveling action was Kia's mom's house. To tell you about Kia's mom, I gotta tell you about Kia. Kia was the girl on the block who was like a mythical creature. We knew she lived in the house, but we only saw her walk from the car to the house then hardly ever again. She didn't go to our school. She didn't come out to play. I remember all of us agreed she had a nice body. We knew she smelled like strawberries. We could. We could just tell. And we knew her body was nice. That's what preteen boys notice. And I guess that's why our mom never let her come out the house and play smart mom. We would knock on the door and the door would open just a sliver and we would be hovering, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kia. And she would agree to let us shovel the snow, then slam the door shut. We would shovel the snow and a few times I thought I saw the window blinds move. Maybe that was Kia looking out. B said he thought he saw something and we would stare at the window as we caught our breath, but it was nothing. When we would knock at the door after we were done and again the door would open just a sliver and Kia's mom would slip out a $10 bill and we could feel the warmth from inside and smell a hint of strawberries from behind the door. Then slam back out in the cold. I think Kia listens to Homemade. You know your mom ain't let you out the house back there. Kia. But I hope all is good. Witch. One of the last houses we knew would let us shovel their snow for our snow shoveling business was Mrs. C. Mrs. C was the grandma of the block. I mean, we had our own grandmas, but Mrs. C welcomed being grandma for the whole block. Everyone loved Mrs. C. So we knew Mrs. C would let us shovel her snow. She said, go ahead, go shovel the snow. I got something good for you. Something good. We wondered if it would beat out Mr. Bill's $20. So we got the shoveling. Mrs. C had a big yard, too long driveway. We even shoveled off the deck at the back of the house. Her house took up most of the time for the day. When we came to the door exhausted at the end of the job, she opened the door holding a bottle of olive oil. You know that small bottle of Pompeian extra virgin olive oil? If you came from a sanctified family, you know this bottle. She told us to remove our scullies. She said, father God, in the mighty name of Jesus, anoint this oil and set it apart for your holy purposes. And she held her palm to the top of the bottle, turned it upside down and pressed a dab of oil on all our foreheads and prayed for us. And that was it. That was the something good. No money. We all just looked at each other, then put back on our scullies and left. And we dealt with this every time we shoveled Mrs. C house. She would say she has something good. But we never actually got paid. But I think we actually wanted the prayers. Needed the prayers. All in all, we made enough money to go to the corner store and play video games. Ms. Pac Man, Pole Position, Centipede and eat Better Made Red Hot Chips and drink Fago Pops Rock and Rye, Red Pop, Pineapple Orange. My favorite was the Faygo Peach. Eat all the candy we could eat. Banana Long Boys, Chico Sticks, Lemon Heads Razzles. Fresh snow as a kid meant friendship and neighbors. So even now as an adult, it's hard to totally hate the snow. Too many good memories. Thanks for listening. Shannon Kazen's Homemade is proud to be supported by the Friends of Homemade. Thank you to everyone who listens, enjoys and supports the stories. My friends. Brennan S. In Blacksburg, Virginia. Thanks for the PayPal. Mindy S. In Grand Rapids, Michigan. I appreciate the Paypal. I gotta go to Grand Rapids soon. It's a great city. Rebecca H. In Australia. I appreciate you, Rebecca. I hope you and your family are doing well. John L. In Indian Trail, NC Appreciate the PayPal. JR in Manifee, CA thank you for joining the Patreon. Check in on that roll Call post. Heidi B in Toronto Appreciate the PayPal I love Toronto. Sarah G in West Fork, Arkansas thank you for joining the Patreon and thank you for checking in too. Good talking to you. To my best friends Caroline Ray at Satchels in Gainesville, Florida thank you to Satchel and the whole family there. Thank you for the PayPal Vincent l thank you for the Cash app Means a lot to me. I appreciate you. Patrick S in Chicago my friend, long time best friend of the show. I appreciate you Cassandra R. Thank you Cassandra. Thank you for the positive threads too. Go follow her on threads. Is MSC a D E R RO on Threads Be uplifted Homemade is a friend funded podcast. Visit patreon.com backslash Shannon Casein or $sign Shannon Casein on Cash app if you like to go to Direct route. The goal is a hundred friends this February. Join the patreon@patreon.com Shannon Casen send a cash app, $sign Shannon Casein or there's other ways to support in the description or@shannoncasen.com and look out for more and more stories this month. If these stories touch you, Homemade needs you. Become a friend of Homemade. The goal is 100 friends. This episode was produced at home by me, Shannon Cason. Subscribe to Shannon Kayson on YouTube. This story is also available on YouTube. YouTube right now make sure you like and subscribe. Consider supporting the stories@patreon.com Shannon Casein or cash app $sign Shannon Caseing be a friend of the stories and for more information about workshops and speaking engagements go to shannoncasing.com book me to come speak in your area. The intro and outro is produced by echo film. Visit echofinch.com to learn more. Also, Echo Finch makes incredible music. Find his band camp and then thank me later. I'm serious. Search Echo Finch on Band Camp and buy all the albums and keep coming back for more and more stories. I'm gonna talk to you soon. Now that's Homemade.