The Code: The trials of the tarmac tundra are no excuse for reverting to Ice Age social conventions.

The Violation: Blaming inclement weather for ignorant behavior.

Criminal Profile-the likely perpetrators:

The Snow Sloth-Unswayed by consideration or self-preservation, this violator is content to allow the sidewalk in front of his or her property to glaciate. Aside from forcing otherwise well-shod pedestrians to consider investing in crampons, at least in Chicago, the snow sloth risks legal action should one of them take a tumble. (However, property owners who do clear the walks are freed of any liability.)

The Claim Staker-A Chicago native, the claim staker mistakes the arrival of snow cover for the obliteration of public property. Having cleared a parking space on the street, this transgressor blocks it off with all manner of detritus in order to reserve it for future use. The claim staker frequently comes into conflict with enterprising “claim jumpers” willing to heave the place-holding junk onto the parkway.

The Vexing Vector-A habitue of enclosed spaces, particularly train cars, this miscreant feels no need to contain the pathogens exploding from his or her respiratory tract with every cough and sneeze. Unmoved even by the close proximity of others, the vexing vector blithely accelerates the annual winter epidemics of cold and flu by misting anyone within a 10 foot radius with viral particles.

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Like any environment, the asphalt jungle has its own standards of behavior. These guidelines make everyone’s passage through the tangle of byways and shared spaces that unite a city more pleasant and efficient.

We’ve all, on occasion, colored outside the lines you might say….dashed into traffic as the light turned green, shouldered through a crowd a little too energetically, shouted into a staticky phone on the train. The universality of such slip-ups makes any attempt to articulate the unspoken code of urban conduct an exercise in hypocrisy. Be that as it may, I will be risking the structural integrity of my glass house by chucking a few stones at the most irritating of these transgressions in an occasional series on city manners.

I invite you to share your own suggestions and pet peeves in the comments field.

Photo credit: Lowell Georgia/Corbis