There you are, innocently walking down the street, minding your own business. The melting snow has cleared a larger path for you, your journey should be an easy one. Then, you reach an intersection, and you glance down at your reflection in the pool water and its questionably contents.

As you wait for the light to turn, you weight you options. Should I step through it? It doesn’t look that deep. Should I walk halfway down the block to the first walk path between snow piles? Should I have just called Carmel this morning? Ultimately, you think, nah, it can’t be more that an inch of water. You’re wearing the appropriate footwear, surely you can take on this measly puddle.

The light turns, and you’re ready to go, you hesitantly take that first step. Your regret is instant as the mix of snow and street grime surge past your boots and onto your pants. After shouting the appropriate expletives, you soldier on through the slush, a martyr to those who will now choose the other path. How could a puddle have been that deceptive? It looked only an inch or two deep!

Such is the plague of many street corners in New York City. What looks like a manageable pool of water turns into a vast sea once you step into it. Many have been fooled into stepping into this urban trap. It is a hard lesson learned, one that sometimes needs to be learned more than once. We are all duped by those deceiving puddles of slush.

What is that? Is there another way? Is there a way to avoid all this slush and the subsequent jumping of puddles so vast you should probably qualify for the Olympics? Of course there is! Carmel will ease you past those piles of snow, the puddles of slush, and ensure dry feet upon arrival to your destination. Unless the puddle long-jump is your sport, you better call Carmel!