Advice on Shoveling Snow and Meeting People

I've adopted eight bus stops for shoveling this winter. Two of them are nowhere near a street corner at all, so people leaving the bus would otherwise be faced with a chest-high plow wake and nowhere to go except walking in the busy street. The other six are sort of near a corner, so the bus drivers and passengers are figuring out ways to do boarding from and exiting into the adjacent street instead. I try to prioritize the two stops that are isolated, but I often end up doing all eight at once (as I did today).

While doing these eight plus two curb cuts outside a business I'm helping run, I've been observing pedestrian behavior in the snow. (Did you know we just broke the record for the most snow in February in Minnesota? Go, us.)

1. It sucks to get off a bus with a rolly suitcase when there's a bunch of slush at the curb. I saw this happen just as I was approaching one of my stops to shovel it, but I arrived too late to clear the slush. I'm not sure if the bus rider was coming from the airport or was possibly homeless, with all his belongings in the large bag; he could have been either, from appearances. He didn't try to lift the bag over the slush, though; he just rolled it right through.
2. When you get off a bus at a corner because the bus stop is blocked, and then have to cross the street only to reach a completely blocked curb cut, you do what any experienced pedestrian would do: you take the path of least snow. In this case, that was to zigzag to the other bus stop across the street, which had been mostly cleared by the adjacent property owner. I say mostly; there were several feet of plow-cruft pushed up against the curb that this pedestrian (with her cane!) had to walk through. 
3. People thank you for clearing the bus stops or corners, and sometimes give you free bagels (because the people who work at Bruegger's are people who use bus stops). Many other people assume you are paid to do the work, I guess, and say nothing. 
4. People who know you and realize you're not being paid to do it think you are a bit insane, I'm afraid. I figure if I can inspire a few other people to adopt a bus stop, it will be less work for me in the future and more cleared bus stops for everyone. I think someone else has adopted one of the two most isolated stops already, so that's something.

In case you were wondering, the best shovel for breaking plow-wake snow is an old steel coal shovel, fairly light-weight, with a shortish handle and a flat digging edge and blade. At least, it is if you're an almost-60-year-old 125-pound woman who doesn't lift weights. A regular snow shovel just doesn't cut it (literally).
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The picture is approximately what my shovel looks like... mine is grungier and lacks the fun blue handle.