Imagine going to a restaurant that doesn’t have a very big parking lot, and sometimes it’s so crowded that there’s nowhere to park. If you were waiting for someone to leave so you could grab their parking spot, what would you do if another driver arrived in the parking lot 10 minutes later and tried to swoop in and take the first spot that opened up. Would you let him take it or take the spot yourself?

In this story, one man was in this exact situation, and he was not willing to let the other driver take his spot. But later, once inside the restaurant, he started to think through the situation again and wonder who really was in the right.

Keep reading to see who you think should’ve gotten the parking spot.

AITA for insisting on a parking spot I waited for?

I was meeting a friend early at a restaurant with a packed parking lot, so I parked at the end of a row to wait for a spot to open up.

I didn’t put my blinker on—maybe that matters here, not sure.

After about 10 minutes, I saw a couple heading towards a car near me, indicating that a spot would soon be free.

Not so fast!

Suddenly, a car swooped around from behind me, stopped in front of the couple, and began talking to them.

They pointed to a spot just a car-length behind me, and this guy started backing up to take it, so I backed up too.

I tried to reason with the guy, but he ignored me at first.

When he realized I was in front of the spot, he rolled down his window and claimed, “I called it.”

Is this elementary school?

I was puzzled—what does that even mean? I’d been there for over 10 minutes waiting.

The couple then backed him up, saying he asked first.

In my mind, parking etiquette is simple: you park, you eat, you leave—you don’t own a spot.

Just because I was physically waiting and he jumped in front of me doesn’t seem fair.

He’s wondering which one of them is crazy.

Eventually, he gave up and moved on.

But later in the restaurant, I caught him pointing me out to his friends and painting me as the crazy one.

So, Reddit, am I the crazy one here? I always thought the unspoken rule was that the person who waits in the area first gets the spot, not someone who just shows up and claims it.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who is feeling guilty about having an unauthorized car towed from her assigned spot.

I’m on OP’s side. Let’s see if Reddit agrees.

One person shares their opinion.

Here’s another person’s opinion.

This is a good question.

Here’s another opinion.

I personally hate going to restaurants where the parking lot is so crowded that you can’t find a parking spot. I prefer to avoid these stressful scenarios.

That said, I’m with OP. He was waiting longer. However, the person who commented and asked if he told the other driver he had been waiting 10 minutes asked a very good question. The other driver had no way of knowing OP was there first and had been waiting quite awhile unless someone told him.

That’s a lot of drama just to eat dinner.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a waitress who refused to return a tip after a party returned to the restaurant with a complaint.