Her Neighbor Shoveled Out a Street Parking Spot—Then She Parked There After His Car Was Gone for Two Weeks
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There are certain places that have unspoken rules about street parking during the winter months.
For example: I used to live in Chicago, and if there was a shoveled out spot with a chair or a cone in it, you didn’t park there.
Because if you did, the person who took the time to shovel out the parking space was gonna give you an earful…or worse.
And that brings us to today’s story!
Check out what the woman who wrote it had to say about a parking dilemma she’s having with her neighbor.
AITA for using my neighbor’s parking spot?
“I (F,20s) live in a house with two other tenants (both M,40s).
All 3 of our living spaces are separated and have separate entrances so we don’t speak unless it’s outside in passing.
I’ve never had any issues with either one in the past year I’ve been living here.
Snow can make parking more complicated.
Two weeks ago we had a snow storm leaving our parking situation pretty bad.
Usually, one neighbor parks in the driveway, the other directly out front in public street parking, and my car directly behind his.
The day after the storm the neighbor who also parks on the street (we’ll call him Gregory) shoveled his parking spot (poorly) and dumped most of the snow back into the plowed street and by my spot.
Which is fine, I have no problem parking down the street for a bit since I didn’t shovel my spot to avoid blocking in the other neighbors/driveway.
Here’s where we get into the gray area.
Gregory‘s car hasn’t been anywhere near the house for the past week and a half. I’ve been parking a few spots down anyway but I haven’t seen his car anywhere.
For reference, his car is small and I have an off-roading car so I can drive over the snow a lot easier.
So for almost two weeks I haven’t seen his car and the snow isn’t melting with the low temp, I figured I’d park in that spot since it seemed he wouldn’t park there due to the ice and remaining snow.
Keep in mind this is public street parking And it’s been about 3 days I’ve parked there after not seeing his for a week and a half.
You can probably guess what’s coming next…
So today I woke up midday (I work the night shift) to use the restroom and feed my pets, and I normally crack the window for one of my cats who likes to sit in it.
Before I went back to sleep I went to shut my window and I see Gregory outside shoveling my usual parking spot that I’ve parked in before the snow came.
He seemed angry and I couldn’t tell if he was on the phone or mumbling to himself but he sounded angry. I didn’t think much of it, I got back into bed and went to sleep.
She wasn’t going to get any sleep.
10 minutes later I hear banging at my door.
I have a camera but no screen door so I never open it unless I’m expecting visitors so my cats don’t run out and for my safety.
Then knocking again, and again.
She wasn’t about to engage with this guy…
Gregory also knows I sleep during the day. but I’m not opening my door to what sounds like angry knocking when I live alone.
Eventually he left but I want to know if I’m a jerk for parking in an open public spot in front of my own home after not seeing his car for almost two weeks.
Also I’ve seen him in passing since then and nothing was said.
I may be a jerk for not opening my door after but I’m not dealing with someone who seems angry that I don’t know when I’m a young female who lives alone.”
Check out what folks had to say about this on Reddit.
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This person weighed in.
Another individual shared their thoughts.
This Reddit user said she’s to blame.
Another reader agreed.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about neighbors who complain about dandelions only to find themselves on the other end of a creative response.
And this individual spoke up.
Yeah, she shouldn’t have parked there.
Like I said, there are rules about this kind of stuff!
Lesson learned!
People get pretty fired up about parking spots in the winter!
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