Parking can be a pain. These people can agree as they were recently caught in some parking drama. And now they wonder if they were the prick in the situation… Content has been edited for clarity.
“I Pay $160 Per Month For 2 Parking Spots”
“A little bit of a background. I live in a high rise and pay $160 per month for 2 parking spots in the connected parking garage. I have adjoining spots which is incredibly rare in my building. I live by myself currently, and I have a wide truck that I currently park centered over the line on my double spot to leave room for the people’s doors next to me.
The parking spot next to me is on the end of the row on a corner, which admittedly can get quite tight at times. They usually park close to the line on my side to give the drivers in the garage more room. Up until now, I’ve been fine with giving them a little leeway, however, we have never spoken.
Previously they have done little things that make me think they’re a bit pretentious: They have left items in my spot that I have had to move out of the way in order to park. They drive the wrong way in the parking garage to get to their spot 5 seconds quicker. This past week it looks like they disabled the light above their spot due to the spider issue in our garage, and they put the cover pieces in my spot. Again, nothing too bothersome, it’s just weird to me that someone does stuff like that.
Well, last night this person apparently decided my spot was now their spot, and they parked with more than 60% of their car over the dividing line between our two spots. It is so egregiously over the line, that there is no way this is a simple mistake. It just so happens that last night I was planning on using both of my spots for the first time in quite a while. I get building security involved, and they contact the owner to get the car moved. It is now the next day and the car has not been moved yet.
I wanted to nip this in the bud because I don’t want anyone else to feel entitled to my spot. About an hour after I was told the owner had been contacted, I went down to move my car and found the car still there. I was angry and feeling petty so I parked my car about 8 inches from their driver’s side mirror, but I am still well within my own parking spots.
I posted a picture of the car with the license plate obscured to our building’s very active NextDoor page effectively saying ‘Whoever uses spot X please move your car, you are in my spot.’
If for some reason this continues past this evening I want to escalate. My building, per our bylaws, has the right to impose fines on residents who do not abide by the rules, and I want to ask them to charge the offender the cost of my rent for the parking spot per day they have used it. It works out to about $2.50 per day. I have also been told that towing the offending car is an option as well, but I’ll only use that as a last resort.
Once the car is moved, I will also start parking entirely in my spot directly next to them, regardless of if I will be parking two cars or not. I feel I need to set boundaries now, but AITA for taking it this far?”
A Mother Doesn’t Have Time For Incompetent Driver
“This happened earlier today and I’m worried I’ve turned into an inconsiderate prick.
I live behind a popular station and cars normally park on my road to commute to work or to pick up people from the station. Because of this parking is limited, causing some people to park illegally across driveways or on double yellow lines.
Before the lockdown, this one woman took to parking on our private driveway while she waited for her friend. The driveway is obviously part of my garden but is directly behind the station.
Each time she did it I asked her not to cause we need our parking space and it’s our private property. She would tell me she wouldn’t be long and would normally be gone after 10 minutes. I’ve caught her doing this 3 times and seen her on our security system 11 times.
Today, I left in the car to pick up my daughter from nursery. When I returned she was waiting for her friend in my driveway. I flashed my headlights but she indicated that she would be a few minutes.
This is where I think I messed up.
My 3-year-old was in the car and needed to pee badly. My 7 months were crying as they wanted to be held. I pulled up across the front of my driveway, got the kids out of the car then went into the house. As the lady realized what I was doing she opened her car door and asked me to move my car. I ignored her and went into the house.
My 3-year-old made it to the toilet just in time. And the baby calmed down after a cuddle. By now I could see the lady’s friend had arrived and she honked her horn so I would move my car. I ignored her, called my husband, and told him what happened. He said he was 15 minutes away and he would move the car when he got back.
She came to the door knocking loudly and asking me to move my car. I told her via the kitchen window she would need to wait 15 minutes as I wasn’t putting the kids back in the car to move it and she shouldn’t have parked on my driveway. I was a bit of a condescending twat in the way I spoke to her but I didn’t swear and wasn’t blatantly rude. But I was dick.
She lost her mind and swore and hit the door. It was locked and she couldn’t get in. I told her to calm the f down as she was upsetting my kids. She said she was calling the police and I said go ahead but with all that’s going on it’s a waste of their time. Plus I had a security camera that would show I asked her to move plus the other times she parked there.
My husband arrived 20 minutes later and moved the car so she could leave.
AITA for not moving the car as soon as her friend arrived?”
“It Is Just A Fish”
“My son is 10 and on his birthday a few months ago he wanted to set up a tropical aquarium. Since then he has been super devoted to looking after the fish and cleaning the tank, and honestly, I’ve loved seeing how responsible he has been. As a reward for his hard work, I decided to get him a new fish.
The fish store is in a small mall with limited parking. When I first arrived I parked normally, went inside, and purchased the fish. I got back in my car and started driving home when I noticed that the bag the fish was in had sprung a leak somehow. It wasn’t a huge hole but it was leaking significantly enough that I didn’t think it would last the 30-minute drive home so I decided to turn back towards the mall.
When I got back to the mall parking I drove around a couple of times and could not find a spot anywhere. By now the bag had lost quite a bit of water and I saw that there was an empty disabled space at the front by the entrance. I made the decision to park quickly there, run inside, get a new bag, and run back out.
All in all, I was parked for about 5 minutes but when I came back a woman who was there came up to me very accusatory saying ‘you don’t look very disabled, you can’t park there!’
All I could say was, ‘No, but my fish was’ and left.
She gave me a scowl and I drove away.
Ever since then, I have felt pretty guilty about the whole thing. I spoke to a friend who said they would never park in that spot since it is ‘only a fish’ but I really felt at the time that the fish would’ve died if I didn’t park soon and in my mind even though it is ‘just a fish’ it is still a living creature that matters.
I’d like to hear some other opinions as to whether it was justified or if I am actually the asshole.”
Snowstorm Trouble
“I (35M) bought a new home a couple of years ago. Instead of selling my old house, I decided to rent it out instead. My current tenants have been there for about 18 months and for the most part, I haven’t had any problems with them. We recently had a large snowstorm in our area, about 20 inches in a 3-day period. As part of the rental agreement, I pay for a plow service to clear the driveway and parking area of my rental property after large storms. Other times I just go over there with my own snowblower and take care of it.
I ask my tenants to move their cars out of the parking area and driveway so that the plow truck can maneuver properly and move the snow safely. My tenants are a family and they have 3-4 cars depending on if their oldest is staying with them or not (She is in college nearby and sometimes stays at home instead of at school).
I always give 48-hour notice when I schedule the plow truck to come so that my tenants have ample notice and time to move their cars. I sent an email to them notifying them of the date and time that the plow truck was scheduled to be at the house, but I got no reply. So I sent a text but also got no response. I tried calling but got no answer so I left a message, but didn’t hear back.
The day the plow truck was scheduled, I got a call from the driver saying that he couldn’t plow the snow because there were too many cars in the way. I went over there and there were 5 cars, 2 of which I didn’t recognize. The driver said he had knocked on the door but no one answered. I tried too, but no one was home. I tried calling again but no answer. I eventually had to tell the driver to leave because he had other jobs to get to.
I sent another email saying that they have 24 hours to move their vehicles or they will be towed so the snow can be removed. I got no response to that email either. The next day I went to the house again and tried calling one last time, but no answer. So, I called a tow truck had all 5 cars towed, and got the plow truck to clear the snow.
The next day I finally got a call back from my tenant. He said they were out of state visiting family for the holidays and didn’t have cell service or internet access. He asked if I could wait to remove the snow until they got back in a couple of days. I had to tell him that their cars had already been towed.
He was not happy. There was a string of expletives about how I had no right to tow their cars and that 2 of the cars were family members who were traveling with them. I advised him to reread the rental agreement regarding parking and snow removal because I was completely within my rights to remove cars after giving proper advance notice.
He let loose with a string of expletives that would make a sailor blush and threatened to sue me for damages. I once again told him to review the lease but he told me to f*#@ off and hung up. I do feel bad, but there are city ordinances about snow removal that I need to adhere to as the homeowner.”
Walmart Parking
“I was at Walmart with my mom who is disabled and has disabled parking. There was no disabled parking available. The only close parking was for expectant mothers and families, so I parked there instead of driving around. Some guy called me out saying he would call mall security. I told him my mother is disabled and has disabled parking as well. This guy double-downed and said it didn’t matter. I ended up flipping him off, showing him the parking pass. AITA?
Some people have been asking why I don’t just drop my mom off. I’m a cancer survivor with mobility issues so it’s also difficult to walk far but my Dr won’t sign off on a pass. I only park in disability parking when with my mom. I will park in regular spots when I’m by myself. The last time I dropped my mom off to wait for me, she fell on her knees, which buckled, and then she fell on her face which injured her nose. We had to go to Emerg. I never park in family parking unless as a lady resort. I hope this clarifies.”
