Taking Parking Rage Too Far?
My girlfriend and I share a car. We pay for a permit that allows us to park it overnight on the streets in our neighbourhood. On a good day, we find a spot between our apartment and the laneway. The stretch of street can fit four cars and it's usually full. But on some days there are only three cars because someone has parked "incorrectly", usually a bit too far from the laneway. To our frustration, one of the prized spots has been "wasted".
This sort of situation really pisses my girlfriend off. She always threatens to write a note and place it on the car windshield but hasn't once followed through. Some people do. Like the person who wrote the note above I found this morning on a car parked in front of 48 Abell.
Now, there's nothing wrong with writing a note. It can be helpful in correcting an error that the car owner may not have been aware of. Hopefully they'll modify their behaviour in the future. But what sort of person crosses the line from a polite warning like "Please don't park so far from the laneway. This space can fit four cars." to one like this that resorts to profanity and name-calling to someone you've never met?
The problem is that what might have been received as helpful probably results in resentment when "Idiot" and "Asshole" are added the communique. (One might also say it's an act of cowardice given the note is anonymous)
In the case of the car at 48 Abell, I was left scratching my head because the infraction didn't appear to be that bad. See for yourself below. The car in question is the greenish Volkswagon Passat on the left.
Comments (12)
Oh urban rage. This calls for a post from Passive Aggressive Notes; Though this one is more aggressive than passive...
Save the cardboard! Buy some low-tac "I park like an idiot!" bumper stickers and apply liberally:
http://www.iparklikeanidiot.com/
(Plus, you're 'supporting' the ever awesome skinnycorp, makers of www.threadless.com)
I thought the note was pretty funny. It's true that the "infraction" doesn't seem that bad, maybe a bit of an overreaction.
I've been on the receiving end of these kind of notes, and they never help anything. If you're going to write a note, leave your name and phone number, as like you said, doing it anonymously just makes everyone pissed off.
Having lived at 48 Abell I can say that the parking situation there is extremely frustrating and that laneway is constantly blocked by bad parking. That said, the note is still pretty harsh.
You have a permit for parking on the street which is public property. You may park it anywhere your permit allows you to. The permit does not give you exclusive rights to claim or "own" a certain portion of a public thoroughfare.
In other words, no part of that street is exclusively yours.
Sometimes, you'll have to walk half a block or so. It comes with the territory that is called on-street parking.
Your note, by the way, was rude. Are you a Harper Conservative?
Jerrold
Thank you for pointing out my error. Maybe the note's author is a rude Harper Conservative. Sure sounds like it.
Thinks he owns the road and all that.
It's amazing how unobservant drivers are (I'm surprised there aren't MORE accidents). I can't count the number of times I had to have cars towed out of in front of my driveway so that either get in or get out.
And yes, I have left many a nasty note telling people how idiotic they are, especially when their lack of paying attention meant me being late for a client.
slashing their tires or pouring brake fluid all over their nice paint gets the message across. park like an idiot a second time and your car gets torched.
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