Snow Etiquette - 'Saving' the clear parking space that you cleared of snow

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During some snow storm years ago, my husband had to get into work to do something quickly. He had a truck and got out of his spot without issue. I stayed outside and shoveled it. It was snowing so much that I planned to just keep shoveling the spot until he got back.

My neighbor from Rochester pulled up and started back in to take the space! I was standing in the spot with a shovel! There's no way someone from Rochester didn't know better.

During a storm and for the day after, be nice.

After a day, the spots are up for grabs.

So what happened?

I stayed standing there, she rolled down the window, and I said "You're from Rochester and I'm from Boston. We both know snow etiquette." She must have gone down the street because I kept working on the spot.

She was such a nasty neighbor. Never friendly. I don't think she stuck around very long. Maybe she's taking spots in a new neighborhood now!

That is so rude when you clearly just cleared the space to park in it.

I am the nurse who is sick of this sh*t and even I think that neighbor was totally out of line to take that spot!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am truly baffled at the people that think it is fine to take a spot someone else dug out and view it as rude to put chairs to mark what you shoveled out. Using chairs to mark the spot you reclaimed from the snow seems common sense.

I am truly baffled that you think spots can be reserved on a public street.

This is a courtesy that greases the skids of community life in a cold climate. There is no snowy area on earth that doesn't have this general agreement about parking spots in the snow.

It's somewhat similar to picking a spot on the beach and laying out your towel and then heading to the water. Is it baffling to think you can reserve a spot on a public beach? You'd be annoyed and slightly incredulous if someone broke the social contact by moving your towel so they could have your spot. Now imagine how you'd feel if you'd had to work 2 hours to lay your towel in that spot. It would reveal an incredible sense of entitlement and lack of empathy towards others to move your towel in that circumstance.

And that's at the beach where you don't know anyone. But now you're in your neighborhood, looking at your neighbor's car in the spot you dug out and it's your neighbor basically saying, "screw you, I got mine."

Actually, it's the same as going out to the beach at 530am, setting up a big tent with 6 chairs in a prime spot, and then leaving and coming back at 130pm to enjoy the beach. Meanwhile no one else gets that prime beach spot for a full 8 hours because you've decided you want to use it later. And yeah, in beach communities and resorts, people will absolutely move that stuff after a few hours and most resorts have a strict no saving pool chairs/ no saving beach umbrellas policy. So I agree with your analogy about the snow parking spots and the beach chairs but I think you have it totally wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Idk, I think in the city where the cars turn over a lot and people come and go all day, you can’t save a space. But in the burbs, I think it’s okay to park in a cleared space temporarily but not overnight. Like if I take my kid for an afternoon play date, I will park in a cleared space on their street if it’s vacant and not blocked. But I wouldn't park overnight in someone’s cleared space near my house.

Don't do it! We spent 3 plus hours digging our cars out. If I run to the store, I'm going to need that spot back. We don't have a driveway and rely on street parking!

.

But what if someone else on your block also ran to the store and their spot was gone because someone on the next block also ran to the store and THEIR spot was gone? I mean if everyone is driving to work and to the store then parking is free game again. Sorry. We all dug spots out, how do you think we are all driving around? Because we dug our cars out, right?

Just because someone does you a bad turn, you do it others?

I don't get this logic because if 10 people did out their cars and one of them gets their spot taken, someone is going to be out of luck. By taking a neighbors spot if this happens to you, you're just deciding it won't be you. you see why that's kind of sh**ty, right?

No, because once everyone is back to school and work and popping out to the store for an hour, then the snow emergency is over, and everyone just takes whatever spot is most convenient to them when they return home, just like every other day of the year. And yes it means some people will be closer to their front doors than they were before, and some people will be further away, and some people will really get the shaft and have to go park in metered parking a quarter mile away for a few hours and come back and circle the block later. Just like every. other. day. of. the.year.

[Anonymous]

Next big snow, I am going to go around and remove all of the abandoned property people clutter up the street with. Cones, lawn chairs, Jesus statues, etc. - if they are in the middle of the street, you clearly don't care about them and mean to dispose of them. It's littering. It'll be a public service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems I disagree with most is these posters. It is public street and you can park where you are able. How do we know if the person who dug out the space is coming back?

It sucks for sure, but park where you can. If you can’t afford to move your car, take uber.

How do you know if they’re coming back? The chairs might be a good clue.

my neighbor put out a chair on tuesday morning when he dug out, and came back on thursday evening. i asked him where he'd been and he said he went to stay at his girlfriend's for a few nights because it was closer to his work. but he sure left those 2 chairs in that spot! because he was coming back in a few days!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Idk, I think in the city where the cars turn over a lot and people come and go all day, you can’t save a space. But in the burbs, I think it’s okay to park in a cleared space temporarily but not overnight. Like if I take my kid for an afternoon play date, I will park in a cleared space on their street if it’s vacant and not blocked. But I wouldn't park overnight in someone’s cleared space near my house.

Don't do it! We spent 3 plus hours digging our cars out. If I run to the store, I'm going to need that spot back. We don't have a driveway and rely on street parking!

.

But what if someone else on your block also ran to the store and their spot was gone because someone on the next block also ran to the store and THEIR spot was gone? I mean if everyone is driving to work and to the store then parking is free game again. Sorry. We all dug spots out, how do you think we are all driving around? Because we dug our cars out, right?

Well, and why is this any different than a normal day? You leave to go to the store, you come back and all the spots are taken. It is what it is, you live somewhere you don't have dedicated parking. I understand the additional layer of having done the work of digging the sport out, but the fact remains that you live on a street with public parking, so people can park wherever they want.

And people can move snow around your car and block you back in.

But why? Does that get you "your" spot back? It just means I'll take the train until the snow melts I guess. Or Uber. I don't really care honestly. You'll get that spot back once your snow and ice melts off my vehicle, even if it's not for a few weeks. You sure showed me!

[Anonymous]

So digging out makes it “your” space? For how long? This is like animals pissing to mark their territory. Maybe you should try pissing on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Idk, I think in the city where the cars turn over a lot and people come and go all day, you can’t save a space. But in the burbs, I think it’s okay to park in a cleared space temporarily but not overnight. Like if I take my kid for an afternoon play date, I will park in a cleared space on their street if it’s vacant and not blocked. But I wouldn't park overnight in someone’s cleared space near my house.

Don't do it! We spent 3 plus hours digging our cars out. If I run to the store, I'm going to need that spot back. We don't have a driveway and rely on street parking!

.

But what if someone else on your block also ran to the store and their spot was gone because someone on the next block also ran to the store and THEIR spot was gone? I mean if everyone is driving to work and to the store then parking is free game again. Sorry. We all dug spots out, how do you think we are all driving around? Because we dug our cars out, right?

Just because someone does you a bad turn, you do it others?

I don't get this logic because if 10 people did out their cars and one of them gets their spot taken, someone is going to be out of luck. By taking a neighbors spot if this happens to you, you're just deciding it won't be you. you see why that's kind of sh**ty, right?

No, because once everyone is back to school and work and popping out to the store for an hour, then the snow emergency is over, and everyone just takes whatever spot is most convenient to them when they return home, just like every other day of the year. And yes it means some people will be closer to their front doors than they were before, and some people will be further away, and some people will really get the shaft and have to go park in metered parking a quarter mile away for a few hours and come back and circle the block later. Just like every. other. day. of. the.year.

Yep. And some of us had to walk to that metered spot many blocks away to dig out because we worked the night shift the day of storm.

I haven’t had a spot on my street for weeks. Snow or not.

Grow up. We all had to dig out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The people who say "no" to saving spaces always have big SUVs or trucks. Or do a poor job of clearing their space.

If you put in the time to do a good job cleaning out a spot, it's yours until it melts. If everyone actually did a good job, no one would need to "spaces." But just because you half assed it, doesn't mean I did, and it doesn't mean you get my thoroughly cleared spot.

100%

And then they’re like it’s dibs. F off

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So digging out makes it “your” space? For how long? This is like animals pissing to mark their territory. Maybe you should try pissing on it.

I think reasonable people can agree to disagree about blocking off "their" spots for the 24-48 hours after a big snowstorm. I don't think anyone reasonable can justify continuing to block it off a week later if they've been back to work for more than a day, schools have re opened, and they have used their car at least once for a non essential thing- like, not going in to the OR to perform surgery, but going to Whole Foods or meeting a friend for happy hour. Once that stuff is happening.... you ought to be sort of embarrassed to still be marking your little parking spot with a beach chair when you leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So digging out makes it “your” space? For how long? This is like animals pissing to mark their territory. Maybe you should try pissing on it.

Until there is sufficient melting to open up street parking. Or, until everyone else does a good job clearing out their spaces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Idk, I think in the city where the cars turn over a lot and people come and go all day, you can’t save a space. But in the burbs, I think it’s okay to park in a cleared space temporarily but not overnight. Like if I take my kid for an afternoon play date, I will park in a cleared space on their street if it’s vacant and not blocked. But I wouldn't park overnight in someone’s cleared space near my house.

Don't do it! We spent 3 plus hours digging our cars out. If I run to the store, I'm going to need that spot back. We don't have a driveway and rely on street parking!

.

But what if someone else on your block also ran to the store and their spot was gone because someone on the next block also ran to the store and THEIR spot was gone? I mean if everyone is driving to work and to the store then parking is free game again. Sorry. We all dug spots out, how do you think we are all driving around? Because we dug our cars out, right?

Just because someone does you a bad turn, you do it others?

I don't get this logic because if 10 people did out their cars and one of them gets their spot taken, someone is going to be out of luck. By taking a neighbors spot if this happens to you, you're just deciding it won't be you. you see why that's kind of sh**ty, right?

No, because once everyone is back to school and work and popping out to the store for an hour, then the snow emergency is over, and everyone just takes whatever spot is most convenient to them when they return home, just like every other day of the year. And yes it means some people will be closer to their front doors than they were before, and some people will be further away, and some people will really get the shaft and have to go park in metered parking a quarter mile away for a few hours and come back and circle the block later. Just like every. other. day. of. the.year.

No, because not all spots are the same. The space I cleared for my sedan is not the same as a space your SUV or truck rolled out of. You can get into the spot I cleared, but I can't get into yours. Clear your space well and thoroughly, and we wouldn't have this issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Idk, I think in the city where the cars turn over a lot and people come and go all day, you can’t save a space. But in the burbs, I think it’s okay to park in a cleared space temporarily but not overnight. Like if I take my kid for an afternoon play date, I will park in a cleared space on their street if it’s vacant and not blocked. But I wouldn't park overnight in someone’s cleared space near my house.

Don't do it! We spent 3 plus hours digging our cars out. If I run to the store, I'm going to need that spot back. We don't have a driveway and rely on street parking!

.

But what if someone else on your block also ran to the store and their spot was gone because someone on the next block also ran to the store and THEIR spot was gone? I mean if everyone is driving to work and to the store then parking is free game again. Sorry. We all dug spots out, how do you think we are all driving around? Because we dug our cars out, right?

Just because someone does you a bad turn, you do it others?

I don't get this logic because if 10 people did out their cars and one of them gets their spot taken, someone is going to be out of luck. By taking a neighbors spot if this happens to you, you're just deciding it won't be you. you see why that's kind of sh**ty, right?

No, because once everyone is back to school and work and popping out to the store for an hour, then the snow emergency is over, and everyone just takes whatever spot is most convenient to them when they return home, just like every other day of the year. And yes it means some people will be closer to their front doors than they were before, and some people will be further away, and some people will really get the shaft and have to go park in metered parking a quarter mile away for a few hours and come back and circle the block later. Just like every. other. day. of. the.year.

No, because not all spots are the same. The space I cleared for my sedan is not the same as a space your SUV or truck rolled out of. You can get into the spot I cleared, but I can't get into yours. Clear your space well and thoroughly, and we wouldn't have this issue.

There is no “my space” once you leave. It’s called public parking. Good lord. How entitled are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Idk, I think in the city where the cars turn over a lot and people come and go all day, you can’t save a space. But in the burbs, I think it’s okay to park in a cleared space temporarily but not overnight. Like if I take my kid for an afternoon play date, I will park in a cleared space on their street if it’s vacant and not blocked. But I wouldn't park overnight in someone’s cleared space near my house.

Don't do it! We spent 3 plus hours digging our cars out. If I run to the store, I'm going to need that spot back. We don't have a driveway and rely on street parking!

.

But what if someone else on your block also ran to the store and their spot was gone because someone on the next block also ran to the store and THEIR spot was gone? I mean if everyone is driving to work and to the store then parking is free game again. Sorry. We all dug spots out, how do you think we are all driving around? Because we dug our cars out, right?

Just because someone does you a bad turn, you do it others?

I don't get this logic because if 10 people did out their cars and one of them gets their spot taken, someone is going to be out of luck. By taking a neighbors spot if this happens to you, you're just deciding it won't be you. you see why that's kind of sh**ty, right?

No, because once everyone is back to school and work and popping out to the store for an hour, then the snow emergency is over, and everyone just takes whatever spot is most convenient to them when they return home, just like every other day of the year. And yes it means some people will be closer to their front doors than they were before, and some people will be further away, and some people will really get the shaft and have to go park in metered parking a quarter mile away for a few hours and come back and circle the block later. Just like every. other. day. of. the.year.

No, because not all spots are the same. The space I cleared for my sedan is not the same as a space your SUV or truck rolled out of. You can get into the spot I cleared, but I can't get into yours. Clear your space well and thoroughly, and we wouldn't have this issue.

My space is in a hospital parking garage at a rate of 18 dollars a day, but it is fully cleared of snow!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So digging out makes it “your” space? For how long? This is like animals pissing to mark their territory. Maybe you should try pissing on it.

I think reasonable people can agree to disagree about blocking off "their" spots for the 24-48 hours after a big snowstorm. I don't think anyone reasonable can justify continuing to block it off a week later if they've been back to work for more than a day, schools have re opened, and they have used their car at least once for a non essential thing- like, not going in to the OR to perform surgery, but going to Whole Foods or meeting a friend for happy hour. Once that stuff is happening.... you ought to be sort of embarrassed to still be marking your little parking spot with a beach chair when you leave.

Dear god yes. Agree. Honestly I think 48 hours is a bit too long.