A Parking Dilemma
Modern Manners Guy resolves a parking predicament.Â
Richie Frieman
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The other day, a friend of mine came to me irate about an obnoxious neighbor in his townhouse community who insists on taking up my friend’s parking spaces. Well, actually the improper parker isn’t his neighbor, but rather the neighbor’s teenage kids. Granted, there are no actual reserved spots, but it’s pretty clear that every house gets the two spots immediately in front of the property. So there are two sides to this hotly-contested debate:
- Is it right that each house does get its designated – but not really official – parking spots?
- In a neighborhood with no assigned spots, is it first come first served?
For this, I have to side with option 1 (and not just because that’s my friend’s argument).  It’s proper and realistic to assume that in a townhouse community, where spots are located immediately in front of each house, they belong to the inhabitants of said house. As well, this is a family neighborhood, so most people are in a household of at least two people, and often more, which means that most of these homes will require both spots.Â
However, now there are two teenagers who insist on taking the spaces in front of my friend’s house, as their parents take the two assigned to their home. And this is where we have a problem. The proper thing to do would be to have the teenagers park down the street and walk to their home (a very short walk, mind you) and not take up the space of others.Â
See also: Parking Garage Etiquette
There may not be any official “law of the land” in this neighborhood, but let’s be honest – it’s pretty impolite and arrogant to take up four parking spots when every other house only has two. That’s Modern Manners Guy’s decision.Â
What do you think? Where do YOU stand on the question of improper parkers? Sound off in Comments below or on the Modern Manners Guy Facebook page, or Twitter @Manners QDT.