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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Grumping about a parking issue - would this annoy you?

40 replies

Whatageisit · 30/09/2020 12:03

A trivial parking gripe! Obviously no big deal but it does make me prickly and I don’t like feeling that way, so wondering if this would this annoy anyone else or should I just work on chilling?

So our neighbours a few doors away has their adult son living with them and the household has two cars. For the last year their son has decided to park his car in front of our house, I know no one has the right to the space and that’s not the issue, neighbours and visitors to the street come and go and park wherever they can, as is normal! But it doesn’t matter how empty the street is, the son will always choose the space in front of my house every single time, even if parking is available closer to his parents. If myself or husband take our car more often than not he’s there by the time we are back, there’s no swapping and changing around different spaces, it’s annoying me lol

However I think I could just think ‘ah forget it’ if it wasn’t for the fact that when his parents are out he parks in front of their home, but then moves his car to in front of our house a couple of minutes before they get back so their space is free!

The way the street is, there is just enough room for people to park outside their houses and they tend to stick to that order by the time evening comes around, apart from lonely old me who mostly ends up down the other end of the road Grin

OP posts:
OldEvilOwl · 30/09/2020 12:22

Very annoying but not much you can do about it

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 30/09/2020 12:24

Yes, that would drive me up the wall and no you should not working chilling.

Is parking very pointedly close to his bumper an option?

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 30/09/2020 12:25

*work on...

DistinguishedCarrot · 30/09/2020 12:25

I'm with you OP - I would find it very irritating, moreso because I'd know there's actually nothing you can do other than make a PA comment to the neighbours one day along the lines of "do you not like the look of DS' car for him to not be allowed to park outside your house?"

ThousandsAreSailing · 30/09/2020 12:27

Very annoying but unless you are able to drop your pavement and create a drive you are stuck with it
You could park outside their house and see if they comment

Georgieporgie29 · 30/09/2020 12:28

You will get told that YABU but I completely sympathise. In our old house the next door but one neighbour was always parked outside our house, so I/my dh would park outside theirs, I just assumed their space wasn’t free when they came home but one morning my husband left for work and the neighbour came out in his slippers and moved his car outside our house. It’s always baffled me why he did this, we’ve moved now so don’t know if it continues.

MulticolourMophead · 30/09/2020 12:29

OK, if it's fine for him to park outside your house, then the next time you see the space in front of their house free, and their DS in front of your house, park there.

I bet they'd be around hotfoot to ask you to move, and you can say no.

MondeoFan · 30/09/2020 12:32

I'm with you and it would infuriate me, but I'm not sure you can do anything about it. I probably buy/steal a traffic cone and put it outside my house and if they ask tell them you are waiting for a big delivery.

MaggieFS · 30/09/2020 12:35

Hooray for the distraction of a parking thread.

Diagram please.

HardAsSnails · 30/09/2020 12:37

It annoys me that this stuff annoys me, but, yeah, it's annoying!

Next time he moves his car from in front of their house move yours into that space.

bridgetreilly · 30/09/2020 12:38

Well, of course it's annoying, but you still need to work on letting it go. There's absolutely nothing you can do about it.

TorkTorkBam · 30/09/2020 12:40

Maybe force him to break the habit and get a new favourite spot, which you could do by leaving a car in front of your house that stays there for several weeks. Probably not feasible for you though.

ClaudiaWankleman · 30/09/2020 12:40

You could park outside their house and see if they comment

I think this is a good idea. It's not 'their' space that he is creating for them.

BobbinThreadbare123 · 30/09/2020 12:45

In terms of being allowed to park, he is OK to carry on. However, it is bloody infuriating. I have lived in a street where someone with a van used to park outside my house at every opportunity, blocking all the light into my living room for weeks on end. Also had a neighbour who was so obsessed with parking outside their own house they would watch to see if you moved your car and come out and move theirs whatever tiny amount it took. Absolutely ridiculous - often this meant turning three 'spaces' into one with a big gap either side.

Burnthurst187 · 30/09/2020 12:45

Park outside his parent's house OP

cctvrec · 30/09/2020 12:46

I used to have something similar with a neighbour. The adult son would ignore their drive (as they also did) and park his shiny new souped up pride and joy in front of our house and almost a full car length behind their car leaving no room for us. It was about 6" too short a gap for even the best parallel parker. If he'd moved forward and parked closer to them there would be LOADS of space for all but no, he'd take up a gap that was almost a full car length in front and almost another behind him. Almost. I can only assume he is also the type to park in two bays in a car park to avoid anyone getting near his motor.

We had to park on another street. He'd see us walking across the street carrying shopping bags for a good ten minutes back and forth and never thought anything of it.

I actually ended up saying something to his parents and it worked. (I also may have half jokingly said that I was going to have to start trying to practice my extreme parallel parking in my mum's old banger and really would hate to mark his pretty car')

OP, maybe you could ask the son to park in different places, whatever is available at the time as well as yours because while you understand no one owns the space outside their house, it's a shame that you and you alone are left with no parking space each day. It's only reasonable.

Failing that, make your new space the one outside his parents. Even if your space is free.

MJMG2015 · 30/09/2020 12:48

Yes, it would annoy me and I wouldn't have lasted a year before passing this info onto them!

BusterTheBulldog · 30/09/2020 12:50

Totally agree with you op! I bet your neighbours think the same too, how bizarre of him. I would probably just ask him ina friendly way why he likes to be outside of yours.

Itsalwayshard · 30/09/2020 12:50

I have this issue where we live. We have all on street parking except for a small car park for some flats/houses. Couple I'd say in late 30's have 2 cars they both use the on street parking not their own spaces in the car park so they can see their cars out of their window. Wouldn't bother me usually however they insist on parking in the exact same spaces each time for the best view of their cars. If the space is free I park there to see what they do.. they wait until I go out and then move their car back into the space and give me evil looks when I come back. I find it extremely funny. I now wave at them when they glare 😂

TheresNothingIWantMore · 30/09/2020 12:54

If he always parks there regardless of closer spaces available maybe he's just a creature of habit. Could you park there for a week or too? He might pick another spot as his regular.

DragonPie · 30/09/2020 13:00

My in-laws’ neighbours opposite did this. They had room for 6 cars on their driveway yet would always park a car directly outside my in laws house on the road. The in laws only had room for one car on their driveway so it meant we had to park up the road somewhere. It was when the neighbours stuck a ukip sign in the window that I realised they were just in-fact ignorant twats.

RandomMess · 30/09/2020 13:11

I would just park outside there house all the time so they get the pleasure of looking at your car...

cultkid · 30/09/2020 13:20

My neighbours kids do this too
My neighbours also do it to me (the ones with the kids) it really; really upsets me

I also hate the conflict in our lives due to it

Whatageisit · 30/09/2020 13:39

It annoys me that I’m annoyed by it too, I don’t want my mental space being taken up by parking drama! I’m normally a very laid back person but its getting on my tits.

Although I’m not too much of a pushover I do find it hard to be passive aggressive.. I do wish I could be a bit more bolshy at times! Parking bumper to bumper, immediately zooming into his parents ‘spot’, buying an old banger to stick right outside their house, I’d love to do them all as and I know it would seriously wind them up. Although as I caught myself standing at the window glaring at him the other day I might soon be reacting.

It’s good to know others would feel irritated by this behaviour though! I was starting to feel like I should seriously get a grip. Shame there isn’t anything I can actually do about it though, I’d be great at that compared to PA.

OP posts:
Whatageisit · 30/09/2020 13:43

I am sorry cultkid that you are experiencing this too, it is surprising how much it can affect your emotions when it could be easily solved with a bit of thoughtfulness from others.

OP posts: