A parking one (with photo of pass-agg note)

[MindatWork]

Genuinely interested in people’s opinions on this one - I’ve just returned to my car (parked completely legally in a bay on the road, within the lines and well within the specified 2-hour time limit) to a beautifully-written passive aggressive note - A* for effort.

Whoever stuck it on my dashboard actually put it inside one of those yellow PCN envelopes, folded up so it looked like a parking ticket. Is this a thing people actually do now? Is it a mumsnetter? They have lovely handwriting whoever they are.

In all seriousness, there wasn’t ‘plenty of space further up the road’ when I arrived, and the spaces aren’t just for residents.

I’ve lived in a house like this before so I get it, and yes it’s annoying, but not really much you can do about it apart from say ‘ffs’ and go about your day.

I sympathise as I have a 2 year old DD so completely get the difficulty of hauling kids in and out of the car, but AIBU to thinking giving someone a fright by making them think they’ve been given a ticket (money is v tight at the moment) is - while pretty creative - a bit much?

[islockdownoveryet]

I just think it's a bit twatty to encourage the op to keep parking there .

[SidVisk]

Where I used to work was just outside of a city centre and we had our own works car park which we shared with another business.

I'd worked there for 7 years and always been fine until I bought a new car.

2 weeks in I kept coming back to notes on my car saying "Do not park here. For employees only" which was really pissing me off. It had been happening to my colleagues too but we ignored as we worked at the bloody place and thought surely whoever had left it would see us going into the office building and realise their mistake.

It carried on until one time they slapped another note on and in the rainy frosty weather, it just stuck and obscured my windscreen and wouldn't come off without elbow grease.

I called the switchboard of the company we shared the car park with and left a message saying please stop leaving notes on our cars! We work here! You are not a car park attendant!

The next day, when I pulled up to work a lady came running out of the neighboring building to catch me saying "did you leave that voicemail?" I said yes! Is it you that keeps sticking notes on people's windscreens? Please stop touching my car and stop leaving notes, I have worked here for 7 years!

She said "well I didn't recognise your car and you always walk into town so I thought you were someone taking the mick".

I said I had a new car if that's ok by you! You aren't the car park police! Plus I never walked into town before work (I bloody started at 8am so nothing would be open for a start.)

Some people take it upon themselves to be car park attendants.

[PlanetSlattern]

Ah, someone with a Golden Womb has struck.

Nah, I don't reckon this person has children. They write in a weirdly roundabout way about "families with children" – more as if they're looking for a reason to be pissed off that's more valid than, "I don't want to park more than four steps away from my front door."

[TurquoiseDragon]

@islockdownoveryet

It's a valid point though some people do need to park outside if they have small children or disabled.
I bet the woman was pissed off that every time she goes out she can't park outside her own house and has to lug shopping and the kids down the street .
Of course your not to know that but yabu to carry on parking there now that you know . I don't think it's rude just somebody who's pissed off with it you just got the brunt , park further down like the note said.

If you want guaranteed parking, you buy a house with a drive.

If OP was legally parked on the public road, then that's that. She has no need to park further down the road.

And I speak as someone who lived in a terraced house with only on street parking for over 15 years. Lugging shopping and DC from further down the street was par for the course, and like every other resident there, I got on with it.

[donquixotedelamancha]

They have lovely handwriting whoever they are

I'm now morbidly curious what your handwriting is like.

sadly it’s not somewhere I drive regularly so prob won’t be parking there every day.

I'd be making a special trip. We could all club together and buy and old banger and a dash cam.

[upsidedownwavylegs]

@SidVisk

Where I used to work was just outside of a city centre and we had our own works car park which we shared with another business.

I'd worked there for 7 years and always been fine until I bought a new car.

2 weeks in I kept coming back to notes on my car saying "Do not park here. For employees only" which was really pissing me off. It had been happening to my colleagues too but we ignored as we worked at the bloody place and thought surely whoever had left it would see us going into the office building and realise their mistake.

It carried on until one time they slapped another note on and in the rainy frosty weather, it just stuck and obscured my windscreen and wouldn't come off without elbow grease.

I called the switchboard of the company we shared the car park with and left a message saying please stop leaving notes on our cars! We work here! You are not a car park attendant!

The next day, when I pulled up to work a lady came running out of the neighboring building to catch me saying "did you leave that voicemail?" I said yes! Is it you that keeps sticking notes on people's windscreens? Please stop touching my car and stop leaving notes, I have worked here for 7 years!

She said "well I didn't recognise your car and you always walk into town so I thought you were someone taking the mick".

I said I had a new car if that's ok by you! You aren't the car park police! Plus I never walked into town before work (I bloody started at 8am so nothing would be open for a start.)

Some people take it upon themselves to be car park attendants.

What did she say in response?! I love stuff like that

[MellowYellow101]

If I were you, next time I would park there with a sign saying TOTALLY LEGAL, GET OVER IT and the same note with packaging on my dashboard.

[EvilPea]

I hate stuff like this as it means you have no right to reply. They get away with feeling better and you can’t go “Your wrong because of x”, your just left pissed off.

[Musmerian]

Correct their missing apostrophe for extra satisfaction! Before our street decided to opt for residents’ parking this happened all the time. People leaving notes on windscreens etc. I had a few run ins with neighbours when I pointed out it was fair game and anyone was entitled to park where they liked.

[Tara336]

I’ve had similar happen to me, I’m legally parked but they’ve put notes on my car more than once so I park there every day now 🤷‍♀️

[LadyTiredWinterBottom2]

If it's that much of an issue they should buy a house with off street parking.

[justconcedealready]

I would park in that exact spot every single day going forward with a 'reply' note on my windscreen.

[OffredOfjune]

@islockdownoveryet

I just think it's a bit twatty to encourage the op to keep parking there .

Why? It's perfectly legal.

[Melaniaswig]

It could actually be a parking attendant who wanted to make it look to residents like they had given you a ticket, when in fact they just wanted to cut you some slack.

[Strangedayindeed]

@Melaniaswig this makes no sense as Op had legally paid for parking.

[Franklyfrost]

But they HAVE A CHILD

[NailsNeedDoing]

The thought of someone getting so irritated at people parking legally that they go and buy a stash of parking ticket stickers to put on people’s cars is actually depressing.

Surely it’s not legal to put stickers like that on cars on public roads?

[MarieIVanArkleStinks]

I’m legally parked but they’ve put notes on my car more than once so I park there every day now.

You have to wonder about people's motivation for this silly anonymous note-writing epidemic. Do the authors honestly think the recipient is going to read that note and respond in their heads: 'oops, yes, I'm a bad naughty person, must try harder?' Nope: in all likelihood it will just get their hackles up and they'll crack on regardless a) because they can and b) because they know it's pissing off the kind of person who likes indulging in anonymous note-writing.

All of this means they're not really very bright. A 'note' very likely to have a counterproductive effect can only be written to indulge their supercilious behaviour with people they've never met. And although I dislike grammar-policing I will say that it's amazing how many of the ones making it into the public domain are so badly punctuated and sometimes barely literate.

It's not big, it's not clever, and it makes them look rather dim. And maybe it's all those Enid Blyton books I read as a kid, but I'm sure she's the one who claimed anonymous letter-writers were cowardly so-and-sos to be held in universal contempt.

Right on, Enid. In this moral conundrum if no other, she and I agree!

[Clarinsmum]

“Never buy a house with no off street parking.” Said by ex DH but never forgotten by me! He was a born and bred Londoner and it’s so so true.

[RhymesWithOrange]

@premiumhob

I know of an elderly woman who found a fake parking ticket on her windscreen and she had a heart attack in the street because she was terrified she couldn't afford to pay it.

Hmmm.

Is that a cynical hmmm? I know because I had to ensure the person who carried out the prank was disciplined. The police were involved.

[Laiste]

The grammar is off.

''If you must insist on parking in a resident's bay at least be considerate of families who may need to park outside their own house.''

How would you achieve that - parking in a resident's bay and yet at the same time being considerate of families? See? They're not clear about what they want. It's not good and they come off as a bit dim.

They should have said

Please don't park in the bays as some of the residents are families with children.

Or

It is inconsiderate to park in the these bays as some of us are families with children.

[m0therofdragons]

My mil is like this and it’s embarrassing. She’ll knock on people’s doors and tell them to move their car as they’re in their space and her dh needs is when he gets home from work. Now, he works shifts and has a long journey (his office was moved) which sucks but they still don’t own the road outside their house! This is obvious but still mil gets outraged. She doesn’t even bloody drive any more but when they had 2 cars they used the space outside next door as he didn’t have a car. Not only did they decide they had full rights to outside their home but also next door above all other residents and their visitors. I cannot get my head round it.

She also thinks my road is unfair as there’s no space for their car when they visit as drive only fits 2 cars, so dh parks one of ours round the corner so they can park on the drive otherwise she obsesses someone might hit it or steal it - clearly doesn’t care if either of those things happen to our car. (Ps. It’s a really nice area where dpd delivered a laptop lent up against our door while we were out for 4 hours and nobody stole it).

Ahhhh, that was therapeutic.

[BlueBrian]

There's a lot of twats around who think they own the road outside their houses, used to get loads of crap from these people when I worked as a temp van driver years ago.

[movingonup20]

I've had notes from stroppy residents where I used to live, the problem is that local businesses needed our custom! No controlled parking so I was at liberty to park all day yet people pinned notes claiming otherwise. If you are precious about your parking arrangements you need to move somewhere with off street parking or no shortage

[gamerchick]

We've got one as well. No bays, just a street. She likes to park in front of her side window on the street, even though the front of her house is on the main road. She has a sign in the window telling people not to park there and a camera pointing at the spot. I park there. She's got no rights to anywhere in that street.

People are weird about parking.