Was I wrong to egg the car?!

[Simplepink]

I stand by my convictions and don’t think I was wrong but interested to hear what other people think.
my husband thinks a note would’ve sufficed.

so we live right next to a public footpath which leads up to accommodation for lots of elderly people.

yesterday I noticed a car had blocked the entrance to this footpath which is clearly marked as to be kept clear at all times.
asked around neighbours, no one knew the cars owner.
waited a good couple of hours, person still hasn’t returned to car.
Many elderly people with walking aides struggling to get past. Anyone with a wheelchair wouldn’t be able to.

i had already left a note on the car but realised the owner would return, rumple up the note and not be slightly inconvenienced. . . . Sooo I egged the car windscreen. (Yes I know I’m clearly 12 years old/it’s a very minor criminal offence etc)
But my logic is that this person was therefore also mildly inconvenienced as retribution for their blasé attitude to others.

YABU to egg the car
YANBU to egg the car

(disclaimer this may be completely hypothetical and there’s no proof I am the neighbour who egged the car!)

Yeah sorry I think you’ve been a bit too silly here. Now the person will take longer to move the car as they will probably need to get something to clean it (if wipers don’t work)

It annoys me when people block access but recently someone in my estate blocked access as their elderly relative took very sick and was taken away in an ambulance with the car owner going with them. They only parked there as there was no other available spaces. So now I tend to wait it out and see if the person repeatedly parks there before making a comment to them etc.

A more rational response would have been a note in the first instance to make them aware of the consequences of their blocking the path. If they returned and did it again another day then you could consider further action but as it stands, you seem rather aggressive.

Yes this did occur to me that everyone has something going on on their lives but there were plenty of other free spaces within a 1 minute walk and a paying car park also within a one minute walk if not. The area is right next to a busy high street

How can this ever be right? Weren't you ever taught that two wrongs don't make a right.

@GreenWheat ... I think you mean eggressive!

OP - really annoying but I see your reasoning. I'd maybe put the note on with flour and water if the rest of the road was clear to park on, or blocked them in somehow

this may be completely hypothetical

Did you do it or not?

If you did, you are entirely in the wrong & quite unhinged.

I understand the feelings of frustration but think that encouraging people to reflect (e.g. with a note explaining how their actions impacted elderly residents, as per pp) is often more effective tbh. I find that calling people out on poor behaviour in a more hostile way just makes them double down and feel like a victim themselves.

I do appreciate that some people seem incapable of self reflection though, and seem to sail through life being selfish and negatively impacting others without caring.

Hope they don’t have a dash cam.

Pathetic action when you had no idea as to who's car it is and why they were there. Quite simply none of your business and absolutely nothing to do with you.

On a par with those morons who lay in the road and throw paint over works of art.

maybe a small overreaction, but on the other hand, you're stepping in to defend others. Today's society appears to be full of entitled people, with no consideration of how their actions impact others.

Yes, your actions may inconvenience someone, and hopefully, they'll think twice before doing it again.

Would you do it again? That's what I'm interested in?

No I wouldn’t do it again. On reflection I think I behaved rashly although not badly. (hypothetically of course)

i think the person who suggested allowing someone to reflect on a note is far more sensible.

But I know a lot of the people who go up and down the footpath, elderly people, people with disabilities and it is so frustrating that people inconvenience others without a second thought.

I do hope the owner of the car wasn’t having a bad time personally.

I believe so far I stand corrected!

Just such a weird thing to do.

Ah, I'd love to be brave enough to make a stand against others in the way you have. Unfortunately, I'm too much of a coward, I fear I'd be the person who would be hauled to court over some imaginary law. Hopefully, you've made them think twice before parking there again. Next time, it could be elderly folk stumbling and hurting themselves whilst trying to manoeuvre around the vehicle.

On the provision that they were free range eggs I applaud you. No permanent damage but inconveniences the driver hopefully as much as their parking does. A note will be ignored.

You might have to shell out for repairs

Do you know what chickens go through to make an egg???

Such a ridiculous thing to do.

It’s a bit odd that that was your first resort. It’s something I can imagine someone doing out of frustration when they’ve had months of bad behaviour from neighbours. A note would be the more usual first port of call.

If they lack awareness enough to park there, they will probably have no idea why you did it unless you left the note there too.

It does seem like a very odd response though. Are you prone to over reacting?

If they lack awareness enough to park there, they will probably have no idea why you did it unless you left the note there too.
That's what I was going to say. I doubt they will connect the egging to the positioning of their car at all so it will have been entirely pointless.

Wrong to waste eggs in this way.

I'd just assume that the car driver has an undeclared sight problem and report them to the DVLA. Hopefully even if in a few months the DVLA did something, it would cause them far more grief than an egg on the windscreen.

I need the details: did you just happen to have an egg and act impulsively? Or think it through, go home/to the shop, source an egg, return to car…?

What adult behaves like this?

The problem with using any substance is the potential damage it might do to the paintwork. Particularly if it’s a dry day and the egg sets hard. You are giving them the opportunity to claim damage was caused or to otherwise act the victim. ( although you don’t actually have to cause permanent damage - there have been cases of people prosecuted for criminal damage just by throwing water over someone.). If I wanted to do something about that type of situation I would take a photo of the car and post it on Nextdoor.com - they’d make mincemeat of them.

Unhinged - really?

Do you know what chickens go through to make an egg

What do they go through? I’ve had chickens and it just seemed a natural process tbh, i didn’t ‘force’ them to lay eggs, they just did. I’m taking it UK is free range (I don’t live there, unfortunately they still allow caged here but everyone I know who doesn’t have their own buys ethical free range as opposed to free range claim where it’s technically a correct claim but shocking density rates).