Hostile note left on my windscreen

[Whatsgoingon777]

For the past week I have been working in a different town. It is temporary, and I will return to my usual workplace by Christmas.

Parking in town is very expensive, so I have been parking in a quiet cul de sac about a 10-15 minute walk from my work.

Every house has a drive way and I’m parked right at the end away from their homes, and there is always plenty of space for anyone else wanting to park there.
I also have a tiny car.
I would never park here if it seemed like I would be inconveniencing the people who live there. My car is doing no harm there and is in the way of no one!

Anyway I return from work this evening to find a note saying ‘TRY A CAR PARK’

It seems utterly pathetic to me, but they clearly think I’m in the wrong.

AIBU thinking about parking here still?

Legally you can but this sort of cheapskate behaviour is detested by residents so you can expect to be harassed until you pay for a car park.

People think when they own a house that they own the street as well. But they don't.
As long as there are no legal restrictions, you carry on!

Op has as much right to park there as anyone who drives legally, she doesn't deserve to be harassed about it.

Well, so long as you are taxed and insured and not causing an obstruction then it is legal, but you run the risk of someone vandalising your car to make their point more strongly.

They can't dictate who parks there, and assuming what you say is correct, then you aren't causing a problem.

But I guess they see you leaving the car in the morning and returning in the evening and it is annoying them. If you do it, then theoretically 10 other people could do it too and their "quiet cul de sac" is full of cars.

I can see their point of view, but you aren't doing anything illegal.

Assuming it doesn't make it harder for someone living opposite to back out of their drive etc then I can't see an issue. Personally, I'd find another street to park in, just in case you return to a scratch or flat tyre!

I would say, if I was here on a permanent basis, I wouldn’t be parking there long term. It just seems that for the sake of maybe 5 or 6 weeks, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal!
It is completely legal parking, I’m not obstructing anything, and my car is presentable and small.
I am really surprised it’s barely taken a week to be harassed!

The walk into town from here isn’t ideal and I doubt most people could be bothered to be honest! There is also plenty of parking on the main road and another cul de sac nearby.

I do get it to a point, I live on a small cul de sac which does sometimes get heavily parked. I don’t concern myself with policing which car belongs to who personally.

I am a bit concerned about my car being damaged though 😩

You will so be the topic of the cul de sac WhatsApp chat!

I visited a client who lived in a village near an airport and had to give my client my car registration so they could tell the neighbours I was visiting them and not an airport cheap skate parker. If the latter they would vandalise the car! And this was a middle class village!

The way the road is laid out, I would be surprised if they can even see me really as their houses are all at the far end of the road and there are fences where I’m parked.

They would have to be doing some serious curtain twitching to see me come and go 😂

I would leave a document visible in the car that shows plans for the cul de sac to be bulldozed to become a data centre. That will keep the curtain twitchers busy.

People are so small minded that they police a sodding car parking space in a public highway. God forbid anything serious ever happens in their small town, small minded little lives.
And yes, these planks could very well be the type to vandalise your car but maybe you could visit that very spot in a few weeks time in the dead of night and spray a large penis on the road.

Loving your work

As a Londoner who considers myself lucky when I can park on my own road, this petty behaviour of neighbours amuses me so much!

I got blocked in by residents in a parking scenario like this one after I popped in to a nearby cafe.
I was only actually there ten minutes and I was my first time but they were clearly sick of people using it as cafe parking so they completely blocked me in.

I agree with others that you haven’t done anything wrong and if you’re willing to walk a bit there’s not really anything “cheapskate” about avoiding an expensive car park, however after my experience I’d be tempted to vary your parking choices a bit to avoid people taking matters into their own hands.

This made me laugh so much 😂

I wanted to just put a note back saying ‘tried it, didn’t like it!’ But yours is better 😁

Print this off and leave it on your dash.

Harassment is exactly what it is.

Petty territorial parking aggression against people who have every right to park on the street.

OP, I would now feel uneasy tho because such unhinged people might well key your car.

Move to a different residential street.

So weird .Parking legally on a public road is “cheapskate behaviour” but the idea that a car might get vandalised by snitty neighbours is just 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️.What is wrong with people?
( I was going to say I understand neighbours irritation, which I do, but I have never had a driveway,neighbours park where they can and mostly considerately of everyone else.Why do people expect that owning a driveway will also confer the right to gaze out at a street free from cars? It’s just selfishness basically)

That is awful behaviour on their part! 😲
I did wonder about switching it up a bit, there’s a petty part of me that wants to just go park right down by their houses…
But I also could do without the stress and unpleasantness of it all too 🙈

It feels crummy though all that toxic crap.

I'd park elsewhere. I couldn't be doing with the knowledge of what they've done.

But id have half a mind to write some kind of letter to the local rag about the pettiness of people on x street. And warn potential house buyers , Don't be buying any houses on there, they may police your drapes!! It's all a bit Surbiton.

It just seems that for the sake of maybe 5 or 6 weeks, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal!
How would any of the residents know its not your permanent parking place though forever more? I wrongly assumed you meant only parking there for a week in total. I already posted upthread, but it seems odd if all the houses are at the other end of the rd.

I agree. This happens in our street, there's spaces where people can park completely legally and not affect the residents in any way as we all have drives and garages.. yet there are one or two neighbours who really hate it! They're really territorial about it, even if the 'invader' is no where near their drive or impeding them at all. I just roll my eyes at them and point out it's doing no harm.

OP, i'd laugh this off. The person who left the note is being ridiculous, take no notice. If you ever encounter them just be really polite and tell them you are extremely careful to ensure that you're not doing anything wrong.

Unless it's a private road, they have no leg (tyre?) to stand on.

So why not park on the main road where you say there is plenty of parking then?