Locked in a Street Parking Morality Battle

Lserialfrother on 12/10/2023 - 13:34
Last edited 12/10/2023 - 13:41 by 1 other user

Help needing some Bondi-spec OzBargain morality guidance.

I'm currently locked in a battle with a gentleman that parks both of his cars on the street out the front of his house in an untimed spot (no permit required) and when he leaves his house he repositions one of the cars so as to block and reserve the space for when he returns home. This side of the street is one of the few untimed unpaid areas where I live and it's used mostly by students and workers who come and go each day. In a 500 meter radius I would say that only 10% of the parking is un timed and unpaid making this a premium spot for a day worker. He's blocking both spots for cars when he repositions his second car but motorbikes can fit…

I've observed him doing this a number of times and one day I called him out on it as I happen to be walking the dog past. He responded "it's my house. I can park here" and I countered with "of course you can, but by repositioning your other car it's clear you're just reserving it so you can park back in the untimed spot. I see you've got parking permits on both your cars. You're preventing people who need to park there for work/school because you want to have you're own private parking ". He carried on moving his vehicle and drove off in a huff.

I saw an opportunity and took it. I've been parking my scooter in that spot ever since which means he no longer has the double parking spot. I happen to own two scooters and so do my neighbors and we regularly rotate the scooters in and out of that same parking spot. It's now become a regular scooter parking spot and I see scooters that I don't even recognize park there now.

Today he confronted me as I park my scooter there and and hassled me telling me he wanted to park his other car out the front of his house and my scooter was stopping him from doing that. I asked if he owned this parking spot because it appeared to be a street…. he said "no but I pay to park here" pointing to his permits on his windscreen, this carried on for several minutes in a very circular fashion with me pointing out it's an unpaid area on a public street….. I ultimately responded."Not my problem you can't afford a driveway you peasant."

Did I go too far? Am I making this man's life a misery because he can't park his BMW X9 out front of his house next to his AudiRS3? Or am I doing what no one else is willing to do by making a point with my $500 moped?

Neither car has a disabled permit and while the man is a little older than me he would not be more than 60 and he was very sharp and of sound mind when he confronted me and appeared to be very physically mobile the spaces are not disabled spaces.

This battle has been raging for at least 3 months, tensions are beginning to simmer. Do I give in?

Poll Options expired

  • 13
    Apologize for calling him a peasant who can't afford a driveway remove my scooter
  • 17
    Install Motorcycle Parking signs during the dead of night
  • 60
    Refer myself to a psychologist
  • 875
    Continue parking my scooter and encourage others to do the same
Automotive Parking

Comments

  • mbck on 12/10/2023 - 13:42
    +31

    I don't understand people arguing IN FRONT OF THEIR HOUSE. Like with the number of crazy people out there…

    I think you should've just walked away, now he knows your scooter too…

    • mrvaluepack on 12/10/2023 - 19:09
      +10

      But does he know where the Op lives? Op knows where he lives, thats an advantage if things get nastier.

      • serialfrother on 13/10/2023 - 17:42
        +6

        Absolutely a critical edge - no, he doesn't know where I live (yet) and I was very vague when he demanded to know "do you even live around here??because that's my house and that's where I park my cars, I pay to park here!!" - full Larry David spec.

        • mac2403 on 14/10/2023 - 00:10
          +4

          You'd be LD in this scenario haha….don't give in La!

      • RTX9090Ti on 15/10/2023 - 07:04

        Handy for bikies.

    • HeWhoKnows on 13/10/2023 - 07:55
      +1

      Ahh
      Parking spot wars in the city
      Especially where there are few garages and limited offsite parking

      You see them everywhere.

      Its every man for himself.

      No more courtesy or care for others

      Maybe OPs scooters or bikes are the answer

      • Ade99 on 13/10/2023 - 08:34
        +3

        wonder what will happen where all of those EV's need charging over night…..power point wars or lots of power cable extensions snaking over the pavements…..

        • trapper on 13/10/2023 - 12:24
          +1

          They will need to be charged during the day anyway. So all the wires will be at work haha

        • LFO on 13/10/2023 - 13:09
          +3

          Then they will park inside their/a garage, as they have always should.

        • Wasabi Ninja on 13/10/2023 - 18:42

          Wireless charging. They’ll place them in the carparks and roads like charging our phones wireless /s

    • TightAl on 13/10/2023 - 15:15
      +1

      Had a family across the street do this once, I parked on either side indiscriminately depending on which direction i came home from.
      Only issue is some people get antsy about it and might vandalise your belongings :(

  • spackbace on 12/10/2023 - 13:43
    +73

    So much pettiness

    Wait…

    Not my problem you can't afford a driveway you peasant.

    While riding a scooter?

    • Jake D on 12/10/2023 - 14:22
      +101

      boss move tbh

    • monky on 12/10/2023 - 17:17
      +12

      Riding a scooter can be an economical and ecological choice. 👍

      • whyisave on 12/10/2023 - 22:09
        +6

        …but no backseat for shenanigans

        • smartazz104 on 13/10/2023 - 20:27
          +4

          Ozbargainers wouldn't know what that means.

      • dickiee on 13/10/2023 - 11:10
        +3

        Yeah, someone should tell the BMWX9 owner he should pick a couple escooters up and just park one at each end of the bay instead of moving his car each time.

      • Protractor on 15/10/2023 - 10:25
        -1

        So can is breeding less humans, but nobody is doing it….

    • pegaxs on 12/10/2023 - 17:53
      +10

      Hey! my electric scooter runs on pettiness… That and the tears of "LoUd PiPeZ sAvE LiVeS!" pundits.

      • spackbace on 12/10/2023 - 18:16
        +6

        my electric scooter

        Is that what you call your BYD these days?

        • [Deactivated] on 12/10/2023 - 20:04

          Nah, that’s a milk float.

      • magic8ballgag on 14/10/2023 - 11:33

        Does every one of your comments have to include that edgey capitilisation?

        Time to get some new material.

    • HeWhoKnows on 13/10/2023 - 07:58
      -2

      To have council install a driveway you need somewhere to park your car on your property.
      Either a garage or car port or just simply in your front yard.

      Its a bit of harsh call from OP

      • John Kimble on 13/10/2023 - 08:18
        +1

        It's not harsh, it's likely completely inaccurate if the neighbour owns his home in Bondi, is in his 50s and owns those cars. The neighbour probably just wrote him off as clueless or a bit thick from then on…😂

      • smartazz104 on 13/10/2023 - 20:29
        +9

        Pretty lame to own 2 cars and a property that doesn't have space for even a single one.

        • HeWhoKnows on 18/10/2023 - 08:11
          +2

          happens everywhere in the old inner city suburbs which were created before cars

    • OzBarAnon on 13/10/2023 - 12:08
      +5

      Honestly makes it funnier tbh. The poor guy (OP) punked him. He knows he's not the peasant, yet he doesn't get what he wants (the parking spot) and has no recourse over what just happened.

    • kiriakoz on 13/10/2023 - 17:51
      +3

      It is better if it's ironic tbh, otherwise if you are better off than someone, it's just mean spirited.

  • geek001 on 12/10/2023 - 13:45
    +6

    Do you go out of your way to park your scooter in the street so that the neighbour can't do what he has been doing?

    • c64 on 12/10/2023 - 13:48
      +26

      seems the fair and proper thing to do

  • serialfrother on 12/10/2023 - 13:47
    +27

    Yep, I am a mere renter scooter riding peasant myself. He asked "Do you live here? Because I live here and I pay to pay here and this where I park!!" Pointing at his permit in an untimed space haha - it was comical.

    The battle rages on

    • sahh on 12/10/2023 - 22:01
      +3

      Maybe more accurate to say that he pays to park in any ‘available’ spot in surrounding streets

  • John Kimble on 12/10/2023 - 13:51
    +32

    Parking in two spots = effing Richardhead.

    • Almost Banned on 12/10/2023 - 14:53
      +8

      If you mean using a spot for each of his two cars - then I completely disagree. If he can find the spots, he can use them.
      If you mean taking up two spots with one car somehow - then I completely agree and he's lucky he didn't get keyed.
      I simply cannot believe the gall of someone thinking they somehow own the spots on the street outside their house.

      • John Kimble on 12/10/2023 - 14:59
        +15

        a gentleman that parks both of his cars on the street out the front of his house in an untimed spot (no permit required) and when he leaves his house he repositions one of the cars so as to block and reserve the space for when he returns home.

        I mean using one car to park in two spots. I wouldn't call him a gentleman. I would call him a dodgy self serving valet? 😂

      • CommuterPolluter on 12/10/2023 - 19:31

        Is it two spots I wonder, or is it one spot which could fit two cars?

        • TightAl on 13/10/2023 - 15:17
          +1

          Well if it's two spots and u park in the middle, what do you get?
          Surely you could visualise that.

          • CommuterPolluter on 13/10/2023 - 20:39
            -1

            @TightAl: I can visualise three scenarios.
            1. There are two spots marked out in white paint.
            2. There is no paint and enough room to comfortably fit two cars.
            3. There is no paint and just enough room to squeeze two cars legally.

            In the first scenario he has violated the parking regulations. In the second scenario he’s been a prick. In the third scenario it’s rude but whatever.

            In any case I think OP should mind his own business. Ask council to remove restrictions on the whole street if they bother him so much.

  • Euphemistic on 12/10/2023 - 13:51
    +19

    If he’s got flash cars he’s hardly likely to run over your scooter. IMO don’t park there ALL the time, just semi regularly.

    Street parking is fair game there’s no reserved spaces.

    • pharkurnell on 12/10/2023 - 14:08
      +1

      If he’s got flash cars he’s hardly likely to run over your scooter

      That'd be my plan of attack. among chain and locks on the scooter so you cant move it…

    • ginormousgiraffe on 12/10/2023 - 14:39
      +27

      Even more petty is to register a trailer and leave it parked in his spot.

      • serialfrother on 12/10/2023 - 15:07
        +4

        Scoped it out haha, need a comically small motorcycle trailer to get it in the 3/4 sized car spot either side of his repositioned car

        • WhyAmICommenting on 12/10/2023 - 19:44
          +16

          I’m sensing a GoFundMe opportunity. I’d put in $2

        • Bren20 on 13/10/2023 - 06:50
          +1

          park your scooter really close to the car, like 5cm. When he comes back and moves or uses the car he'll leave a bigger gap. Keep doing this until you can fit in a trailer!

      • Euphemistic on 13/10/2023 - 13:34
        +6

        It’s not a rule, unwritten or not. If the street is busy with parking, it’s first in best dressed. Yes, it’s a pain when some e else parks in front of your house but suck it up, it’s a public road.

      • BobLim on 16/10/2023 - 01:07

        The only place you should expect to be able to park every time is within your own property (assuming it has a driveway).

        Anything ese is fair game.

  • mskeggs on 12/10/2023 - 13:55
    +47

    It is these little struggles that give life meaning. The taste of victory when you see others enjoy sharing your spot. The satisfaction when you let down his tires night after night.
    You are Robin Hood of this age.

    • ninnypoop on 12/10/2023 - 23:13
      +10

      As a comrade, yes. Yes it does feel good to stick it to the fat cat. Especially when this fat cat thinks he has any right over public property.

      As a conservative, does it feel good to let a single person take two car spaces (even when he's not using both) at the detriment of every other person that also has rights to the public space?

      • HarryBolt68 on 13/10/2023 - 01:08
        -4

        Please don't accuse me of being a conservative.

        • jollibot on 13/10/2023 - 11:03
          +13

          Ignores all rational points
          Is hurt by being called conservative
          Refuses to elaborate further

          Yep, we got ourselves a conservative.

    • hsingh1186 on 13/10/2023 - 05:36
      +7

      Found the neighbour

    • TightAl on 13/10/2023 - 15:18

      Community, public resources.
      This guy is hardly a neighbour, he's just a guy that lives across the street.

      • Antikythera on 14/10/2023 - 17:41

        Community, public resources.

        tragedy of the commons

    • kiriakoz on 13/10/2023 - 17:54

      I agree. If you see someone robbing your neighbour, it's not affecting you, to hell with the greater good, let them take it… same logic.

  • jorf on 12/10/2023 - 14:04
    +16

    BMW

    This says it all.

    • chrisie on 12/10/2023 - 14:21

      Sure it's not a Volvo :)

    • Ade99 on 13/10/2023 - 08:37
      +1

      with or with out optional indicators?

  • GG57 on 12/10/2023 - 14:08
    +10

    Of all the things going on in this world just now, and OP chooses to start an argument with someone about parking on the street, when OP isn't directly impacted at all.
    The only thing I would question is why someone in Bondi needs a BMW X9.

    • MS Paint on 12/10/2023 - 14:18
      +5

      To get the groceries of course.

    • KangaDrew on 12/10/2023 - 14:30
      +2

      So they can park in loading zones 🙄

    • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 12/10/2023 - 16:43
      +5

      How else are family and acquaintances going to know how very very important you are?

    • miwahni on 12/10/2023 - 21:46
      +6

      To rotate with his Audi RS3 of course!

    • 8at8 on 13/10/2023 - 15:08

      Adding to that, what is an X9? 😬

      • Euphemistic on 13/10/2023 - 20:25
        +3

        It’s like an X5 but bigger for those with smaller pe….

      • FocusRider on 14/10/2023 - 06:39

        Prob an X7

        X9 doesn’t exist well not yet anyway.

    • Antikythera on 14/10/2023 - 17:43
      +3

      OP chooses to start an argument with someone about parking on the street

      WTF do you think the Israel vs Gaza Strip war is about, if not fighting over land use?

      a Bondi parking spot is practically a holy site of several religions in this day and age.

  • Downvoter on 12/10/2023 - 14:19
    +4

    So tensions are simmering meaning it has calmed or are tensions reaching boiling point

    • serialfrother on 12/10/2023 - 15:08
      +13

      Tensions were mild, now simmering, predict boiling in near term!!!

  • JMosk on 12/10/2023 - 14:23
    +3

    This is precisely why we can't have nice things.
    But I respect the pettiness

  • KangaDrew on 12/10/2023 - 14:26
    +27

    he said "no but I pay to park here"

    He's incorrect on that point. He pays to be able to park in that area. He's not paying to park in untimed spots that the general public can also use. Whether they are outside the front of his house or not is irrelevant.

    Sounds like just another self-entitled d head really.

  • jv on 12/10/2023 - 14:26
    +26

    needing some Bondi-spec OzBargain morality guidance.

    You need to be more Manly.

  • ginormousgiraffe on 12/10/2023 - 14:27
    +3

    bikies

    • KangaDrew on 12/10/2023 - 14:31
      +6

      🤣 Scooter riders are not "bikies" haha

      • ihfree on 12/10/2023 - 15:34
        +5

        Time for OP to upgrade to a Harley

    • ihfree on 12/10/2023 - 14:40

      Any take on the ethics involved in this situaton?

    • disturboed on 13/10/2023 - 12:47
      +2

      in this case,

      Scooties

  • ihfree on 12/10/2023 - 14:39
    +8

    Public street - not a great move on your neighbour's behalf. Your reaction hasn't been the best as well, IMO. I would just park there and if questioned say "It's a public street."

    If you want to continue being petty, keep going how you're going and get a security camera on your moped, catch him in the act vandalising it, and then get the police involved.

  • deme on 12/10/2023 - 14:45
    +12

    This battle has been raging for at least 3 months

    Someone has no life

    Start a youtube channel

    • KangaDrew on 12/10/2023 - 15:00
      +43

      WTF does someone renting have to do with it? When it comes to publicly accessible street parking, a land owner has zero rights in dictating who can park where. Exactly the same rights as a renter. NONE.

      Newsflash: it's an untimed, public parking space. No one has the right to to it. Not the OP and certainly not the elitist who has obviously been manipulating the car spots to his own benefit by preventing others from parking it whenever he leaves the area. If he were to simply drive off and leave the vacant spot as is, this obviously wouldn't be an issue. But he is clearly moving one car out of the way so his other can be moved in to save the spot for his return. And then he moves the parked car back so he can fit them both in again.

      Anyone who actually believes this is acceptable behaviour needs their head read.

        • coffeeinmyveins on 12/10/2023 - 16:45
          +31

          If and when you own your own house you will understand what I am talking about.

          Lol sod off mate. You come across as such a scumbag that thinks people who are renting are peasants who aren't even people and you're some sort of god because you happen to own a property.

          when they own nothing.

          Found the loser who thinks owning a property is everything in life and nothing else matters.

          You must be a sad individual.

        • KangaDrew on 12/10/2023 - 17:06
          +16

          "Is assumption your middle name?" Could you assume more than you already have about my home ownership status?

          The only "sanctimonious" thinking here is on both your behalf and that of the elitist that thinks the street parking in front of his house belongs to him. If he wants that level of entitlement, move to the suburbs where it's not only 100% free parking for all, but everyone has their own stretch of the street in front of their house to park their cars out in front of.

          Like myself. Do I park my car in the same spot in front of my house each day? Yes. Do I get my nose out of joint if I come home and find someone else is there? No, because it's not mine to begin with. And do I put my trailer in it's place to prevent others from parking there? Hell no! 🤦🏻‍♂️

          If you think what I wrote was offensive, push on ❄️, your self-entitlement is showing.

          at the end of the day it is not illegal and it is their perogative

          And the exact same thing can be said for the OP
          * nice and bold just because you're clearly triggered by it

        • anat on 13/10/2023 - 11:04
          +1

          You sir, are an idiot.

        • OzBarAnon on 13/10/2023 - 12:12
          +4

          In his 50s
          "Elderly"

          Not sure the neighbour would want to be referred to that way, even if you're doing it to present him as the victim

        • dazweeja on 13/10/2023 - 14:57
          +1

          If the OP is to be believed, then none of this would have occurred without the neighbour deliberately and selfishly parking one car over two parking spots. I would find it very convenient to have the spot outside my house reserved for my own use but it's not my right so I take my chances like everyone else.

  • thatonethere on 12/10/2023 - 14:48
    +6

    Could get the council rangers to ticket or warn him if he isn't parking correctly? Depends how packed the street is.

    • ginormousgiraffe on 12/10/2023 - 15:14
      +6

      It's not illegal to purposely put your car in the middle so two cars can't fit there

      • John Kimble on 12/10/2023 - 15:16
        +9

        But is it ethical? 🤨

        • ginormousgiraffe on 12/10/2023 - 15:17
          +9

          Ethical if more people get to park scooters there than the one car.

          • serialfrother on 12/10/2023 - 15:25
            +14

            @ginormousgiraffe: Had four in there one day with still plenty of room for him to move his second car out if needed… Scoots for all!!!!

        • idonotknowwhy on 12/10/2023 - 23:01
          +1

          It's just as ethical as driving the wrong way in a car park to snag a spot before the person in front you can get around to it :)

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