Some people only understand the language of force ... Or at least only harsh, sharp arguments. If you hesitate with a harsh reaction, it is seen as a sign of weakness, and in the future you will probably have to deal with more and more audacity from these people.
The story we are going to tell you today, from the user u/LesleyGemz, once again proves the correctness of this point of view. The author, faced with some kind of entitled behavior from her neighbors, didn’t take action immediately, but waited a few days - and this only complicated the situation. Okay, let's now take things in order.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post lives in a cul-de-sac with limited parking and has her own wide driveway
Image credits: korrawinj / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Two cars can easily fit this driveway, and the neighbor's 17-year-old son recently started parking his car there
Image credits: LesleyGemz
Image credits: Aaron Luckie / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Neither the teen nor his mom actually asked the owner's permission - so she decided to talk to the mother over this
Image credits: LesleyGemz
Image credits: prostock-studio / Freepik (not the actual photo)
However the neighbor claimed that the author's driveway was a kind of 'community resource' and got livid over her demand to stop her son parking there
Image credits: LesleyGemz
The author had to install a camera and 'No parking' sign there - and she ended up getting a hostile note from the neighbor
So, the Original Poster (OP) says that she lives in a cul-de-sac with limited parking. However, all the neighbors have their own driveways. The author's driveway is so wide that even two cars can easily fit there. So it was precisely the free space that the OP quarreled with her neighbor over.
The author noticed that her neighbor's 17-year-old son had left his car in her driveway overnight. At first, she thought it was just a one-off and said nothing - neither to him nor to his mom. However, night after night, the boy's car ended up on the OP's property. In short, the teen clearly began to consider her driveway his own dedicated spot...
Considering that none of the neighbors had asked her for permission to park in the open space, our heroine walked over to the neighbor and asked to talk to her son so that he would stop doing it. But then the author faced an unpleasant surprise - the neighbor immediately made it clear that she considered the OP's driveway a kind of community resource.
Realizing that words won’t help here, the OP then moved to action. At first, she blocked the space with traffic cones, but the neighbor simply pushed them away to let her son park again. The author had to fork out money to install a security camera and a ‘No Parking Private Property’ sign. Now the illegal parking has stopped - but the neighbor still left a note plastered to the author’s door, calling her ‘petty’ and ‘unneighborly.’
Image credits: Curtis Adams / Pexels (not the actual photo)
“Many people, unfortunately, consciously disregard the norms of social behavior when it comes to their own comfort or benefit,” says Maria Kryvosheeva, a psychologist and NLP coach, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment regarding this described situation. “They try to manipulate the people around them, trying to make them feel guilty if they catch them in bad behavior or actions.”
"In the described case, it’s simply the ignorance of the neighbor, multiplied by the so-called ‘policy of double standards’ on her part. However, if something had happened to the car when it was parked in this woman’s driveway, there is almost no doubt that in the neighbor’s mouth it would’ve been private property, and not a ‘community resource.’"
"In such cases, the only thing left to do is to minimize communication with such kind of people, and always justify your words with undeniable facts in any disputes with them. Well, and even better - delegate these powers to the authorities. For example, the police or maybe a towing company," Maria sums up.
By the way, people in the comments also claimed that the original poster should’ve immediately called a towing company and left the entitled neighbor and her son to deal with the consequences. Responders also believe that the author could have parked her car in the center of her driveway or just diagonally. In any case, the opinion of the commenters is completely on the author’s side - and what about you, our dear readers?
Commenters unanimously sided with the author, saying that it was actually worth calling the cops or the towing company from the very beginning
