A woman has taught her neighbour a costly lesson after he repeatedly parked in her driveway, forcing her to park on the road.
The anonymous resident took to Reddit to share her frustration about her neighbour, Jack, continually left his car in her space.
The problem kept occurring despite her living in a small cul-de-sac with a driveway large enough for her and her husband’s cars.
She explained: “First time it happened I thought it was a mistake. His brother’s car was in there, he said it’d ‘just be a sec’. A week later it was some friend of his ‘dropping something off.’ I didn’t love it, but I figured whatever, not worth making it awkward.
“But it kept happening. I’d come home from work (I’m a nurse, so some days I’m wiped out), and there’s a random car blocking me.”
The situation only worsened over time. The Redditor continued: “One night I literally had to park halfway down the street and carry 5 bags of groceries because his buddy’s truck was in my spot.
“Every time I said something, he’d do that half-smile and go, ‘Oh yeah, sorry, they’ll be gone soon.’ Like I’m the one being difficult.”
The final straw came when she returned home on a Friday night after a 12-hour shift to find his car parked in the centre of her driveway.
She added: “Still in scrubs, starving, with takeout that’s already getting cold in the passenger seat. And boom, giant white SUV just parked dead centre in my driveway. Not even off to the side. Like, full on blocking me from even pulling in.
“I knock, no answer. I call Jack, he finally picks up, and super casual goes, ‘Oh yeah that’s my in-laws. They’ll only be there a couple hours. Just park on the street, it’s not a big deal.’ That was it for me.”
She added: “I called a tow truck. (And yes, I checked before – where I live if someone blocks your private driveway, you’re allowed to tow immediately.)”.
“Tow guy showed up in 20 mins, SUV was gone before I even finished half my fries.”
Roughly an hour afterwards, Jack was hammering on her door insisting she “didn’t have to take it that far” – but instead of entertaining his grievances, she simply closed the door on him.
She continued: “I just said, ‘You told me it wasn’t a big deal, so I treated it like it wasn’t a big deal.’ Then I closed the door.
“They had to pay almost $300 to get their car back. And funny enough, ever since then, my driveway has stayed crystal clear. Not even for ‘just a sec’.”
Responding to her post, one user remarked: “Love the logic here; ‘just park on the side of the street, it’s no big deal.’. If it’s no big deal, did your in-law knowingly park in a strangers driveway instead of parking in the street? The self-entitlement here is wild.”
A further user commented: “Congratulations, you just unlocked ‘Neighbourhood Parking Enforcement Officer’ mode. He gambled on your kindness one too many times. Lesson learned.”
And a third user chimed in: “The interesting part is that Jack must have been specifically telling people to park in that driveway. That must have made it extra awkward when the in-laws got towed.”
