A man has blasted his “entitled” neighbour for constantly parking outside his house. He claims he keeps parking his van outside his property, even though it’s “blocking his view”. Though he admitted he wouldn’t normally mind, the fact that the vehicle blocks his light really irritates him. Not to mention, he has a few other cars too, which doesn’t aid parking matters in the street.
The anonymous man recently took to Reddit to vent about the situation, and ask for advice. He wanted to know if there was anything he could do to prevent the issue becoming a permanent problem.
He wrote: “Hi all, I just bought a semi-detached house where the street is a crescent and the next-door neighbour is on the corner. He has three cars, plus a van.
“I have only one small car and park it on my driveway. The neighbour fits his three cars in his driveway and parks his van in front of my house on the pavement. I wouldn’t really care if it was a small or normal car, but this van is basically blocking my view and light.
“I don’t want to look outside from the window. Apparently, this is an old habit. I’ve checked on Google Maps, and the van was parked there previously as well. Do I have a right to ask him not to park there with my reasons?”
One person offered advice, writing: “You could park your car there so he can’t.” Another supported the idea, writing: “Yep. This is what I would do.
“I’ve known people to buy a really cheap small, but tidy looking second car just to stop people parking where they don’t want them to.”
A third added: “One of my neighbours used to park his van right in front of my house all the time. Instead of asking him to move it and starting an awkward conversation, I casually mentioned that I’d seen a couple of shady-looking people peeking into his van and pointing at the wheels and underneath.
“I said it looked a bit suspicious – like they were planning something. Funny enough, ever since that little ‘friendly heads-up’, he hasn’t parked there again. Problem solved – no drama, just a little creative neighbourhood diplomacy.”
Meanwhile, a fourth also commented: “Think two moves ahead. If you ask him to move it and he doesn’t, then what? If you park a scrap car there then you’ve escalated and close to a feud.
“Buy the second car, but get something fun and vary the use of both. If he occasionally manages to park in front of your house then park both your cars on the drive. Is your drive big enough for two cars as a backup? Maybe switch the car positions, mix things up make it look natural – don’t let him realise you’re doing it deliberately.”
While people offered all sorts of suggestions – from the clever to the extreme – the man confirmed how he decided to handle the situation in the end. It turns out, he came up with a cunning plot as a result of the conversation.
He added: “Thanks so much, everyone, for their recommendations. As a decision, I will start parking my car there before he parks and keep doing this for a couple of weeks by hoping he gets the message.
“If not, I will buy a cheap second, drivable car and leave it there. And I will swap the cars sometimes so as not to get too much attention.
“Unfortunately, that’s the only way without getting into any argument (even nicely). I wish he was parking his van on his driveway, and parked one of his normal cars on the street.
“That would not be an issue for me then, but it would block his view. That’s why he is doing what he is doing now.”