A man was so fed up with his “entitled” neighbour parking on his driveway that he decided to take action – much to his neighbour’s complete horror. Parking can be a contentious topic, especially among neighbours, as it can be unclear who’s allowed to park where.
It’s not always possible to park outside your own home though this is less likely to be an issue with a driveway because a driveway constitutes as part of a property. This didn’t prove to be the case for one man who kept coming home to find his driveway occupied by his neighbour’s car.
The man took to Reddit’s popular ‘Entitled People’ forum to share his experience – and the action he took to try and prevent it from happening again in the future.
He lives in a duplex with a private driveway which is “clearly marked” and belongs to his property – his lease clearly states it’s reserved for his home and not anyone else’s.
A new neighbour, dubbed ‘Chad’ for the purpose of keeping his identity hidden from the internet, recently moved into the upstairs unit and “ever since”, has been parking on the man’s driveway “like it’s a free-for-all”.
At first, the man let Chad’s antics “slide” because he thought “maybe he was just confused”. Eventually, he “casually mentioned” that was his spot and “even showed Chad the lease”.
Chad “acted super chill” and assured the man it would be “no problem”. Unfortunately, this hasn’t proved to be the case.
The man explained: “Last week, I come home from work, it’s raining, I’ve got groceries, and guess whose car is parked right in my driveway again? So I knock on his door and remind him, and he hits me with, ‘Well I was just gonna be a few minutes, it’s not like you own it.’
“I try to stay calm and repeat that it’s in my lease and I’ve already asked nicely. He rolls his eyes and mutters something like ‘Dude, it’s just a driveway, don’t be so uptight.’”
Convinced this wouldn’t be the last time Chad would park on his driveway, the man spoke with his landlord who has “backed him up” over the situation.
This hasn’t gone down well with Chad who is now “giving [him] the cold shoulder” and “acting like [he’s] the bad guy.
The man added: “I just don’t get how some people can feel so entitled to something that’s clearly not theirs and then get mad at you for setting a boundary.”
The post resonated with fellow Reddit users, racking up thousands of up-votes and hundreds of comments.
One person advised: “I feel like the answer to every ‘it’s not a big deal’ response is to say ‘then it shouldn’t be a big deal for you not to park there. The difference is I’m paying for that spot, you’re not. So show me how little a deal it is by parking somewhere else’.”
Another joked: “Bro, settle down, your car got towed. It’s not a big deal, just like, drive over there and pick it up”.
A third said: “Who cares if he’s giving the cold shoulder. Good for you standing your ground on this.”
Someone else added: “Getting the cold shoulder from someone awful is a blessing in disguise. You don’t want regular interactions with someone who is going to walk all over you as part of his day.
“Let him ignore you, and treat it as a blessing.”