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It wouldn't be a Boston winter without the ceremonial exchange of windshield pleasantries
By adamg on Wed, 01/10/2018 - 11:42am
JPYuppie spotted this note and its riposte on a windshield on Burr Street in Jamaica Plain this morning, although they seemed to have gone up last night after work.
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Comments
They should get a car
Having a car means that you are a grown up, right?
Growing Up
...that's what Mayor Marty Walsh needs to do and enforce the existing "no spot saver" rule. That fact that he let's this go on shows he is not a good leader.
don't understand the terminology
Nobody digs out a spot, unless someone's going around clearing empty street parking spaces of snow after a storm.
You dig out your car.
Maybe you should print out your comments
And go find this windshield!
There is snow around the car
Specifically, the snow that is between the vehicle and where the plow moved the snow, which is in a storm like this a snow pile 2 feet high, 2 feet deep (from the car to the clear road) and the length of the vehicle plus a foot or 2 on either side. And do note that this is the heaviest, most compacted snow that weights a lot. Add to that another foot on front of and behind the vehicle (which is usually a softer snow and easier to shovel) and that's the spot that has been dug out.
Or conversely, someone who had no spot at the end of the storm (this is on the assumption that parking is not at a premium, so I pick my go to neighborhood of Dorchester, but the same is true in Roslindale and a fair bit of JP) might have cleared the snow from where the plow stopped to the curb, thus actually digging out a spot. I mean, with no space savers, when someone parks in the spot where you were in the first paragraph, you have to do what I just said in this paragraph, which might annoy the person who did what was described in the first paragraph right after the storm.
so what
The reason you have to move all that surrounding snow is so you can get your car out.
Nobody is doing all this work (and I don't deny it's hard work) as some kind of heroic deed for which they are owed something by society at large.
You do it because having a car in Boston is a pain in the ass. The reward for your labor is the use of your car.
That said, you've dug out a spot
Either by breaking through the mound of snow between car and plowed road or by digging in to the curb from where the plow left off.
And to be clear, those people who just drive their cars out of a spot then throw a cone or beach chair or whatever did not dig anything out and deserve nothing, even though the eyes of a guy who sees the sense of space savers.
And?
And? What do you believe this entitles you to? And if you think it's something more than the already stupid "I get to keep it for 48 hours" coddling that the city gives you, why aren't you pounding on Marty Walsh's desk to Make It So?
Well
About 15 years ago the venerable Thomas M. Menino came up with a solution that threads the line between the “I shoveled it, it’s mine” line of thinking and the “they’re stealing public property” line of thinking. And that made everyone happy, no?
My point was that in fact a spot was dug out, which the other guy said wasn’t the case. If my logic pisses you off somehow, there’s nothing I can do about that.
Hmmm
An hour isn't even that long when it comes to shoveling out a car. Just consider it your cardio for the day and skip the gym, you wimp.
Very simple. If you don't
Very simple. If you don't have a deed conveying that particular parking space to your ownership recorded in the Suffolk Registry of Deeds, then TOO FUCKING BAD. It doesn't belong to you no matter how long you allegedly spend shoveling the snow out of it.
Ok law nerd. No-one,
Ok law nerd. No-one, including the person who wrote the initial note is arguing over whether or not anyone has a "legal deed" to the spot. I don't think they were trying to say this driver is legally classified as an asshole. They just are one.
Penmanship
The one on the left has lovely penmanship.
Thanks Marty for bringing the
Thanks Marty for bringing the city together by spreading Southie thuggery to every neighborhood!
Maybe a new causeway to Long Island can be built from all the trash and destroyed cars created by the space saver idiocy.
Please
This was going on in the Menino years, too.
would it be political suicide
for a mayor to try to end the space saver practice?
Answer
Yes.
Despite all the gnashing of teeth and pointing of fingers here on Uhub, thousands of us in the city who own cars and need to park on the street would not take kindly to a crackdown or criminalization of the use of space savers. I am using a space saver. The system works just fine in most cases. Aside from a few crazies out there, the people who seem to get the most upset are people who dont own cars.
It does not work and you are
It does not work and you are a selfish individual who is entitled beyond belief. Grow and become an adult, you do not own the parking spot because you shoveled it out. I wish you luck in life but this will catch up to you and I wonder how you came to be this way.
But it does work
It does work anon, it does work. Call me what you want but I and my spacesaver are happy. Sorry you are sad.
Nope. Clearly does not work
People can't even follow the basic amnesty rules, even though it is illegal to start with.
Get your own driveway or get rid of your car.
I don't get it
The crazed note-writer above is way out of line but I don't get THIS. Wishing to be able to use a space saver means "you are a selfish individual who is entitled beyond belief" but it is NOT selfish and entitled to believe that people should not be able to own a car or park it anywhere near their home during and immediately after a snowstorm unless they can afford to live somewhere that has a garage or a driveway? It's not selfish and entitled to think you should be able to park in front of someone else's home for free anytime and under any circumstances you want?
no, people that don't own cars just think that it is crazy
It is dishonest to comment that non car owners get the most upset. Is there any example of a non car owner getting more involved than perhaps commenting on UHUB? it is pretty easy to measure who is upset about this by counting nasty notes, threats, vandalism and assaults.
Years before Menino in Dot
Creeped up after the Blizzard of 78.
Got worse as ‘hood got less insular. If you knew your neighbor and knew he shoveled out his spot you wouldn’t just gank his spot. You’d shovel one out in front of your place if you had to. Repeat. More cars and more people not knowing each other. Do the math.
48 hours, sorry!
I completely understand after digging your car out and having someone take your space away, BUT... you can only save a space for 48 hours after a storm. http://www.wbur.org/news/2015/01/28/space-savers-boston Use this cool air to chill out, life goes on.
For those who are having
For those who are having trouble reading the first letter, it says:
"I am an asshole who doesn't respect my neighbors or the law. I spent 12 minutes moving snow away from my car wheels 6 days ago and then I littered trash in the street so I own this piece of public property forever. I am a lazy, sad excuse of a human being.
-Motherfucker"
Ha ha!
You're such a card!
That is *exactly* how
I read that note.
12 minutes?
Come on. It took me an hour and a half to shovel my parking spot (which is off street). When I used to park on the street, to do a good job (by that I mean, not putting snow on the street, but taking the time to move the snow to a place where it's not going to be a problem, such as a yard or pile around a tree) it takes more than 12 minutes when we get a foot of snow.
I'm not condoning the space saver thing but I think you are exaggerating about how long it takes to shovel out a car.
Yup over two hours to shovel
Yup over two hours to shovel my CR-V out. I went out about two hours after the storm stopped to get a head start but an A-Hole behind me and another one across the street thought it would be ok to shovel snow from their cars onto mine. The city really needs to provide lessons on how to shovel here. Smh
Congratulations
You were able to use your car.
I have a driveway and it took me longer than that to clear my car and then clear the driveway. Where's my special prize? Rebate on my mortgage?
Oh you’re so funny and clever
Oh you’re so funny and clever and cooler with your driveway. Save it sweetheart cuz we were just pointing out that it takes much longer than 12 minutes to shovel out in this congested city.
Your driveway
is your special prize. You paid the money to have it, now you get to take care of it.
http://danmccole.com
http://danmccole.com/workszoom/1621074/southie-got...
This is why this issue is so divisive
You can see both sides have some validity. Then you add all the swearing and both sides dig in their heels and it's just bad.
Thank FSM for my driveway!
Both Sides
sounds like when Trump was lauding the white supremacists in Charlottesville.
Sorry, but there is nothing right on the side of space savers.
And why do I care?
Since I park in a driveway and never put anything out when I parked on the street?
It’s the self righteousness that comes when those who mark the space they shoveled are compared to neonazis.
I think one of the comments
I think one of the comments above really puts it best. The reward for digging out your car after a snow storm is use of your car in the city of Boston. That's it. You are not owed anything by the city, society, or any individual no matter how much time you spend moving snow around on city property.
It’s a combination of things
Looking at a neighborhood like JP, parking suddenly becomes restricted, and overall this much snow makes us all pissed off regardless of means of transport.
Also, of course, the typical thing of both sides claiming the moral high ground that they are absolutely right in their position.
R'amen
R'amen
I <3 my driveway.
Parking
Had the mayor taken a cruise through the side streets the Space savers should've been allowed until the city removes more snow & towed/ticketed cars that don't get shoveled which narrows the streets & takes up 2 spaces... Sound familiar?
Um?
Can you try that again in English?
Burr is a short street
What this says is, you don't know your neighbors. I think that people should do whatever the street consensus is. to save or not to save is not a morality question.
Except that maybe they don't
Except that maybe they don't live on that street. Maybe they live on another street nearby but this was the closest space.
And I doubt anyone actually knows and regularly communicates with 100% of their neighbors. Even if you try to be friendly odds are you're rarely ever going to see them, and people move fairly regularly in a city like this.
How about instead of relying on "street consensus" we just actually follow the law.
what law?
there is no law. an offhand comment by our mayor is not a law. There actually isn't any law against space saving, (or for space saving). If you physical standing in a parking space and prevent people from parking there, the police won't arrest such a person.
Whoever took that spot
is an asshole.
Have some fucking respect,
Have some fucking respect, you motherfucking asshole. What kind of immoral douchebag are you? Its people like you who ruin the world for the good people like me.
/sarcasm
Nice note in Jeffreys Point in East Boston, too
Charming.
Let’s just save some time and
Let’s just save some time and use this template:
“Fuck the fucking fuck, fucker. Fucking fuck with the fuckity fucked fuck? Fuck fucking.
Fuckly,
Motherfucker”
Nice touch
The plastic bag encasement makes the green note pop!
Is there anything more oblivious/rich than
Ending an angry, offensive letter with "Karma, motherfucker"?
These are the same people...
...who dine in restaurants with "Zen" in the name. Oblivious.
All it takes is one to set this off
In a strictly residential area, you'd think that people would each have their spot that they shoveled out after the storm. If your spot is open, of course you wouldn't park in some other spot. Then one person who never cleared a spot arrives and, rather than shovel one out, takes an open spot, creating a cascade of people who have to take other people's spots. And then the last guy home that night gets to write the nasty note.
You lack a clue
That clue being that responsible adults who move their cars to garages are frozen out by this bullshit despite parking being free, open, and belonging to any eligible vehicle.
Sounds like La La Land
I hate when people get bent because someone parks in "their space" in front of their house. As you say, parking is free, open, and belongs to any eligible vehicle. This is different.
If you are a responsible adult who comes back after parking in a garage during a storm, unless there are "plenty" of open spots (that definition will vary by area) then you should plan to shovel out a place to park your car, since others have already invested their time to create the existing shoveled out spots. Isn't that reasonable?
Not really
sounds pretty entitled, actually. How old are you, that you think "I had to do a thing to be able to use my car, so that entitles me to public property as a participation trophy?"
Different?
Different how?
You shovel out your own vehicle so that you can use it - just like people who own driveways do.
You return and hunt for parking because you don't own the street or any part of it.
It is different because you want to own public property and snow provides a convenient excuse.
Where you live?
Yes, lalaland is where you live. "Just dig out a spot to park in". Cute. Right. Yeah. And that would be on your lawn? Or, maybe, in front of a hydrant?
La la land indeed.
Share your drugs with us like a good neighbor, dear.
responsible adults?
You are only required to go to a garage if you park on a street that bans parking.
If you live on a side street, it's not a requirement.
I've often wondered if they should try banning parking on all streets during a storm. to see if that would allow them to do a better job with snow removal, and if they were to do that, more garages would have to participate in the discount program.
I live on an emergency artery
I live on an emergency artery where parking is banned until the emergency is over. Honestly, it's nice. The whole street gets plowed (not to the curb, of course) so there's the same number of spaces as there were before, give or take a few around driveways and cross streets. Nobody flips out, claims as spot, smashes windows, leaves passive aggressive notes, or has an issue.
Many other northeastern cities who get even more snow than we do have a switch off system, where parking on one side is banned and they plow, then everyone moves their cars to that side and they plow the other. The build up of giant piles between "spots" that never move or melt all winter is absurd.
That's the way it should be, anon.
Maybe the "No Parking during snow emergency" policy that used to exist in Cambridge and other cities here in the Commonwealth, including Boston and Somerville, should be brought back and rigidly re-enforced. If people can afford to live in and own cars in the cities, they can afford to put their cars in a garage for a day or two after a big snowstorm hits.
Garages? There's no garages.
Garages? There's no garages. I don't think you understand the issue.
Yes there are
When parking is constricted by snow emergency arteries having no parking AND there is no other parking to be had, people garage their cars at their own expense.
They are no less entitled to park them on the street than space saving morons are. In fact, they have done the morons a favor by freeing up spots on the street.
What is this about people having their own spot?
If you think people each have their own spot, your experience is very different than mine. That sounds like a residential suburb, not a residential city block, where the nearest open space I can find (during normal weather) is regularly a block or two away from my place. Maybe this difference in what people consider "normal" is part of why some misguided souls think savers are OK.
I give up
I don't even have a car but next time there's 3" of snow I'm going to print out a bunch of these and randomly stick them on cars all around the city. If we're gonna do this law of the streets crap, let's really do it
Okay
While everyone it outraged, I’ll continue to do what I’ve always done 48hrs after a storm - walk down the street and move every space saver I see.
This space saver nonsense
This space saver nonsense only goes on in neighborhoods which are disproportionately criminal bullies, it doesnt go on in Back Bay or Beacon Hill. If anyone in those neighborhoods saw a space saver they would simply move it. It is unfair to leave parking spaces open when parking is at a premium.
Encourage everyone who sees a space saver by anyone to move it and if possible have a camera on the spot so if someone sought to harm a car of someone who parked there they could be arrested like the criminal they are. If all the space savers were at the end of the block or in an alley or garbage can this space saver nonsense would stop.
Also the city should make all streets snow emergency zones so the snow could be removed and parking spots restored
Back Bay and Beacon Hill criminals
Are just more subtle in how they operate. Doesn't mean they're any better than the rest of us.
I'm not sure you'd find that much difference these days between your genteel betters along Marlborough Street and those in the South End who save spaces - except that Beacon Hill and Back Bay nobs probably are more likely to have a deeded parking space.
If you've never lived on a
If you've never lived on a street that uses space savers, yet you think you have a valid opinion on this issue, raise your hand.
If you've never been in the military
but think you have a right to have a valid opinion on how we support the military, raise your hand.
If you've never been POTUS, but think you have a right to have a valid opinion on POTUS, raise your hand.
If you've never been in Congress, but think you have a right to have a valid opinion on Congress, raise your hand.
If you've never flown a plane, but think you have a right to have a valid opinion on the plane safety & noise, raise your hand.
If you've never had children, but think you have a right to have a valid opinion on a small child locked in a car, raise your hand.
If you pay taxes that support the existence of free parking
and think that you get to have an opinion on this bunch of tribal and territorial hoarding of public property nonsense for losers, raise your hand
Puhleeeeez
I live in JP and am a resident. I used a space saver for my spot that took me maybe 20 minutes to shovel out. Yesterday was the first day I stopped using it. I just want to say hours? C'maaaaaan and get real. It looks like this person who left the note is probably very weak and hates doing any actual work and doing 20 minutes of work then entitles them to a deed to a city street curb. Sorry, honey. Don't worry, it'll rain tomorrow and clear the street for you. It's then the atomosphere's spot though and you can't park there.