A man has taken to social media to share his frustration after his neighbour repeatedly parked on his driveway, and has now branded him the ‘bad guy’ for taking action
A man who was fed up with his ‘entitled’ neighbour constantly parking on his driveway decided to take action – much to the shock of his neighbour. Parking can sometimes be a surprisingly contentious issue among neighbours, as it’s not always clear who has the right to park where.
Though it’s not always possible or realistic to park directly outside your own home, this is less likely to be a problem with a driveway, as it’s considered part of the overall property. However, this wasn’t the case for one man who repeatedly found his driveway occupied by his neighbour’s car. The man wrote in Reddit’s ‘Entitled People’ forum to share the steps he took to try and prevent it from happening again in the future.
He lives in a duplex with a private driveway that is “clearly marked” as belonging to his property – his lease also states it’s reserved for his home and no one else’s.
A new neighbour, referred to as ‘Chad’ to protect his identity online, recently moved into the upstairs unit and “ever since”, has been treating the man’s driveway “like it’s a free-for-all”.
The man let Chad’s behaviour “slide” at first because he thought “maybe he was just confused”. Eventually, he “casually mentioned” that it was his spot and “even showed Chad the lease” as proof.
Chad “acted chill” and assured the man there would be “no problem”. Sadly, this hasn’t proved to be the case.
The man recounted his frustration, saying: “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 Chad would continue parking on his driveway, the frustrated man received support from his landlord who “backed him up” and made sure Chad understood he couldn’t use the driveway anymore.
Despite this, Chad has started “giving [him] the cold shoulder” and “acting like [he’s] the bad guy”, unimpressed by being held accountable for his actions.
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.”
After sharing his story on Reddit, the post resonated with many, attracting thousands of up-votes and hundreds of comments. One user 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’.
“Meanwhile, another user 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 person chimed in with: “Who cares if he’s giving the cold shoulder.
Good for you standing your ground on this. “One more wrote: “Getting the cold shoulder from someone awful is a blessing in disguise.
“The individual offered the following advice: “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.”