After getting almost two feet of snow, it’s really tough to find a parking spot that your car will be able to drive out of. Without four-wheel drive, college students are straight out of luck.
So when you’re looking for a parking spot and there happens to be one conveniently shoveled out, screaming your name, it’s too good to pass up. You take the spot, just to have someone drive past as you with an angry look or yelling obscenities at you.
At that point, you might be thinking “What did I do? I just got here.” You probably took the parking spot they dug out earlier that day, taking the goods without paying for the service, like walking away from your table without paying.
Winter parking availability is something easy to get heated up about, especially when it takes at least a half-hour to dig a car out of snow and ice. It’s especially frustrating if there’s no off-street parking available near the apartment the vehicle owner lives in.
What doesn’t help is the plows piling snow twice as deep as it was right up against the side of the vehicles lining the streets, or the four inches of ice locking your tires into place.
Someone could spend an hour digging their car out before work just to not be able to put their hard work to any use when the spot is taken before they get home. Then more blood, sweat and tears are shed digging yet again just to be able to park in a different spot, only to have the sky spill more snow overnight.
Stealing their spot is the same as having the chef at a restaurant cook a wonderful meal, receiving terrific service from the server and still having the guts to walk out the door without paying.
Alright, maybe it isn’t quite as bad, but it’s up there.
Regardless, someone else is doing a lot of hard work just to have you slip into the nice, snow-free parking spot, taking advantage of the fruits of their labors with hardly even a glance in their direction.
Don’t be the person who steals shoveled street parking in residential areas. Definitely don’t be the person who doesn’t pay at the restaurant. If you do need a place to park and end up taking someone’s hard-earned pavement, pay someone else a favor by cleaning out enough room for another car as well. Pay it forward.
Anteia McCollum can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @antxiam5