Getting into a road rage altercation or being blocked by another driver is as universal of an experience as it gets. And while our lives would be better without it – considering it’s possible that a little anger behind the wheel can actually trigger a heart attack – if not for infuriating drivers, we wouldn’t have been blessed with hit TV shows like Netflix’s “Beef”, which is fueled by the same primordial emotion that inspires the best revenge stories. Such as the one we have for you today.

A few days ago, Reddit user icorrectotherpeople recalled an incident that revolves around a case of reckless parking. As soon as the mysterious driver who blocked his car with his own moved, the author quickly got into his vehicle and blocked them at the parking lot’s exit, giving them a taste of their own medicine. Although that was the original idea, the universe decided it wasn’t enough and served them a side dish of karma they definitely won’t forget.

When this man came for his car, he found a stranger’s vehicle parked right behind his

Image credits: bilanol (not the actual photo)

So he decided to be the deliverer of karma and blocked the driver’s car in return

Image credits: wirestock (not the actual photo)

Image credits: westend61 (not the actual photo)

Image credits: icorrectotherpeople

Apparently, kerfuffles over parking are more prevalent than ever before

If each one of us could get a penny for every brain cell we burned while throwing a fit because some idiot stole our parking space right in front of our nose, or parked their vehicle in a way that blocks ours – we’d have enough money for a weeklong spa treatment. Or a new pair of wheels.

While rage over parking seems petty, it still remains one of the biggest sources of anger in this day and age. Turns out, 1-in-3 drivers in UK are irritated by poor parking, while 75% of them have argued about parking with a neighbor at least once.

Perhaps the greatest case in point of our society’s subconscious hunger for beef over reckless parking comes from Alec Baldwin, the beloved actor. While he just recently had criminal charges dropped against him for a deadly incident on a film set, in 2019 Baldwin was found guilty of a physical altercation over a New York City parking spot. Hence, the anger management course the hot-headed actor was forced to attend to mellow his temper.

But why do people risk a (physical) altercation over a few square feet of asphalt? According to psychologist Dr. J Ryan Fuller, the compulsion to secure a parking spot may tap into some of our most basic and primitive instincts. Speaking to Wales Online, he suggested that the act of parking can activate a “hunter mode” in us, making us become fiercely territorial and competitive.

In this way, the instinct to protect our parking spot is deeply ingrained and may be linked to our survival instincts from our evolutionary past. Dr. Fuller explains that this mentality can lead us to adopt a “no way am I letting anyone else get this spot” attitude, fiercely guarding what we perceive to be ours.

Image credits: LightFieldStudios (not the actual photo)

People applauded the author for serving the driver right

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