3, 2, 1! Happy New Year! New Year’s is one of the most exciting days of the year for many people. It’s an opportunity for a fresh start, and a great time to celebrate the accomplishments you’ve made and relationships you’ve fostered over the past year. However, as some Chicago residents learned the hard way, if you don’t end the year with your car parked in an appropriate location, you might start your year with a trip to the impound lot.

2 days ago, Reddit user BrightRick posted on the Pro Revenge subreddit sharing the story of how he took matters into his own hands one New Year’s Eve about 20 years ago after partygoers illegally filled his parking lots. Below, you can read the full story, as well as an interview with BrightRick, and decide whether you think this revenge was justified or not. Then if you’re looking for another Bored Panda piece featuring parking drama, be sure to check out this story next.

This apartment owner recently shared the story of how one New Year’s Eve he found his parking lot full of strangers’ cars, despite having a sign warning that a tow truck would be called

Image credits: Giulio

Image credits: Matt Seymour

So he decided to pull out a hose and some sprinklers to freeze all the cars and the street, leaving the guests stranded

Eventually, the cops were called and every driver’s car was ticketed and towed

Finding parking, especially in a big city on a holiday, can be an extremely stressful task. Sometimes drivers just take whatever spots they can find, even if there’s a risk of getting ticketed or towed. “Ah, it’s New Year’s. They won’t tow me today,” some guests probably assumed, even if they had noticed the signs. But especially in Chicago, during the winter, tow trucks are a hot commodity. 

The city actually enforces winter parking bans between December 1st to April 1st, regardless of snow levels. These make finding a spot even harder than usual for residents, while towing companies get to rack in big bucks. In 2021, over 200 cars were towed on the first night of Chicago’s winter parking ban. And although this particular story happened about 20 years ago, understanding how desperate these partygoers must have been to find parking might help the story make sense.

Some readers found the story hilarious and applauded the apartment owner for his creativity

We reached out to BrightRick to hear his side of the story and what inspired him to tell this story now. “I’m a fan of the YouTube channel,” he told us. “Love the narrator’s voice and presentation. Each time I hear a story I’m thinking ‘I have a couple of great ones I should share’.” We also asked if he had any more issues with the people who parked in his lot after this incident. “He complained to city hall (small city, 22,000 people at the time) that we were treating a public parking lot like it was our own. He was informed by city hall that it was a private parking lot and he was trespassing. We were paid a visit by a city inspector when they were double checking – there IS public parking down the street. After this we never heard from him again.”

Lastly, we asked BrightRick if he thinks disputes like this are common and what the best way to deal with them is. “Parking disputes, in the winter, in the Chicago area? ALWAYS,” he said. “Google ‘Dibs Chicago Winter’. It’s like that whenever it snows more than a few inches. That year we had a LOT of snow. It’s one of the reasons my dad (the original owner of the buildings) purchased an empty lot to use as parking.” In terms of handling this situation, BrightRick told us revenge was the last resort. “We tried talking to the person several times. Communication before revenge. Tried blocking him in to make a point and to force him to talk to us. That’s when he drove though our hedges. Then we put up no parking signs. He still parked there. Then we put up the towing signs. We tried everything before this.”

When it comes to this story, readers have been split about the situation was handled. Do you think these partiers deserved to have their cars frozen over for illegally parking one time, or was BrightRick justified after trying everything else? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments down below, and if you’ve ever been in a similar situation, let us know how you reacted.    

Other readers thought this revenge went a little too far

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