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After Their Neighbors Illegally Filled Their Parking Lot, This Resident Froze Them In Place
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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.
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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
What do you think ?
Eric G 2 years ago (edited)
NTA, there were signs up. It would be one thing if there were no signs, but in this case people had no excuse and there and relying on the friend telling them to park there is nonsense
Kori Chamberlain 2 years ago
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Load More Replies... Liana 2 years ago (edited)
We have a pretty big yard. But if we have a party and invite friends over, I ask the neighbors if it's OK to park in front of their houses and I bring them cake in return.
Carol Emory 2 years ago
It seems like common sense to just fill the neighbors in. Most of ours did except the neighbor that lived across from us. They were always rude and inconsiderate. So when their friends blocked us and my other neighbors in, the other neighbors took dog poo and smeared it all over the handles and locks of the invading cars in the middle of the night. I can honestly say we never had a problem with them parking in our driveways again. And they never took any revenge on us because they knew we didn't do it since we didn't have any pets at the time.
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Eric G 2 years ago (edited)
NTA, there were signs up. It would be one thing if there were no signs, but in this case people had no excuse and there and relying on the friend telling them to park there is nonsense
Kori Chamberlain 2 years ago
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Load More Replies... Liana 2 years ago (edited)
We have a pretty big yard. But if we have a party and invite friends over, I ask the neighbors if it's OK to park in front of their houses and I bring them cake in return.
Carol Emory 2 years ago
It seems like common sense to just fill the neighbors in. Most of ours did except the neighbor that lived across from us. They were always rude and inconsiderate. So when their friends blocked us and my other neighbors in, the other neighbors took dog poo and smeared it all over the handles and locks of the invading cars in the middle of the night. I can honestly say we never had a problem with them parking in our driveways again. And they never took any revenge on us because they knew we didn't do it since we didn't have any pets at the time.
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