Man Shovels Out Parking Spot—Not Ready For ‘Bad Blood’ He Gets Later

A tenant who bought a shovel to dig his car out of a snow-choked parking lot found himself facing more than just icy weather after a neighbor’s visitor parked in the space he had cleared.

The dispute, posted on Reddit by user JustToppers, began when he returned from running errands to find a neighbor’s car occupying the path he’d carved out of 15 inches of snow.

“I’m not digging myself another parking spot,” he wrote, noting that their three-unit building had no assigned parking but most tenants had their unofficial regular spots.

So, rather than try to track down whose car it was, he simply parked behind it and hurried inside for a meeting.

Soon, there was a knock at his door. Then another. And another.

When he finally answered, an angry woman—who had been visiting his neighbor—demanded he move his car.

“I tell her I dug that spot out myself and had nowhere to park, so I had no choice,” the original poster (OP) wrote.

“I put my boots and coat back on and go out to move my car, and my neighbor is there (I guess whoever she was visiting, I don’t associate with the neighbors ever if I can help it) with his arms crossed.

“He lays into me too, saying I should have asked them when they needed to leave, so we could decide who should park behind whom and move our cars.

“I’m just like [what the f***], because maybe he could have dug his guest a space if he knew she was coming. He brings up that there is no assigned parking and that he doesn’t have a shovel anyway.”

Parking Problems

While parking battles may feel personal, they can also carry legal implications. Property disputes are among the most common neighbor conflicts in the U.S., with many involving unmarked parking areas.

According to legal resource FindLaw, the best approach is to start with communication: “You can settle many neighbor disputes with a simple conversation,” the site advises.

But when that fails, renters and homeowners alike may seek help from a landlord, HOA, or even law enforcement in extreme cases. In certain instances, documentation and mediation may be necessary.

‘Is it justified? Absolutely’

For this OP, feedback was split. While some faulted him for blocking the car, others saw the snow-clearing as labor that entitled him to some consideration.

One Reddit user summed it up: “Are you the a******? Yes. Is it justified? Absolutely.”

In a later edit, the OP conceded that everyone involved bore some blame, writing, “I have no choice but to accept that we were all a*******. Just a bunch of a******* being a******* in the snow.”

He also pointed out that the path could have been widened by his neighbors just as easily as he had dug it: “She also could have just widened the path to a 2-laner and popped out.”

The weather may have cleared, but tensions appear to have lingered.

Newsweek has reached out to JustToppers for comment via Reddit. We could not verify the details of the case.

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