Save the drama for your ... oh
My mom lives in a town house with 3 other units. The other 3 units are very similar in design, small fronts, two-stories and a basement, small backyard. However, when my parents moved in before the divorce (35 years ago), they got the end unit. Now the end unit was designed by the builder it was supposed to be his home so he could be the landlord for the other 3 units.
Which is to say, it's a lot bigger and better. My mom's place is twice as big as the other units, has a 2 car garage (which she can't use because the door is broken, she's a hoarder so it's stuffed and she's got a limited income) and a side yard that could have been two other units, easily.
When my mom did the daycare she fenced the entire yard and ran the fence across the bottom of the driveway as well. She was parking on the street anyway and that way the kids were all contained and she could be licensed. And she's just kept it that way.
So the unit that shares a wall with her has been a rental for decades, usually people don't stay long and usually they are not good neighbors. The people who're there now have been there for about 5 years, it's a grandma, mom and dad, and little daughter - probably 8-years-old. And they have 5 cars (or so my mom says).
So they park their cars in front of all the other units (there's room for one car in front for each) and all along my mom's side. Since she's the end unit with the huge yard and a blocked off driveway, she has a ton of room. This has caused problems and my mom's gone over to talk to them about it, but as my mom is not the most tactful, patient person, the situation just gets worse. For our Spring Break trip we had to go pick her up because she didn't want to give up her parking spot.
Fast forward to last week, we're having lunch and she's telling me about how she found a nail in her car tire one day and the next it was a screw and suspected the neighbors might be involved.
Me: I thought things had quieted down?
Mom: Oh, they flared up again. They called the police on my right after I got back from the Grand Canyon.
WHAT!?!?!
I guess she went to get groceries one day and returned to find they'd parked in front of her gate. There were no other cars parked at the time so they had plenty of room to park in front of their own door but hadn't. So my mom parked really close to them.
Me: How close?
Mom: No closer than the spots in any major city. And anyway, they could just pull straight out because no one was in front of them.
She brought in the groceries and went to the bathroom and when she was done she found police on her step who were irritated that they'd been knocking for quite a while with no answer. They tell her she's parked too close (although there is no law stating what that distance is), and ask her to move.
Here's where my mom blows it. She is an older woman, a grandma, and someone who has visible physical difficulty moving (ruptured discs in the back). She could have totally played up the disabled, sweet old grandma living alone on limited funds angle and had those police eating out of her hand.
All my mom sees, though, instead of an opportunity to get the law on her side, is two men in uniforms trying to tell her what to do in a situation where she's in the wrong legally. Because there is no private parking, anyone can park anywhere they want and so she just has to shut up about it. AND, they point out, she can always take down the fence and use her driveway.
Instead of seeing this as the place to point out that since it is a driveway, it should be illegal for others to park in front of it even if there is a fence at the bottom, my mom rants on and on about how when it wasn't fenced people would block it or even park in the driveway and they would also come and play basketball with the hoop in front of the garage.
Now, I lived there for 17 years and I don't remember things like that ever happening.
Why my mom does, is get in the car and HIT the car in front of her.
Mom: And then the officers got all huffy because when I put the car in gear, I guess it rolled forward a little and tapped the neighbor's car, so he yelled at me for that!
Me: So you were parked a lot closer than you said, if just putting it in gear was enough to hit them. Did you get a ticket?
Mom: Oh, goodness no, it was just a little tap!
riiiiight.
Jesus mom.
Which is to say, it's a lot bigger and better. My mom's place is twice as big as the other units, has a 2 car garage (which she can't use because the door is broken, she's a hoarder so it's stuffed and she's got a limited income) and a side yard that could have been two other units, easily.
When my mom did the daycare she fenced the entire yard and ran the fence across the bottom of the driveway as well. She was parking on the street anyway and that way the kids were all contained and she could be licensed. And she's just kept it that way.
So the unit that shares a wall with her has been a rental for decades, usually people don't stay long and usually they are not good neighbors. The people who're there now have been there for about 5 years, it's a grandma, mom and dad, and little daughter - probably 8-years-old. And they have 5 cars (or so my mom says).
So they park their cars in front of all the other units (there's room for one car in front for each) and all along my mom's side. Since she's the end unit with the huge yard and a blocked off driveway, she has a ton of room. This has caused problems and my mom's gone over to talk to them about it, but as my mom is not the most tactful, patient person, the situation just gets worse. For our Spring Break trip we had to go pick her up because she didn't want to give up her parking spot.
Fast forward to last week, we're having lunch and she's telling me about how she found a nail in her car tire one day and the next it was a screw and suspected the neighbors might be involved.
Me: I thought things had quieted down?
Mom: Oh, they flared up again. They called the police on my right after I got back from the Grand Canyon.
WHAT!?!?!
I guess she went to get groceries one day and returned to find they'd parked in front of her gate. There were no other cars parked at the time so they had plenty of room to park in front of their own door but hadn't. So my mom parked really close to them.
Me: How close?
Mom: No closer than the spots in any major city. And anyway, they could just pull straight out because no one was in front of them.
She brought in the groceries and went to the bathroom and when she was done she found police on her step who were irritated that they'd been knocking for quite a while with no answer. They tell her she's parked too close (although there is no law stating what that distance is), and ask her to move.
Here's where my mom blows it. She is an older woman, a grandma, and someone who has visible physical difficulty moving (ruptured discs in the back). She could have totally played up the disabled, sweet old grandma living alone on limited funds angle and had those police eating out of her hand.
All my mom sees, though, instead of an opportunity to get the law on her side, is two men in uniforms trying to tell her what to do in a situation where she's in the wrong legally. Because there is no private parking, anyone can park anywhere they want and so she just has to shut up about it. AND, they point out, she can always take down the fence and use her driveway.
Instead of seeing this as the place to point out that since it is a driveway, it should be illegal for others to park in front of it even if there is a fence at the bottom, my mom rants on and on about how when it wasn't fenced people would block it or even park in the driveway and they would also come and play basketball with the hoop in front of the garage.
Now, I lived there for 17 years and I don't remember things like that ever happening.
Why my mom does, is get in the car and HIT the car in front of her.
Mom: And then the officers got all huffy because when I put the car in gear, I guess it rolled forward a little and tapped the neighbor's car, so he yelled at me for that!
Me: So you were parked a lot closer than you said, if just putting it in gear was enough to hit them. Did you get a ticket?
Mom: Oh, goodness no, it was just a little tap!
riiiiight.
Jesus mom.