San Francisco Snobbery At Its Worst

[dales]

Commenters on Reddit are abuzz after a user posted a note he received on his truck, parked in the Richmond District.

The note, shown above, reads as follows:


Dear inconsiderate neighbor,
For the past couple years your truck has been an eyesore in our respectable and humble neighborhood. Daily, my family and I see your truck parked too close to other cars and very far from the curb. This is a very serious hazard and I wouldn't want anyone in the neighborhood getting injured due to your gross negligence. I am a single mother and have worked very hard in my life and now I am a homeowner. I bet you rent don't you? Your vehicle is the biggest blight of the neighborhood and it sets a poor example for my children who are soon to be driving. I cannot imagine the type of family life you had that would engineer such a disrespectful person. Bad parenting/spoiled rotten?

We as a community would like to see you keep your truck cleaner and parked better and more responsibly. I get it, you are some Midwestern transplant, millennial techie that bought his way into the neighborhood. Even though you may be new to the city, you still have to abide by the very basic common courtesy rules of being a decent human. I hate coming home from work and seeing your truck parked in front of my house. I have talked to others that live in the neighborhood and they all share the same feelings. This is your last warning.

Here is a basic list of what we would like to see from you:
-park closer to the curb
-wash your truck at least once a week
-fix your taillight
-keep the trash out of your truck bed
-DO NOT PARK SO CLOSE TO OTHER CARS!
-DO NOT SPEED IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD!
Sincerely,
Your concerned neighbors!



Here's what the user (with the self-deprecating handle of u/GreatAtParking) had to say in response:


For the record, I was born in SF and have lived in this neighborhood for 5 1/2 years and only in the last week have received these notes on my car. I got one on Monday that said "you park like an a—hole!" when I was parked across the street from where this photo was taken.

In that situation I did park close to the person's bumper, but that was because I didn't want to block the driveway behind me and get a $100 ticket and the person had at least 3 feet of curb in front of them.

The part that bothers me the most is when she attacks my family, I'm so spoiled that I have this 10 year old pickup truck that I bought with my own money?? I'm also not a techie, I work at a grocery store.

This article originally appeared on Hoodline.

[Scooter]

So what, he should win a medal for repeatedly parking like an inconsiderate jackass?

[Lord Jim]

Parking can be quite challenging in The City That Used To Know How...

(Though not in my neighborhood; unless there's some big act performing at Stern Grove during the summer...Out here in The Outer Sunset, we are blessed with plentiful street parking that does not exist anywhere else in this town...)

So I can understand why someone might get a bit hot headed about the parking thing...

[dales]

To Scooter:

How is it being inconsiderate if the poor slob is only trying to park his truck. Parking spaces are at a premium in The City and folks need to dial down their hostility if they wish to survive in 66 sq. mi. "utopia".

SMH

[Scooter]

Parking far away from the curb makes it difficult and dangerous for cars trying to park in and pull out of spots in front and behind you. Ditto parking right up against another car's bumper.

If you want to drive a monster-ass sized truck, learn how to park it properly where you have enough room to do it without inconveniencing anyone else, or buy a house with a driveway.

[Long Run]

Neighbors and their parking. If he is actually parking off the curb more than a few inches, then he should do better. If a person has a large vehicle, has no off-street parking for it, and is regularly crowding into spots and leaving no room for other cars, he is essentially offloading his poor auto choice onto his neighbors. If there is actually garbage in the back of the truck, this is also a legitimate complaint. If he speeds in the neighborhood, he is a jerk. I think that covers the real complaints; the rest just makes the complainer sound like a nellie and hardly is the approach that will get cooperation -- "this is your last warning" makes you wonder if this has been festering for awhile.

ETA:

Need to check my watch since I've been a step behind today. Scooter made most of my points.

[dales]

Parking far away from the curb makes it difficult and dangerous for cars trying to park in and pull out of spots in front and behind you. Ditto parking right up against another car's bumper.

If you want to drive a monster-ass sized truck, learn how to park it properly where you have enough room to do it without inconveniencing anyone else, or buy a house with a driveway.

You're making quite a few ASSumptions (which may of may not be true). I'm the type that likes to go with the flow and not get worked up over stuff like this.

[dales]

[Scooter]

People with GARAGES parking their cars on the SIDEWALK?

And I'm not supposed to judge them as inconsiderate jackasses? Tough shit, they are.

[Long Run]

Isn't that Dales' point. The people in the video are scofflaws, but we don't know about the guy who posted the note on Reddit (but we kind of do).

[dales]

Yes

[Joe Guy]

If none of the neighbors had the balls to talk to the guy, they could have written a note asking him to park closer to the curb because of the problems it causes.

The rest of that note should be folded up lengthwise and stuck up the author's ass sideways...

[rubato]

The guy is an inconsiderate asshole. She chose a poor way of expressing herself but the bare facts are on her side.


If his desire is to own stupidly designed vehicles and park like a moron he can move to some place with lesser space problems where they can be accomodated. Like Fresno.


yrs,
rubato

[MGMcAnick]

Exactly what is this neighbor griping about?
How far is he parking from the curb? CA law says 18" away is the maximum.
A ten year old pickup would only be an eyesore if it were seriously neglected. I have a '94 Chevy C1500, long cab, short wide bed. IMHO it's a pretty nice truck. The paint still shines, and it runs well. If my neighbors griped about it, I'd tell them right where to go.

[Econoline]

The only valid point in the note *MIGHT* be parking too far from the curb...though as MGMcAnick points out, if he's within the legal limit, why would anyone have the right to object? (If he's illegally parked, that's different.)

I wonder whether the note-writer just doesn't like pickup trucks because he or she considers them a sign of lower-class working people? Would they object if it was a similarly-sized passenger vehicle (e.g. a Lincoln Town Car or Navigator, a Cadillac Fleetwood or Escalade, a Mercury Grand Marquis, or a Buick Roadmaster)???

[dales]

Perhaps this poor slob parked too far from the curb or too close to the vehicle in front or behind.

A 68-year-old man was fatally shot in San Francisco, authorities said Saturday.
The shooting occurred at around 9 p.m. Friday on the first block of Lobos Street in the Ocean View neighborhood, said Officer Carlos Manfredi, a spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department.
The victim was declared dead at the scene, he said. No arrests have been made, but police said the suspect is a 65-year-old man.

[Econoline]

Two additional thoughts about the original post: (1) Who gets to define how close is "too close" to other cars? Some people need a space that is 10 feet longer than their vehicle in order to get in or out of a parking space; others (like me) can do with only 1 extra foot. (2) Washing your truck once a week is a big waste of water.

[Big RR]

I've lived in small and medium cities with pretty much most people parking on the streets, and I recall how people became quite possessive about the space in front of their house, as if it were something they owned. They do not, no matter how much they protest they do. If the guy is parked improperly, it is a valid complaint (but perhaps the writer of the note would do better to get the parking authorities to tow or ticket the guy), but I'd bet it is more like someone who want "their" space (the "parked in front of my house" comment makes me think that).

It reminds me of when I was in college and one summer living in an apartment. We were three guys with two cars and we parked on the street--there was a guy next door to us who started bitching we were in his space--we were willing to accommodate him until he made some racial insults to one of my room mates (who was Asian). We told him we were willing to move, but after that crap he'd never get the spot back, and whenever one of us moved our car the other was parked in the space (there was a cleaning day, but we always came back and took the space right after it was done (10:00 AM). the guy bitched and bitched, but he never got the space back while we were there. Some of this woman's comments (type of family life, bought his way into the neighborhood...) would probably make me do the same. This woman sounds like a real prize.

[Burning Petard]

When I was a home owner, I DID own the property in front of my house. My deed clearly stated my property extended to the middle of the street. That made me responsible for maintaining the sidewalk and the curb, but not the street itself. It also granted public access to all beyond the curb and I could not impede public access.

snailgate.

[Long Run]

I recall how people became quite possessive about the space in front of their house, as if it were something they owned. They do not, no matter how much they protest they do.

I don't know anyone who thinks they "own" the spaces in front of their homes, but as a matter of courtesy and obvious efficiency, it works best if people park in front of their own houses when that is possible. It is not always possible, of course, with guests, parties and what is probably part of the San Francisco story, a crowded neighborhood.