In Chicago, when the winter winds blow and mountains of snow cover the ground, street parking becomes a new kind of challenge. Often plows that make it down the street improve the roads, but make parking nearly impossible with a ridge of packed snow and ice that you have to drive over to get in or out of a spot. I've been shoveling gradually over the last few days, trying to keep up with new accumulation, and watching with anxiety as all of my neighbors pull out their milk crates, plastic cones, and dining room chairs as "spot savers."
Spot saving is totally faux pas in many people's opinion (mine included)--EVERYONE has to shovel out their spot. Reserving a spot is bad etiquette. Everytime I looked out the window this week, all the empty spots on my street had some of the aforementioned "savers" in them. Who wants to be the one to tick off the neighbors by moving the spot saver and parking anyway? It's not like it would be anonymous. My car would be there, guilty.
My plan thus far has just been to avoid driving, thus no worries about losing my spot. But today, it had to be done. I went out with my roommate in the -8 degree weather (-27 degree windchills!!) to shovel out. She broke up the chunks and I removed them. All the while I debated in my head if I should get something to save my spot. In the end, I decided against it. It makes me so mad when other people save spots, and it would make me a hippocrate to do the same. I resigned myself to having to walk (and maybe cry) when I got back.
But...
When I got home..... my spot was FREE!!!! I parked, came upstairs, and did a celebratory dance. Now if I could just get a health insurance company to sell me a plan...
1 comment:
i head on the news this morning that the mayor of chicago wants people to stop saving spots and to get their furniture out of the road, and reminded them that what they're doing is ILLEGAL
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