An Idiot Tried to Hog a Spot by Standing in Front of It. Should I Be Petty?

My friends and I were in Melbourne CBD this evening and were about to turn into a 90 deg parking spot.. to be met with an idiot standing right in front of the spot refusing to move. He claims that his friend is doing a turn and is just around the corner and that he is reserving the spot for his friend - called him an asshole and told him that he isn’t a car and should not be hogging a spot. His response? “How am I am asshole if I’m not being aggressive?”

Our confrontation lasted for 1.5 mins before we drove off to another spot that freed up, only because we were across 2 lanes and were holding up traffic behind us.

Obvs we have videos + dashcam footage and images of him and his friend + his friend’s car plate deets. Thinking if we should give karma a hand (+ just wanting to be extremely petty as he completely ruined our evening) by posting these vids/pics somewhere. Thoughts?

Poll Options expired

  • 207
    Taking things too far
  • 524
    Totally justifiable

Comments

  • +82

    Totally get why you were mad but don't really see the point of posting/sending it anywhere besides DCOA!

    • +24

      I'm going to rotate one of my windscreen washers forwards so I'll be ready to hose down one of these creatures.

      • +1

        that is a GREAT idea. Maybe an additional gadget. Maybe replace with piss from last trip where you had to pee in a bottle. Or have some water fight balloons handy in the car for occasions like this.

        • +3

          Ya know what's worse??

          Waiting at a spot for 5mins+, where they are now leaving, but then some scumbag slips into the spot, as you are waiting for complete clearance (or adjusting the car).

          That's now why I sometimes have to inch in / or make tighter turns (esp for reverse parking).

      • So long as the water doesn't obstruct the dash cam footage!

    • +4

      Did she look like this women - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBK8_7uavhg

      • What a rat! Nice footage, though, Nick.

      • +1

        I feel it's a cultural thing. Seems like it's a normal practice in Asia.

      • What is wrong with people, that guy handled it quite well .. I would have ended up 🤬🤬🤬

  • +5

    You should just put your middle finger up in front of your camera and point at him and then post it on Facebook
    With a funny hashtag

    • +1

      Thumbnail clickbait game is on point

  • +42

    Dashcam owners Australia all the way.

  • +70

    Just move on. Idiots everywhere. You can't shame all of them.

      • +64

        Found the human carpark hog.

      • +9

        Do this with a police car and then see what happens. Say to the police "reserved this spot for my friend, find another place" then you will get to know what you are doing and what are the implications. Even better do this to a bikie gang.

        • -1

          So do it to the 2 groups who will smack you without warning?

          Why? What does that prove. I get that it's annoying but it's hardly going to ruin the entire night. Parking sucks at the best of times. Move on find a new one. Is that so hard?

          Or have a confrontation in the street if that's your jam.

          • +4

            @Sxio: Far too many people let those few (profanity) go, hence they never learn. I would make it my point to ruin their day so that they don't pull this BS with anyone else ever or at least think about the consequences before trying next time.

        • +3

          Do this with a police car and then see what happens.

          Someone did the same thing to me when i found a spot at Vic market many years ago…
          Stood in the car spot and wouldn't budge, so i just parked there only about a foot into the parking bay.
          When the other car finally arrived, they started yelling abuse at me for not moving, saying they found it first, blah, blah, blah…
          What they didn't know was that an odd duty policewomen witnessed the whole thing, asked them to move before revealing she was a cop, then after they started going off at her, she pulled out her badge.
          The look on their face was priceless… :)

          • +3

            @jv: I hate odd duties too :). I like this side of you jv, very relatable;).

            • @[Deactivated]: 'even' duties are much more balanced…

              (and much less susceptible to auto-correct)

      • -6

        It’s a shame you’ve received so many downvotes.

        “First come first serve but only if it’s me” is the mentality on these forums.

        • +25

          Oh (profanity) off. What you're doing is the equivalent of standing in front of a self-service checkout at the supermarket at midday on a Saturday with nothing to actually scan, "reserving" the spot for your wife/husband/friend/whatever who is on their way with a trolley full of items and no concrete ETA (all sorts of unexpected shit can happen on the roads to cause a delay).

          If you don't have items to check out you're not "first" to the checkout, and if you're not in your (profanity) car you're not first to the parking spot.

          And if you can't see the wisdom in that logic, fine. Try the law. It is literally an offense for a pedestrian to block the path of a driver on the road, and a parking spot is absolutely part of the road.

          You (profanity) are in the wrong on multiple levels. Both legally and in terms of general public sentiment on the topic of fairness and reasonable behaviour.

            • +14

              @Ghost47:

              As I said “first come first serve but only if it’s for me.”

              This would be a valid criticism if I stood in parking spots to reserve them, but then complained when other people did it too. But I don't. I practice what I preach here. It literally offends my sense of fairness and also that of most people I know.

              I made an analogy too. It went like this: you walk up to someone in ALDI with their hand on a fridge (the last one obviously). They don’t have a trolley but you do. Who gets the fridge? The person who was there first, not you, so have a cry and move on.

              False equivalence. In this example both people can typically use the fridge for its intended purpose regardless. But imagine if the person with their hand on the fridge stood there like that, not moving, for an extended period of time, while they waited for a partner with a trolley to arrive. That's more like what happens when someone stands in a car park, without a car, and prevents other drivers from using it while their wife/husband/friend/whatever endeavours to bring their own car over.

              Yes, the fridge scenario is absurd, but the absurdity is the point.

              I’ve seen people hold spots in line but I’ve never seen or heard of anyone holding up the entire queue because the cashier is waiting for their partner with a trolley full of goods to arrive, aka your analogy is nonsense from a fantasy land in your head — I prefer to live in reality. It’s not the same thing either because you’re introducing a third party into the equation. It’s no longer about one person and another, it’s suddenly about the person in line, the people behind them and the cashier? No. That analogy would be more similar to if there was a parking attendant waiting to charge the person after they parked their car, I.e. a dumb analogy.

              You misread the analogy. It was about self-service checkouts specifically. I wasn't saying that it was a common scenario, I was saying that it was an absurd scenario. People shouldn't be allowed to stand in front of self-service checkouts, without any items to scan, "reserving" them while other people who do have items ready to scan are waiting. I guarantee you that unless there was a meek employee servicing the area that they would be asked for make way for customers who are ready to actually use the checkout.

              No analogy is perfect of course. I concede that. But I stand behind the "spirit" of this one. If you don't have items to scan right then and there, don't hog a self-service checkout. And if you don't have a car to park right then and there, don't hog a parking spot.

              Go on, show me the law actual law where it says you can’t hold a spot because it’s illegal.

              I didn't use the word "illegal". I don't like to use it unless I'm talking about "criminal" behaviour and road-related civil infringements that typically just carry fines aren't quite the same thing, at least not colloquially speaking. It's semantics, sure, but I like to be careful about connotations.

              Anyway, here's the Victorian legislation for example: https://content.legislation.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2…

              Reg 236, Page 322:

              (1) A pedestrian must not cause a traffic hazard by moving into the path of a driver.

              (2) A pedestrian must not unreasonably obstruct the path of any driver or another pedestrian.

              Drivers drive on roads, obviously. And the term "road" as it pertains to these rules even includes:

              any shoulder of the road

              where "shoulder" is defined as:

              an area (not being part of the road) adjoining the road that is open to or used by the public for driving, riding or parking motor vehicles

              So it even extends beyond the traditional definition of "road". As such I think it would be quite difficult to try to argue that a pedestrian who obstructs a driver from entering a parking spot, particularly one that is literally part of the road (as per the example in the OP), isn't committing a road related offense.

              I have no idea if this is typically enforced, or how. Such incidents are usually transient and simply "tolerated" by most people. But it seems pretty obvious that pedestrians should not get in the way of drivers who are using the roads (and parts of "roads" that are defined as roads in the legislation), particularly when those drivers are simply attempting to use them properly and appropriately. If every man and his dog started running around "reserving" spots we'd all be cruising the streets doing u-turns trying to find the right "reservation" (and what a stupid hazard that is ripe for incidents that would be). It only works because a small number of people do it, and it pisses almost everyone else off.

              I like this characterization by the NRMA:

              If you don’t have a car you can’t save a parking spot

              When you see this happening, it’s a sure sign that the car park has reached peak rudeness. It should go without saying that a passenger or friend can’t claim a spot by standing in it. This is extremely anti-social car park etiquette and is sure to raise temperatures and lead to an unhealthy confrontation.

              https://www.mynrma.com.au/benefits/parking/resources/car-par…

              You can't really do anything about it though. Maybe if a police officer just happened to be nearby, but short of that any use of force would likely be assault. Even if you prevailed in an exchange of words, or tenacity, you might later come back to a keyed door or god knows what.

              • @cainn: embarrassing you've had to explain it tbh

              • -6

                @cainn: Since you used so much profanity and also insulted me personally in your first reply which was completely childish of you (I'd hate to see how you act in the workplace during disagreements, that is if you've ever held a job where your decisions can actually impact lives in a meaningful way), I'm not going to bother replying to your wall of crap besides to say: a shoulder of a road is not a 90 degree parking spot in Melbourne CBD, hand in your driver's licence if you have one because it's actually disturbing someone could think they are one and the same.

                Also just saw that part of your comment about self-service checkouts LOL. I would be too busy looking for a free checkout than to get angry, mad and butthurt at someone standing at an empty one. Wow some people really are soft these days.

                Also here's a life pro tip for you that I think you should need to take on board (because people like you make the world a crap place): If you ever want to try to convince someone you are right, or try to change someone else's mind, acting like a child, and insulting them with immature profanities will get you nowhere and will make the other person even less likely to listen to you, let alone give two hoots about you as a human being. I suggest you take this on board.

                • @Ghost47:

                  I'm not going to bother replying to your wall of crap besides to say: a shoulder of a road(en.wikipedia.org) is not a 90 degree parking spot in Melbourne CBD(cdn.concreteplayground.com), hand in your driver's licence if you have one because it's actually disturbing someone could think they are one and the same.

                  You've misread and misinterpreted, again. I literally quoted part of the legislation that defined a "shoulder" as:

                  an area (not being part of the road)

                  I wasn't talking about 90° parking spots in Melbourne CBD there. Those are a part of the road (obviously) as I also explicitly mentioned. I only decided to mention "shoulders" because even though they merely adjoin roads, even they are still defined as roads for the purposes of the legislation. I was making this point because I anticipated that someone might want to try to weasel out of being subject to this legislation by trying to argue that a parking spot, on a road, isn't actually part of the road. That's untenable in light of the fact that the definition of "road" in this particular piece of legislation even extends to areas that are less connected to "roads" than 90° parking spots in Melbourne CBD are.

                  • -2

                    @cainn: Fact: I didn't bother to closely read your post. Why? Because your first reply was the most childish thing I've probably ever seen on OzBargain.

                    To make you happy: okay little boy, you win the argument. Go tell mummy about your victory.

            • +8

              @Ghost47: “Reserving” a car park spot without car is a rubbish thing to do and only people with the IQ of a rock would think it’s acceptable to do so.

              • -4

                @smartazz104: Meh, it's a dog eat dog world, if you cry about that sort of thing you won't survive long in the real world.

              • -3

                @smartazz104: Is it? Are the following also "rubbish things to do and only people with the IQ of a rock would think it's acceptable to do so"?

                • Sitting at a table at a restaurant holding it waiting for your friends to arrive
                • Placing the last of an item on hold when someone calls your store requesting you to hold it for them and they'll be there in 30 minutes to pick it up
                • Placing your hand on the last fridge in ALDI telling people your partner is going to get a trolley and will be over in a minute to take it away
                • Holding a spot in line as your partner goes to grab something they forgot to buy

                People who get butthurt at such things (yes, even if someone is standing at a self-service checkout waiting for their partner and all the other ones are full and can't get over themselves to wait for the next one to free up) to the point where they feel the need to insult others who disagree with them are disgusting rude snowflakes and are going to experience a lot of pain in their lives due to lack of resiliency. If you've ever done any of these things in your life (which I'm sure plenty of the people who are arguing in favour of the OP have actually done) then it's complete cognitive dissonance to get mad about this situation.

                • @Ghost47:

                  Is it? Are the following also "rubbish things to do and only people with the IQ of a rock would think it's acceptable to do so"?

                  Yes, for some of those.

                  Your first 2 examples are at the discretion of the businesses involved, the fridge one is fine. The last one could be avoided if people were smart and didn’t shop at the exact same time as every other damn person in their suburb.

                  • -1

                    @smartazz104: Yes as in they are acceptable or that they are rubbish things to do? If the latter, have you never done any of those? Because I seriously doubt 99% of OzBargain has never done any the above 4 points.

                    The first two things, from experience and from what I've seen, happen more often than not.

                    It's not about whether or not the situation can be avoided either for that last point, that's doesn't actually answer the question.

            • @Ghost47: Your example is not an analogy. It is a joke that has nothing to do with OP's situation or anything discussed so far. What's next? Pee every where to mark territory?
              It appears to me that some people are unfit to live in a society because they are too entitled to follow basic order or even having basic human decency.

              • -2

                @ripesashimi: Explain how it wasn't an analogy.

                Getting that mad about people standing in a car spot is being a complete snowflake, and people who get mad at those sorts of things won't survive in the real world.

      • He/she got there first and held the spot for the driver

        Ha ha ha…

        Some people here took you seriously…

        Nice troll though…

    • +2

      the problem is it starts to become a “norm”.
      ‘>=5 years ago I rarely see such act but lately I have seen it too often in popular places e.g. big shopping centre.
      One day I could lose my coolness and confront those “idiot” and drag myself to the lowest point of humanity by punching and kicking - and biting 🤬

      • +8

        Business opportunity: hire kids to block out parks and sell them to customers willing to pay for a good park

      • -8

        Send my 1.97m 96Kg pure muscle son out to "move" the parking post.
        Shit is that they probably going to key the car.

        • +22

          weird flex but OK

        • Muscle reacts to knives the same way everything else does. Throw muscle at a problem and eventually you'll encounter something unyielding. You do… love your son right? Then maybe try to keep him safe, instead of sending him into harms way.

          • @Sxio: "Isn't that just like a wop, brings a knife to a gunfight." The Untouchables Or Raiders of the Lost Ark

          • @Sxio: True. I just run over the idiot. Steal for steal.

          • @Sxio: pretty sure with enough muscle, you can overwhelm a knife wielding person….

            • @Zachary: Ok. If you're sure…

              • -1

                @Sxio: Well I mean - try and stab a guy whose pure muscle brick - he wont feel a thing….stab a skinny guy and he'll yell out in pain or die….of course both would bleed but the guy with muscles would shrug it off like nothing….

                • @Zachary: geez, it doesn't work like that AT ALL. You can't tell if a guy is a tough nut just by looking at him - nothing to do with muscle. In movies maybe.

                  • @poohduck: Try punching a guy who's a basically a brick and then do the same to another guy who's a twig. Same logic applies using knife instead of fist.

                • @Zachary: Both on skinny people and muscular people, an artery is an artery and many are very close to the surface of the skin.

                  Not here to preach but there's a reason why the police are trained to shoot knife wielding attackers. Not tase and not disarm. They shoot them.

                  • @Sxio:

                    Not here to preach but there's a reason why the police are trained to shoot knife wielding attackers. Not tase and not disarm. They shoot them.

                    Wait what?! This is news to me….I would think the cops would spear tackle them down and disarm them the knife wielder….. I've seen security guards do this…..

                    Both on skinny people and muscular people, an artery is an artery and many are very close to the surface of the skin.

                    So you're telling me I can knock out a brick of a person with just a knife before he knocks me out?

                    • @Zachary: You can't knock them out easily with a bladed weapon. Kill them though? Absolutely. A cut in the right place and its only a matter of time.

                      Tackling someone with a knife is very foolish. It could end up anywhere on the way down. Like in an eye. Or heart.

                      • @Sxio:

                        A cut in the right place and its only a matter of time.

                        Just like a touch in the right place(with or without ki/chi) and someone will instantly freeze on the spot or somehow become disabled in some way….mmhmmm….

                        • @Zachary: You've never heard of bleeding out? Ok.

                          • @Sxio: Well ive never bled to death if thats what your asking…..so i dont know if that works or not or if its just for the movies and tv show thing for entertainment and drama…. Ive also never seen anyone bled to death either so I dont know how real it is…..

      • +3

        <everybody was kung fu foightin>

    • Yes. You can..

  • -6

    Wouldn't be surprised if the car got keyed

    • +12

      Does that logic apply for just about anything..? Cause if so.. What shouldn't I move on from?

      • +4

        Don't sweat the small sh!t. First World problems really. Will it be an issue in a week's time? Nope. Then you might as well move on now.

        • +14

          But don't we live in the first world?

          Nah I get that its just a tongue-in-cheek thing but I just always found it silly. Just because we're not dying from starvation shouldn't mean that we can't stress about our small first world problems.

        • +2

          Yep. Don't let 5mins of your day control anymore of your time than it already did.

          Literally a waste of time and emotion.

    • +1

      Almost everything pales in comparison to starving children - many of those things are still worth worrying about.

      Solid point though - life will be better if you can learn to move on from the things you can't change.

      • I think the point is that this seems pretty changeable. If we're going to say because there are kids starving elsewhere, we're going to let our carparks go to hell, this is going to be one crappy world to live in.

      • Yeah, but won't somebody think of the children!!

  • +14

    That’s the right way. Posting to OzBargain. 👍

  • +48

    It really isn't worth having an altercation as they might be arseholes who will damage your car. You should have just let them have it and not provoke them, move on with your day like an adult. Really isn't anything worth getting upset about at all. Although from your wording it sounds like they should be the ones backing off as you're the arsehole who would consider damaging someone else's property.

    • +10

      I’m sorry if my wording made it sound that way, but although we were pissed and astounded at the situation (because it’s something we see on viral videos on fb, not something we think we’d encounter irl), we did not consider damaging their car.

      In fact, the videos were to protect US in the event that he decides to damage our car during the altercation.. not for any other reason. Only thought to post it somewhere in the interwebz to shame the person, but even then I’m holding back cause I’m not sure if I’m taking things too far.

      • +31

        I don't think it is worth putting that much effort in. People do annoying stuff all the time, sometimes on purpose cause they're not thoughtful or not on purpose because they're idiots… Trying to shame them won't fix their behaviour, they'll never see it and if they do it would just make them more sure they're right and somehow it is your fault (it isn't but they'll think that). It won't stop other people from doing the same thing - the sort of people that would see the video and think that's wrong behaviour already know it is wrong and wouldn't do that anyway. Getting mad only hurts you, as you spend mental space thinking about it and being mad makes you unhappy. It is much more worthwhile to let stuff like that wash over you. If spending time on it can actually help you or others then sure go ahead but if there's nothing productive you can do…. Better to forget it.

      • +5

        I didn't get the impression you'd damage their property.

        +1 for moving on - if the cathartic relief of posting/shaming improves your life go for it, but more likely you can benefit more from letting it go and turning it into a positive by realising you're the bigger person.

      • +1

        If your friends didn't mind, should have got one or two of them to block off the other guy's friend as well. This is an imported habit and I'd sure as (profanity) would rather not see it as a norm here.

      • +2

        That's some restraint. I personally would've at least contemplated letting their tyres down. Can't stand these sorts of idiots.

        Feel absolutely free to post the video. After all, it's objective evidence so people can make their own judgement.

      • +1

        Ok its been 3 days, 435 votes to 189 votes.

        Wheres the link to the video?

    • +4

      you're the arsehole who would consider damaging someone else's property.

      Where was this suggested?

        • +11

          They only stated they were considering uploading the video, no mention of damaging property.

          • -7

            @brendanm: I said it was the impression I got. Not that they said those words.

            • +7

              @Quantumcat: Fair enough, I didn't get that at all, op didn't even mention that he was worried about the other part damaging his car, physical damage didn't seem to be on his mind at all from what I can see.

              • -7

                @brendanm: He was mad enough to want some kind of revenge.

                • +5

                  @Quantumcat: Yeah, putting the guy on Facebook. There is a huge difference between posting a video on Facebook and doing criminal physical damage to someones car.

                • +3

                  @Quantumcat: Not everyone is getting this impression of madness.

                  Seems more like frustrating to me.

  • +33

    You call someone an (profanity) and have a 2 minute altercation while blocking traffic.

    Post the video here .

  • +80

    he completely ruined our evening

    If one douchebag is enough to ‘completely ruin’ your evening you aren’t going to enjoy life very much. You found a spot after 2 min and probably carried on for the rest of your evening slightly miffed.

    Get over yourself, there are bigger issues around.

    Post it if you must, but you’ll probably look like a douchebag too.

    • +13

      True.. not sure why it got me so worked up (probs bc I’ve only had a handful of encounters like these) but you’re right, need. to. move. on.

      • +4

        These people are a dime a dozen. Count yourself lucky you haven't interacted with more of them, and doubly lucky you're not one of them!

      • +5

        Good on you for realising and admitting. Don't let this waste any more of your emotional energy.

      • Good idea. There's a whole conga line of assholes waiting to interact with you in your future. It's good to learn how to deal with them with the least amount of energy possible. The alternative is just exhausting.

        I used to be a bouncer. Just… I shake my head at the stupid stuff I saw.

    • +1

      we all have out care-free days, and our frustrated days

      one day i might give a scoff and say idiot, other days i might linger how terrible some people's actions can be

      • This is true. Some days it’s much harder to be positive and those days the turkeys really do get you down.

  • +10

    Same thing happens in the US

    They have a name for it spot saver.

    TLTR version:

    The spot saver is technically wrong… But at the same time, they’re likely to say “What are you going to do about it?” After all, cops are more inclined to respond to a stabbing or a robbery than your parking spat.

    … we can at least all agree that the one person standing in an open space is in the wrong … and a jerk.

    • +7

      About to turn it into a stabbing or a robbery if they don't move

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