SFist: What's Going On Here, Angry Driver?

Xenu

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:31:57 -0800

There's a real anger problem in this city these days. Time for a a garbage bag full of weed and Human Be-In 2, methinks.

faceword

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:14:03 -0800

I've always liked this cleanly designed note that express the same thoughts more politely: http://jkoshi.com/park_friendly/

aj

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:46:43 -0800

If this car subsequently gets broken into, keyed, or otherwise smashed, the owner should check the note for fingerprints. This sure looks like a threat to me.

zippy_monster

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:20:21 -0800

@liz, now that's wishful thinking.

Elizabeth

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:15:49 -0800

frankjordan- if you car was parked legally they could not have had it towed.

KatyG

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:01:42 -0800

"I have your license plate number" OK, let's think this through, like they teach us to do in rehab. Pretend you are the self-righteous note writer, looking out your window at nothing in particular. Suddenly, a glint of light reflected off a car body catches your eye. The culprit is back! S/He again has parked inefficiently. You rush to the sidewalk and verify the license plate number ("Oh yes, this is the person who I wrote a note to! Yet s/he still mocks me with their poor parking skillz!") You dial the traffic cops, and eventually they arrive. The cop looks at the legally parked car, tells you that it is not against the law to park inefficiently, tells you where you can put your complaint, and drives off. End of story. But you feel better, because you have copied down someone's license plate number.

Generic

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:00:58 -0800

In a way, the use of the semicolon almost says more than the rest of the note.

cashba

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:42:14 -0800

oh it says In SF! I thought it was some Latin term that the d/b dropped in to sound legally in the right.

Joel

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:58:37 -0800

"There was a nice way to say that"

dolemite43

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:44:42 -0800

Thanks for the photo of the note, but I would like to see the car and the curb so I can judge for myself. I can't tell who I should side with, but right now I'm siding with the driver cause this note needs some serious work.

wsanders

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:17:06 -0800

Yes, this is an egregious misuse of the semicolon. http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/semicoln.html Although the dash at the end conveys a sense of never-ending vigilance. I think smiley faces would have conveyed the sociopathic p-a sentiment much more appropriately: "Don't ever park on this street again, you asshole :-) because we are watching you :-)"

sf_bikebike

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:00:40 -0800

ha. grumpies!

Leanne

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:37:52 -0800

Oh no, TeamAwesome, the use of the term passive-aggressive is serious business around here.

mark925

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:28:51 -0800

The decision to use a semicolon in a hand-written note offends me much more than the wasted parking spot. I can't even imagine the level of douchebagness required to think that would be a good idea. In SF!

TeamAwesome

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:24:57 -0800

http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/

Akit

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:13:27 -0800

That's very true jimH. I used to live in the Sunset and had to park across the street from my house. This old neighbor guy opened his window yelling at me to not take the space because it is for her daughter.

jimH

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:04:35 -0800

The Sunset in particular is a place where homeowners feel they "own" the space right in front of where they live. Fortunately, people who live in SF are less territorial. I got a note similar to this after parking next to a motorcycle. After it left there's no way to tell that it was there, of course. A note is not innapropro, except for the parking ban and the license plate reference.

Akit

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:00:12 -0800

Here's a very similar situation in regards to the photo posting: http://www.flickr.com/photos/agentakit/2834439304/

frankjordan

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:49:44 -0800

i parked on the east slope of telegraph hill once where some obscure alley has a 2x2 grid of PUBLIC spots. the homeowner, who apparently considered these to be private spots, had my car towed. the ticket charged me with "hazardous" parking.

troymccluresf

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:47:08 -0800

Yeah, not much you can do in the middle of the block, considering various car sizes, but I do hate seeing some assbag park four feet from the corner red, ensuring at least one wasted space. wsanders- I've had discussions with people about parking in front of other people's house. Suburbanites are fucking loony when it comes to that.

Akit

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:44:29 -0800

This photo should join my "Parking Hogs" photo pool: http://www.flickr.com/groups/parkinghog/

lola la trailera

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:34:00 -0800

sucks, it could have been a smart car in front of it... they pretty piopular lately, or a vespa?!!?? ...

wsanders

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:24:19 -0800

I lived in one of those "New Urbanist" developments on the Peninsula for a while. Naturally, homeowners in the place had three, four, five cars per household in houses designed with 2-car garages. If you parked in front of someone else's house, you risked having your car keyed or worse. By the time I moved out there had been several incidents involving smashed windows, keying, and I think one assault. Somehow, there needs to be a way to make multiple car ownership very expensive. You could do this along with the London-style congestion zone tolls. One or two on-street parking passes per household, $1000 per year for extras, a 72 hour parking pass along with your congestion zone entry for visitors. This is San Francisco, so how could this system possibly fail due to fraud, abuse, and all around bungling!

diethylether

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:20:34 -0800

As periqueblend points out, there are several legitimate (if they have to justify it to anyone in the first place) reasons for cars to be parked with what would at first appear to be less-than-model efficiency. But don't let that stop the train of self-righteousness. Don't like how city street parking works? Buy a parking space or rent a place with a driveway. Can't afford it? Looks like your note-leaving, under-financed ass belongs somewhere other than SF.

turtle_276

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:14:33 -0800

The automobile has an uncanny ability to turn people into assholes.

Joel

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:13:25 -0800

Give me the bad parker over the guy leaving anonymous threats any day.

sissa

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:12:44 -0800

What exactly is this person threatening with the comment about having the license plate number?

jefftiki

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:10:07 -0800

There's two parking spaces right across from my house that are book-ended by two driveways. If you park correctly there's two, that is, but every once in awhile someone parks right in the middle, leaving room on either side for maybe a moped or a smart car. I once left a note on a car, however mine was a little more pleasant.

OrangeDrink

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:08:20 -0800

I like the random "In SF!" that has nothing to do with anything.

Ginger

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:08:02 -0800

bravo! parallel parking is not rocket science people! if you got yourself into the space, you can get yourself out. there is at least one wasted spot on every block in my neighborhood because more than one douchebag has not pulled up to the edge of the curbs and has overcompensated on front and rear spacing. one of these days I am going to muster up the nerve to put offensive bumper stickers on cars that aren't parked properly.

periqueblend

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:04:15 -0800

Unless you were actually there when that person parked, you have no idea what the street looked like. spaces open up b/c vehicles vary in size, and time that they parked.