Written by Heather Foley
As I sit down to write this, there is a dusting of snow on the ground. A legit dusting. This is not some New England tough guy thing calling a few inches a dusting;it looks like someone spilled a little powdered sugar on the ground. So there’s less than half an inch of snow on the ground, and some animal on my street put out a spot saver.
I did not know there was a maniac living on my street. I love my street! We have a block party every year. I thought all my neighbors were sane and rational human beings, then BAM – spot saver in a dusting. I have so many feelings – confusion, rage, sadness, but I guess mostly I’m just disappointed. Who would do this? I would love to give whoever did this the benefit of the doubt, but how can I? Even if a local meteorologist predicted a big daytime storm (no one did BTW), we all know that you don’t get to preemptively save a parking spot – that’s just dirty hustle. I just don’t know what to do! It’s like finding out I live across the street from a monster. And the ridiculousness of saving a parking spot in a seven snowflake flurry is only a symptom of the problem – the spot saving situation in Southie is completely out of control.
Consider this your public service announcement, Southie – you’re ruining this whole spot saver thing (#TheMoreYouKnow). People having been saving spots for generations with minimal issues. Yes, I remember someone putting a cone out twelve months a year as a kid, and sure there’s always been dozens of questionable handicap spots and permits, but for the most part it all went off without a hitch. Well, I think we’re witnessing the bubble burst. It seems like every year things get worse; people putting savers out earlier and leaving them out longer, more tires being slashed, fights with people actually going to the hospital, and let’s face it, it’s only a matter of time until it all comes to an end.
Congratulations morons, you’re killing it for us normal people. How long do you think the city will turn a blind eye to people ending up in the hospital over parking spots? My guess is not much longer. Garbage trucks will soon be following plows to remove spot savers. We can kiss the 48 hour rule goodbye, not that people follow it anyway. We all know the spot saver rules – if you didn’t shovel, you don’t get to save the spot, and you don’t get to save it till street cleaning starts back up, so what the heck are you doing? I know the parking situation blows, but taking advantage of the snowstorm spot saving is only make it worse for everyone in the long run.
Hope you’re happy, jerks.
24 Comments
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A monster lives on your street? a moron? a jerk? dirty hustle? Geez lady, take a pill or something. I’d hate to see what you’d write if someone stole your car. You’d probably go into cardiac arrest. If you’re that worked up about it, just move the spot saver. With all the problems that are out there, theres no need to come unravelled over a parking space. Life’s too short.
I don’t think that it is Southie citizens (new or old) are ruining the parking situation. I think it is the developments that build all of these new condo’s and do not supply enought parking spaces for it’s residents. This becomes more evident when the 1st snowflake hits the ground. It has forced people to break the rules of spot saving. Legal residents that do not save a spot simply will not have one to park in. If the new developments adequately supplied parking to the people who live there this would not have escalated to the point we are currently at.
Thank you!
Legit spot saving: 48 hours following a City-declared snow emergency, in a space that dug out.
Nonsense: anything else.
If someone takes your City-granted spot, they’re an asshole… If you try to claim a nonsense spot, you’re the asshole.
Enough with the parking…move, rent a spot, find a solution. Seriously, enough already…every year it is the same thing. Everyone understands, the parking situation is annoying…get over it & move on.
and pick up your dog shit
What if the city plowed the spots for us? Afterall they do own the street right? Just like they do with street cleaning, have everyone on one side of the street move their car to the other side (double park ) of the street while the plow comes down and takes the snow away after each storm. We can eliminate spots savers altogether. No savers….no fights.
Life long Southie resident
Sorry to disappoint you. I was born and raised here. N and Eighth. Wow, you should take 2 pills. Instead of going off like someone just burned her house down, she should have just moved the spot saver. I would have.
And we point fingers at lifers ( if you are a yuppie) . Makes no sense to me. Can we all
Agree that there are bad apples in both sides? That each side as people that abuse
The “system” or do idiotic things to make US as a community look ignorant? Seriously common sense
Should prevail here , no?
I am not from here . I guess I am a yuppie even though I have been here for 10 plus years . I guess I am a yuppie even though I grew up in a less than blue collar family , drug addicted mother , father in prison .. Welfare . You name it I went through it so please don’t say “we” (yuppies) don’t know what hard work is . You have no idea what a “new comer” has done in life to get where they are just like I have no idea what a “lifer ” has gone through to get where they are. But if you want to compare “hardship ” I promise mine are worse than most but is that a badge of honor, no! Is it an excuse to fail ? No !
As for teaching new comers the rules , come to my street and teach the old timers the rules . On my block there are 5 new comer condos rest lifers and boy oh boy did they save spots long before snow began and long after it melted . But they are bad apples and DO NOT represent the whole !!
So stop pointing fingers!!
Well done Heather! Right on the money.
the house on the left of that picture is mine. that is NOT my space saver. don’t blame me! :-)
Can we please move on? All this mass hysteria over spot savers is JUST AS NUTS as the savers themselves. Come on people!
I’m sure name calling will elicit a positive response….
Perhaps the Author should consider the fact that she is not an authority and shouldn’t be writting letters ‘To Southie’ -it come across as looking down your nose at ‘the animals’ out there. The article is WAY over the top and sounds pretentious and snobby, I get where ‘Take a Valium’ is coming from and think ‘Get a Life’ WAY over reacted (maybe just a friend defending a friend) and you had no basis for assuming the backround of the poster.
Heather: Some of your stuff is good-just read it twice-you can come across like a 12 year old princess who lives outside the realm of reality, tone that part done and you’ll be fine i.e. “Hope your happy Jerks’ ????? (Can’t write stuff like that and not expect a response)
Get a Life A= for having your friends back C for content. That post by Take a Valium wasn’t that bad.
Thats all
“You don’t like what she has to say move out of Southie.” lol, ok.
Southie is OUR neighborhood now, and we’re not leaving. If the sight of a Starbucks makes you mad, or you don’t like young, successful people walking around, move to Quincy or something. If the rent is too high for you, get a job like the rest of us. we don’t need any more white trash oxycontin addicts clogging up the streets and endangering the rest of us. You don’t get to hold a spot for 3 weeks because your old, lazy ass had to “shovel” half an inch of snow. If I see any spot savers I will be moving them tonight. Deal with it.
The developers do not provide enough parking for their developments. They build, sell and move on to the next project. They do not live in Southie so they do not care about parking. The next time a developer wants to build in southie people need to get involved and go to the meetings or write letters and make phone calls letting the BRA an the politicians know that you do not approve of the proposed project. The only way to prevent more problems is if everyone comes together as a community against the developments that do not provide enough parking. Also if you are lucky enough to have parking, please think about your neighbors when you write letters of approval for future developments. If we want to have a great neighborhood we need to think of others. How will this effect Southie not what can I get out of this development. Remember Southie is a residential neighborhood with families, elderly and residents of all ages. Developments have been approved without any consideration about the neighborhood.
You are just as guilty as the person who marked the spot. It is your duty as a good neighbor to move the marker when it is used at the wrong time. Also, make sure to tell your neighbor he/she was wrong to mark the spot.
What some of the commenters don’t seem to understand about the new development projects – there is a city ordinance in place that mandates 1.5 parking spots be created for every new unit built. So… making 8 condos out of an old commercial space? You must somehow create 12 new spots on the property. That’s why you see underground garages going into projects like the old convent on I, or the places next to European Mororsport on L. Does this solve the problem? Absolutely not. Frankly, what needs to happen is the construction of a parking garage – maybe a few. And no, I am not a developer or in the real estate business.