# Do you leave notes on the windows of poorly parked cars **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 4, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946 "2010-06-04T16:39:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/61 "2010-06-06T20:43:25Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > I’ve never even considered leaving a note! I don’t see how it would do any good; it was just piss someone off. People make mistakes. I’m not their mama. There’s “make mistakes” and then there’s “park across two spaces so nobody dings my car” which IMO is vastly different. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/62 "2010-06-07T02:21:48Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I read some of these threads about driving and parking and am tempted to write a long report about driving in rural Thailand. A bad parking job there is one which completely prevents another from moving his car; these are not uncommon. > > I once parked about noon at my car dealer’s and, since the errand didn’t involve my car, parked in the dirt next to the street as a courtesy rather than using up their limited customer parking. Shortly later I wanted to leave but it was _impossible_: someone had pulled in behind; there’d have been no room to manouevre even if the other neighboring cars had been entreated to move. Parking was scarce on the street, but there were problem-free places had the driver been willing to walk a few extra yards. > > This happens all the time in rural Thailand, and is little problem: One tracks down the driver, asks them politely to move; they’re happy to move their car (with a smile); one could argue it’s a happy easy-going life and this gives opportunity to meet strangers. > > In the one case I’m posting about, however, the driver had gone with someone else to a different city, taking his car-key with him! The car-dealer manager called him, and the driver came back (I don’t know if they had to curtail their errand for me). In their defense, they must have thought I was an employee based on where I parked, but even an employee might have had a sudden emergency requiring his car. > > My total delay was much more than 20 minutes, let alone 20 seconds. > > This story was about a _parked_ car. If I tell stories about _moving_ cars in rural Thailand, I’ll definitely have to post in **BBQ Pit**. All the time in Bangkok, too. Not uncommon to have someone just stop in the traffic lane, jump out and run into a store, leaving the car to block the lane! ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/63 "2010-06-07T02:32:56Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I used to drive a tiny little Toyota Tercel hatchback that would fit in anywhere, and sometimes if I noticed that someone had parked with their vehicle slopped way over the left line of the parking space, I’d slide my car in right next to them so that they couldn’t get their driver’s-side door open. > > I guess maybe some enraged person might have taken it out on my car, but it was a beat-ass old Tercel and I really didn’t care that much. I will admit to doing something just as bad when I was a teenager. I drove a tiny car with a hatchback. I’d park in the space they were invading (perfectly within the lines and not taking up anybody else’s space) and exit via my hatchback if I had to. I look back and laugh at it now with a bit of “what was I thinking?” because that could have ended badly for me. On a few occasions I came out to find seriously pissed off people but I’d laugh and crawl through my hatchback with that “You can’t hit me unless you want to go to jail, I’m only 16.” smile on my face. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/64 "2010-06-07T05:11:15Z")
Ackkk! I can’t believe this just happened. The grocery store closes in an hour. I had to get a few things for hubby’s turn at dinner at the firehouse. (Baby back ribs, 'tater salad and cheesecake) There was maybe 30 cars in the whole, huge parking lot. I parked 10 places from the nearest car, in hubby’s beat up work truck. I parked within the lines. I was in the store for 10 minutes. When I came out, there was a fairly new BMW parked 6 inches from my driver’s door!! I had to climb over the console, _again!_ I didn’t leave a note, but I really wanted to. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/65 "2010-06-07T05:27:22Z")
Sometime in the late 70s, the bar band I was in at the time played a gig at an Army-Navy club. This place had a small parking lot with angled spaces, and we parked our cars (including one van) fairly close to the back door, through which we hauled our equipment. At the conclusion of the gig, as we loaded our gear back into the cars and the van, we discovered that someone had parked his car in just such a way that it blocked all of ours from moving. I don’t remember how he did it, but it’s as if he placed it perfectly so that two cars and a van were trapped. And the fun part was, this guy was NOT in the building. In fact, he was nowhere to be found anywhere. Of course his car was locked and in Park, so there was nothing we could do to move it. Through the most laborious process – were talking turns and movements of an inch this way, an inch that way, carefully directed, we were finally able to edge one of the cars just past this asshole’s with almost zero clearance…it took a good 20 minutes to do it. And once we did this, we were able to free the other car and the van. As my bandmate and I were about to drive away, I yelled out “Wait a minute,” and I did something that was very uncharacteristic of me…the kind of thing I would normally never think of doing. I ran up to this idiot’s car and broke off his radio antenna. I suppose if I thought of it, I could have let the air out of his tires, too, but we had already lingered long enough and were tired. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/66 "2010-06-07T06:06:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > (Septimus: “This story was about a parked car. If I tell stories about moving cars in rural Thailand, I’ll definitely have to post in BBQ Pit.”) All the time in Bangkok, too. Not uncommon to have someone just stop in the traffic lane, jump out and run into a store, leaving the car to block the lane! Hello **Siam Sam**! Maybe it _would_ be fun to start a driving thread in **BBQ Pit**. 😉 Out here it’s usually easy to distinguish Bangkok drivers from rural drivers, however. Some rural drivers are so under-confident they even drive slowly down the _middle_ of a 2-lane road (safest place!). Bangkok drivers tend to be over-confident and travel at speeds suggesting they think they’re in some Nintendo car-racing game. In a way, one can’t blame BKK drivers for driving quickly once they get out of the city. I wonder if many get on the Expressway and drive aimlessly just to relieve tension! (Fortunately taxis always ask customer before getting on the for-pay Expressway; I just say “No thanks” and tip nicely if the taxi drives sanely.) ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/67 "2010-06-07T08:03:11Z")
At uni our parking spaces were really tiny. The solution was for the first car to nose in, the next would reverse in. this allowed (competent) drivers to park with around 2" gaps between PASSENGER doors, but enough space to comfortably open driver’s doors and exit. ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/68 "2010-06-07T14:24:45Z")
The parking lot for our office building is really full but there was someone with a new Beetle, that they didn’t want to get dinged up, so they would routinely take two spots. We after a couple weeks of that we left a note on the windshield. I don’t remember being too rude but I can’t really remember what I said. They started taking only one spot after that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/69 "2010-06-07T14:28:05Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Ackkk! I can’t believe this just happened. The grocery store closes in an hour. I had to get a few things for hubby’s turn at dinner at the firehouse. (Baby back ribs, 'tater salad and cheesecake) There was maybe 30 cars in the whole, huge parking lot. I parked 10 places from the nearest car, in hubby’s beat up work truck. I parked within the lines. I was in the store for 10 minutes. > > When I came out, there was a fairly new BMW parked 6 inches from my driver’s door!! I had to climb over the console, _again!_ > > I didn’t leave a note, but I really wanted to. 😃 Did you accidentally bang your truck door into their door five or six times? ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/70 "2010-06-07T14:31:02Z")
No shit – I saw a pickup truck parked \*horizontally \*across 2.5 spaces(so really, it’s 3) on the way to work today. It was in the corner of a near-empty lot, but still! Why didn’t he just use one spot? What kind of super urgent hurry was he in? I saw him getting back into his truck, and am guessing he was only there for a few seconds, but it’s just ridiculous to park that way. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/71 "2010-06-07T15:14:15Z")
> [@may\_be\_ignorant](#): > > I see nothing wrong with what you did, but that cracks me the hell up 😃 Why? ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/72 "2010-06-07T17:19:18Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Did you accidentally bang your truck door into their door five or six times? I will admit to not being excessively careful with the doors on my POS Neon when I park properly and come back to find someone’s parked me in too tightly to properly get in the driver’s side door. Notice to people who can’t park–that guy in the shitty neon may well be vindictive enough to ALWAYS use the driver’s side door no matter how close you park. Aside from that, the only time I’ve ever done anything really potentially damaging was back in high school. I drove my (parent’s) Jeep Cherokee to the prom. Found a nice spot relatively far away on the end of a line of street-parked cars. Came out after the prom to find some asshole had parked literally touching my front bumper. Now granted, I was already in a foul mood because I’d needed a tetanus shot the day of the prom so my arm was all sore and I was tired, but that was the day I discovered a Jeep Cherokee can–without any apparent effort at all or any damage to the front bumper–push a BMW sedan that’s in park with the parking brake on. I know I didn’t wreck his transmission, since I knew whose car it was. I did set off his alarm, though, and leave a nice pair of scrapes in his bumper. After taking a picture of him parked up against me so his parents thought he was 100% at fault, which he was in a way. Not the kind of thing I’d do again, looking back on it. But then again, that’s only because as an adult, I know that senseless property damage is illegal, and getting your car back from the tow company after you’ve been towed for illegally parking (or because the parking permit fell off your rearview, in my case) costs a fair chunk of change. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/73 "2010-06-07T17:36:07Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Did you accidentally bang your truck door into their door five or six times? No, since I got in on the passenger side, I was already tired. I wouldn’t have been able to drive home with that much extra effort. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/74 "2010-06-07T17:57:09Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > No, since I got in on the passenger side, I was already tired. I wouldn’t have been able to drive home with that much extra effort. 😉 Well, see, you have to go try the driver’s side door first, to make sure that you can’t squeeze through it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/75 "2010-06-08T04:00:01Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Hello **Siam Sam**! Maybe it _would_ be fun to start a driving thread in **BBQ Pit**. 😉 > > Out here it’s usually easy to distinguish Bangkok drivers from rural drivers, however. Some rural drivers are so under-confident they even drive slowly down the _middle_ of a 2-lane road (safest place!). Bangkok drivers tend to be over-confident and travel at speeds suggesting they think they’re in some Nintendo car-racing game. > > In a way, one can’t blame BKK drivers for driving quickly once they get out of the city. I wonder if many get on the Expressway and drive aimlessly just to relieve tension! (Fortunately taxis always ask customer before getting on the for-pay Expressway; I just say “No thanks” and tip nicely if the taxi drives sanely.) It’s not just cars. My friend up in Roi Et says he cannot at certain times go to the local Tesco Lotus or Carrefour’s or whichever hypermarket they have there, because of all of the yokels who have apparently never even seen a shopping cart before and push and park them like they do their vehicles. Sounds like he’s susceptible to shopping-cart rage. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Umbriel2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/4af34b/32.png) [@Umbriel2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel2)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/76 "2010-06-08T05:19:48Z")
Never left a note, but many years ago five of my friends crammed into my VW Rabbit with me to go to a mall at Christmas time for last minute shopping. We made numerous circuits of the parking lot, and couldn’t find a space. Eventually we spotted a car (I can’t remember the make) parked diagonally across two spaces in “my car is to precious to park normally” mode. My five friends exited the car, picked up the end of the offending car, and swung it into proper alignment so that I could park. If one has enough passengers along, I think that’s the most appropriate response to the situation. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/77 "2010-06-08T06:14:30Z")
Never left a note, but came within seconds of deliberately damaging someone’s car once due to road rage. I was digging out my little Toyota from the apartment parking lot when I realized that the reason there was such an insane amount of snow around my car was not merely because of the storm, but because the asshole in the next space had cleared out his car by pushing it away on the sides, packing my car in, and chucking the rest of his snow in front of my car instead of carrying it 8 feet away where it didn’t affect anybody. I almost completely lost control. I had my keys out and was checking around for witnesses or security cameras so I could key this guy’s car. Then it occurred to me that he’d probably know it was me (there was nowhere else to move my car) and might get revenge by slashing my tires. I considered keying up the other side of his car so that he’d think it was the person parked on that side. After about 3 minutes of deliberations I finally decided it wasn’t worth the possible consequences and settled for tossing some snow and ice chunks back into his parking space and “accidentally” banging his car a few times with my shovel. I don’t know what it is about cars and driving, but I can’t ever remember being that angry before. Edit: By “digging out” I am referring to the DC blizzard this year. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/78 "2010-06-08T13:00:28Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > It’s not just cars. My friend up in Roi Et says he cannot at certain times go to the local Tesco Lotus or Carrefour’s or whichever hypermarket they have there, because of all of the yokels who have apparently never even seen a shopping cart before and push and park them like they do their vehicles. Sounds like he’s susceptible to shopping-cart rage. 😃 I started [another thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=566313) to discuss such apparent discourtesy. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/79 "2010-06-08T19:23:10Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I still cannot for the life of me understand how people unintentionally inconveniencing them warrants being a flat out grade-A assholes. If you give a nice note, I can believe you were just trying to be helpful. Give a mean one, and it’s quite clear that you are just trying to piss them off. I’m not sure if you were replying to me, but since your post immediately followed mine, I’ll respond. I mentioned three notes that I have left. None were attempting to “be helpful” and none were attempting to piss people off. All three were informing people that their actions needed to be modified, e.g.: “don’t do this again.” The most annoying had to have been the car alarm. Two nights in a row it had gone off right under my window in the middle of the night and awakened me. Both nights, it had sounded for half an hour or so before it finally stopped. This is INCREDIBLY rude. If you’re not in a position to get to your car and disable the alarm in a couple of minutes, then don’t turn the damned thing on. I’ve had car alarms blaring in front of my store while the owner of the car was in some shop or restaurant blocks away, either unable to hear it or ignoring it, while everyone else in this otherwise quiet town had to listen to it. I’ve heard a lot of car alarms go off, and as far as I know, none of them were actually alerting the owner of a break-in. I wish our town had an ordinance outlawing them. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946/80 "2010-06-08T21:08:50Z")
I left a note on a car for an unattended car alarm, too. It must have been a windy night and the alarm set for too high a sensitivity, because it went off about 10 times one night. I set it off one final time in the morning, putting a note under the wiper. It was a fairly polite note, just informing him that his alarm had been going off all night. It was never a problem again in the time I lived there. I too would support outlawing car alarms in my city. On an opposite note, I went shopping today, and I noticed as I came back to my car that it was parked in a row of small cars, every one of them neatly tucked between the lines. It can be done! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-leave-notes-on-the-windows-of-poorly-parked-cars/541946.md?page=5)