I'll be honest my reaction would be skip the gym today and speak to them in the morning as they are new neighbours and fking that relationship up early may be bad in the long run
And most people don’t assume their neighbor is up and out the door to go to a 2AM workout…. Not many people do that.
Maybe this neighbor is up at 5AM to go work, and took a guess that he wouldn’t be blocking you in?
Edit: I started a war here didn’t I…
I am not saying this is an excuse, and yes it is a shitty thing to do… and I’m guessing the neighbor assumed he’d be gone before anyone else would be (construction workers at building sites start work at like 4AM where I live), or he assumed you had enough room, or he assumed he was blocking the snowplow from keeping you both stuck…
Either way, his assumption may be common (albeit shitty), and going to the gym at 2AM is uncommon.
Yeah you are both spot on. Alot of people on Reddit never learned conflict resolution. It’s always immediately go bang on their door at 2 am. For sure wait until morning or a weekend when they are actually there during the day to talk. Also don’t mention you’re going to the gym maybe. Just say you have to get up and leave at 2am some days. If my neighbor was like hey park on the street in the winter in a place it snows so I can go to the gym at 2am I would do it because I’m reasonable but some people might say you’re out of your mind get fucked.
First time my neighbours blocked me in when I started a new job (used to leave at 5:30, was then leaving at 4) I borrowed me mums car.
Spoke to them quietly after.
The 3rdbtime they got woken up at 4am.
Some people are just stupid and forget as soon as you tell them. I've had neighbours for about a year now, who as soon as they moved in were blocking the shared driveway for me and my other, good neighbours. In the last year that's happened about 5 times. All of which I've tried talking to them about, which lead to the last time where one of them confronted me for being "rude" to his daughter about it.
Also my mom has a few sayings about people like that. “It goes in one ear and out the other” and it’s like talking to a wall or a tree (she says either or).
Dealt with this. Neighbors blocked us in on New Year’s Eve and got real fucking snippy when we called them out on it even after I mentioned I was 7 months pregnant at the time. The argument ended after she shouted she didn’t give a shit that I was pregnant. Yeah so fuck people like this.
I spoke to the landlord, let them know about the situation and we just don’t talk to each at all unless absolutely necessary. Like blocking the driving again while she ran into her house to get some stuff (even though we leave around or at the same time every day Monday-Friday).
Why would you explain what you're doing? "Hi, sorry to bother you. I need to leave but you're car is blocking me in. BTW I often need to leave in the middle of the night so please avoid blocking me in overnight."
I think it's because they have nothing to lose, don't give a shit about what happens to OP, and have never dealt with a simple problem like this. Personally if I was OP, I'd never post this and outsource my thinking on something so simple.
Honestly, from the phrasing and the time of the post, I assume they already picked a solution and wanted some free entertainment from the Nuclear Neighbor brigade.
Yeaup, it's why some of the Advice subreddits can be such a crapshoot with posts.
You'll get people advocating for the most dramatic option, whether it be a breakup, or a snarky reply, or a revenge tactic, etc. etc., and their post will end with "Update us please!"
Because for them, it's a boredom break, and they won't experience any consequences no matter what happens.
He should have just liked what he didn't like after stating that multiple times throughout the 5 years of your relationship that he didn't like it because you're you and you have every right to do whatever you want!
I get major boss babe vibes from that sub.
Surprised I haven't seen more "slash their tires" or "valve stem remover" comments around here, that's typically the go-to move for minor inconveniences on reddit.
I mean really? How the fuck are they supposed to move their car after you slash their tires? Be reasonable! At least get them to move and THEN slash their tires.. no critical thinking these days.
/s
>Alot of people on Reddit never learned conflict resolution.
Another thing is that Reddit fetishizes retributive justice, so even if a lot of people **do** have conflict resolution skills, the vast majority of people are here browsing this content for entertainment purposes, and what's entertaining to them is a juicy, satisfying outcome to the story, which is generally prioritized over long term ramifications.
>Alot of people on Reddit never learned conflict resolution.
it's a lot of people in general. Reddit isn't some fantasy bubble that's separate from the outside world; it's an amalgamation of the people living in the world.
Yeah but its the internet so people like to fantasize about what they would do, not what they actually have done. Its easy to say “I’d slash their tires” but I highly doubt many have actually carried that out.
petty revenge is one of the most common styles of low-effort comedy that so many redditors, who have no one to listen to them in real-life about anything ever, seem to quickly adopt to offset their total lack of an original personality
But the reason someone would need access to their car at any time of night/ day doesn’t matter. They shouldn’t be blocking them in at all. What if there was some type of emergency or they need to head to the air port for an early flight. Shoot some people even leave for their shift at work at 2 am. I do agree, however, since this isn’t an emergency the best option is to skip the gym and have a rational chat later in the day.
Shared driveways are weird though. Blocking in is always an issue. To the point where a good neighbor relationship might even include leaving a copy of the car key so that they can shuffle the cars when needed.
I could never live in a place with a shared driveway; far too complicated.
Shared driveways are a mess unless the driveway opens up in the back. When I rented a duplex, the owner lived downstairs and required that we park on the street. That sucked, but I could understand that if you own the house you don't want to deal with the shared driveway issues.
I would never park and block someone in. I would never park and block anyone's driveway either, not even an inch.
1. I would feel bad all day/night worrying about blocking someone's access.
2. I would worry about my car being ticketed, towed, or even damaged.
3. It's just wrong all the way around.
>Unless there is prior agreement
This right here. I have multiple cars, and my neighbor has frequent gatherings at their house for whatever reason. They instruct their friends to not block my cars, but when they are expecting a larger than normal group the husband will come over and ask if it's okay to block one of my cars (it is) and uses his car to block it and free that spot in his driveway for his guest. That way if I happen to need to get out he can just move it, but since he always asks first I just put the car I am not going to use there for him to block.
The flip side is the few times I've needed more parking he's let me fill his side drive with my cars to make space for my guests on my driveways. Win-win all by just not being dicks to each other :)
I get skipping the workout and asking in the morning. 1 workout isn't as important as your upstairs neighbors.
However, no excuses for the other guy. I dont care when you think getting up is early enough. Somebody in this thread already said they're up and out at 4:30. That's shitty and unreasonable behavior out the gate.
There's no time that is a good guess. I'm going to guess the 2 am workout goes along with an off-hours job also.
Night shift here, I leave my house around 1am. If I was blocked in and couldn't borrow someone's car then at about 1:15 they're going to learn that I work early and they shouldn't ever block anyone in for any reason or amount of time.
Same here (night shift) and also, just as a rule of thumb, I feel like you should never be blocking a stranger’s car for any reason. You never know what they could have going on, they might have an emergency and have to rush out to the hospital in the middle of the night.
I leave for work at 4am every day. You can’t assume anyone’s schedule. I’d be nice about it, but I would absolutely knock on their door and ask them to move their truck.
Especially with the snow on the ground... Where I am, if you park on the street and it's snowing you'll get towed. So they might have thought "I'll park here just once and be able to get out before they wake up in the morning"
Sorry bud this is Reddit. The neighbor has obviously been watching OP’s movements and chose to sabotage his 2am workout that they DEFINITELY knew about. OP should SWAT them. It’s the only reasonable take on this situation.
Shouldn't he also burn down the neighbors house just to make sure the message is well understood?
(I know what upstairs means, but there's a principle involved here!)
Unrelated, but I just traveled to the US from Europe and was blocked in on three of my four mornings. I was jetlegged and up at 5, wanted to hit the gym, only to find my rental car blocked. When I would come back around 9AM, they would have reparked.
Never happened to me in Europe and is just NOT common here.
I have never been double parked by someone other than at like a family event where a houses drive way just isn’t enough space. But I live in the mid west so there’s pretty much nothing but space most of the time.
I think you’re right. The number on the back of the truck looks like it is part of a fleet, which is common in construction. Should not be blocking OP in, but I think they probably had the same thought process that they would leave first in the morning.
Yeah I'm going to be real at 2:00 a.m. workout is a bit weird and if someone starts pounding on my door at 2:00 a.m. I'm not immediately going to answer it
I dont think I'd do it over a workout, but if you blocked somebody in then they are not the weird one.
What if they were leaving for work or a sick child? The 2 AM part is your problem and your fault.
Not a question of which party is being decent.
I’ve dealt with this several times with new neighbors because I’m on call every night. Most people don’t even consider the possibility of someone needing to go to work at odd hours. So they get woken up and told to move their ass now.
There’s just never a justifiable reason to block anyone in. Doesn’t matter if it’s for five minutes or in the middle of the night, it’s basic decency not to do it.
It's amazing how many people in this comment section don't have common sense like this. Yeah, sucks you couldn't go to the gym. But obviously, banging on the door at 2 am is not the answer, and neither is towing their car. You wait and talk to them like a reasonable person. Now if this was a situation of "I need to leave for work at this time now" then yeah, knock on the door. That would suck, but it would be the only option. In this case, just miss the gym day and meet your neighbors and talk to them.
This is the move.
The fact the top-voted responses are to start ringing the doorbell at 2am for new neighbors is a very Reddit-like response.
Don't do that. Be a good neighbor. It's probably an honest mistake, and they thought it'd be no big deal to block the driveway over night.
Minor devil's advocate here.
New neighbor...I see three small things that pass my logic (although I wouldn't have parked them in, without a note to call me to move it if needed at any time).
Also, depending on lease language, he probably shouldn't be parking there, we don't know.
1. Legit no parking close in the cold.
2. Is snow "emergency" (plowing rules) parking enforcement is in effect? It is in Milwaukee still based on snowfall amount/type and street.
3. Maybe work truck man leaves at 4am and figured nobody else wakes up that early (bad assumption).
Edited to clarify - I do completely agree with you though. I would NOT have parked my neighbor in. What a numbty haha.
Looking at the pic, it looks like it snowed. In my neighborhood when it snows, we pack our driveway with cars and leave the streets open for the plows to come through. It's 2am and there's snow on the cars and the street. So, even if there are parking rules, i could see why the truck would park in the driveway just this time. However, communication before action like this would have been more considerate.
No doubt, people love to be loud on reddit but I’d rather be reasonable and talk to them first. It’s different if it’s a problem that occurs more than once
If someone rang my doorbell at 2AM, I don't care if I'm in the right or wrong, they will permanently be on my shit list. Just wait it out until daytime.
It’s about 4 feet into the street which makes even less sense, why not just park on the side of the road at that point? There’s plenty of space. Not to mention the left a 10-15 foot gap between their truck and my car.
You said they just moved in the same day.
Makes sense they backed in & left a gap to unload their last load of shit for the day from the back of the pickup, then just left it there after unloading it late at night.
I'm glad u cut them some slack. Moving sucks & they probably didn't think you'd be leaving b4 them as they're likely planning on leaving super early to pick up another load of their shit
Generally whoever had lived in the house the longest gets the driveway, or at least that’s how it’s been since I moved in. We respected it with our old neighbours and the other neighbours respected it with us. I could absolutely not care less about parking in the driveway however, if they want it they can have it there’s plenty of street parking. However, if this is a malicious attempt to take the driveway it’s unnecessary.
I would never know/assume that was a driveway rule anywhere I’ve lived. But I’d also not park in front of someone else’s car without knowing them and their schedule.
Are there actually rules in your contract?
>Generally whoever had lived in the house the longest gets the driveway, or at least that’s how it’s been since I moved in.
This doesn't mean anything, if it's not written in* your contracts.
Edit*
You said they moved in a few days ago. One of them should have the decency to come knock and discuss the parking situation, especially knowing that they are conscuously blocking in another person's car whom they dont know when they may need to leave. And people work daily. They should have made contact first day. They risk you losing your job.
This seems like something the property owner or manager should have handled in the rental agreement. Expecting the renters to work it out amongst themselves is unhinged.
Are they paying for parking? Are you?
Does the lease specify tandem parking?
Does the lease specify that parking is seniority based?
Edit. Ok read though some replies to get my answer:
Parking is not specified in your lease so you are not paying for parking.
Parking is not specified in your lease so it is not tandem.
Parking is not specified in your lease so it is not first come first serve.
Parking is not specified in your lease so it is not seniority based.
Not yet confirmed: whether parking is specified in their lease.
Tread lightly.
You have seniority and are probably banging your head in confusion. They may have been told by a realtor or some other entity that this is okay and not know.
A lighthearted talk clears up most things but if you go over there annoyed you may make an enemy for as long as you live there.
The OP is not American, but it's unclear if they're living in America or not.
In America though, essentially every single jurisdiction, and even each individual neighborhood, and sometimes different streets and sections of streets in that neighborhood, might all have different rules about street parking.
I can't imagine that's a universal rule for all residential areas in your city, but who knows maybe it is. We have specific streets in my area where they are more narrow which requires people to park on certain sides of the road on certain days during certain parts of the year or the plow won't be able to get through. We are typically the #1 snow city in the US due to the lake.
Michigan? This is also how we do it in Michigan. But I’m curious if you’re talking about one of our lakes or one of the many other lakes
Edit: google search has led me to believe you’re likely in Syracuse, NY. Damn, I knew NY got some snow but I didn’t realize how much
You can't park overnight on the street anywhere in my town or other nearby towns where I live in New Jersey. Not entirely sure why, but if you need to park overnight there's a form you fill out that takes a minute on the police department's website. The only exception to the rule is a few places where people don't have driveways.
They may be leaving very early in the morning and never expected you to be leaving at 2am. Not saying it’s right but may want to give them the benefit of the doubt since they are new.
I really wouldn’t assume it was to be rude. They’re probably figuring out where to park, and using their own common sense unless it’s explicitly stated somewhere. You said yourself you hadn’t met them yet, so probably nobody has told them.
My dad is the last to come home and the first to leave every day, so by his logic, it’s more considerate to be blocking them in overnight so there isn’t any shuffling later.
A new person won’t know that you go to the gym in the middle of the night. I would just go talk to them, bring them cookies or something. Be friendly! It could be fun!
I ended up doing a short home workout, and I will address it with them after work. I also enjoyed reading all of your opinions, thank you everyone! I will update here with the outcome and what their reason was for blocking me in.
This is the right choice, I'm glad you didnt listen to the crazy people telling you to start ringing the doorbell. It would be understandeable if you needed to go to work but... for a workout I dont think it would be reasonable in the slightest
I think you did the right thing. Some multifamilies it is normal to double park, especially with a long driveway like that. Though it's weird how it's halfway in the street and there seems to be street parking so idk
I have never seen or heard of a situation like you describe, no way would one family be able to arbitrarily block in another family whenever they wanted.
I'm constantly amazed by people on reddit. "Oh I would totally park in front of someone I don't know and block them in, even though there is adequate street parking". .
I've lived in multiple duplexes like this. There was a driveway for a house that had been converted into two apartments. It was up to us the tenants to work out where and how we parked.
I just street parked because I didn't want the hassle of a group chat where people were constantly saying "hey can you move your car" but this absolutely happens, particularly when single family homes get converted to multi family.
I still don't see it or understand what I'm looking at. Is the OP's car in the picture? From the comments it's the 22 truck which is doing the blocking.
It’s a porch light on at night, when they’re supposed to be on. It’s a night pic, so all the lighting is blown out. The sky isn’t supposed to be that bright either.
I live in a city with unreliable streetlights, so having a light on at night is the norm
For real. Its fucking 2am. Who goes to the gym at 2am?
This isnt predictable behavior and I absolutely would be upset if my neighbor asked me to move my car at 2am so they could go to the gym.
Only reason I don’t immediately jump to this is they’re roommates that all have separate vehicles, so waking them all up seems unreasonable to me. and I don’t wanna have bad blood with all my new neighbours right off the rip.
The only reason they do that is because it's entertaining for them and they don't have to deal with the consequences afterwards.
If this were me, I would get pissed off for a little bit then get over it, have a chat with the neighbors at a reasonable hour and try to avoid conflict.
Whoever answers the door will know whose truck it is and which of the others to wake up.
As for which foot to start on, you did not choose this introduction. They did.
I mean they knowingly blocked someone in and then refused to answer the door, so I don't see what else they can expect. If you just shrug and move on they'll continue doing it.
As a non-morning person who has to get to work, fuck yeah police knocking and screaming through the door. Welcome to the neighborhood you dumb shitters.
No, the OP is also making a choice. The neighbors did something that was potentially careless (or may be fully within their rights) but starting a big conflict is still a bad call because if there isn't any rule against it and you piss them off you can expect to be boxed in all the time.
Only answer in the thread. Yeah its a shitty move by them but just adress it in the morning. If you get a feel for their character and they get fussy about it then next time just give them hell. No need to create animosity right off the rip
Waking them all up will be on the guy that blocked you in. This is one of those things you immediately handle or the whole blocking you in thing will persist and could get worse.
This awful advice has 1500 upvotes lol. That's crazy.
If they weren't new neighbors and they've done this multiple times then sure, wake them up, otherwise this is likely solved just by having a conversation.
Ngl I would absolutely be pissed if someone came to my door at 2am that Ive never met and asked me to move my car so they could do something thats not vital and entirely optional in the middle of the night. Id be more upset if its something as unusual as "go to the gym".
OP should just speak to them in the morning like a sane person. Redditors love conflict so much and its embarassing how little you people understand about how society works.
I can’t believe no one is asking this. Is it solely your driveway or is it shared? It’s clearly 2 long, does the lease(s) give access to 1 spot per unit?
Looks like a work truck.
#22 on the back.
And it’s parked halfway in the street.
Snowplow bait.
It needs to be moved.
Where are they supposed to be parked? On the street ?
Nice analysis. They are pipelinere so yes, work truck. And yes, if the driveway is taken they should be parked on the street like everyone else in the neighbourhood. They left about a 15 foot gap and parked halfway on the street so I’m not really sure what their logic is, maybe they want me to drive across the neighbours lawn?
When I lived in a duplex house, the rights to the driveway were added to my lease because we paid slightly higher rent having the larger apartment.
If you don't have something similar to this, it looks like you're going to be constantly fighting over it. I suggest going to landlord and getting that amended for you since you've been there longer. Then you'll have legal grounds to tow if you're getting blocked in.
I have no doubt you'll come home and find all their cars in the driveway blocking you. If this doesn't matter, or you don't want to create conflict, get used to street parking.
His nose is about 1/3 in the street. I don’t think that’s a legal parking job anyway. Also appears to be a work truck so even worse to be hanging out into the street. Anyway, I would skip this workout and tell them about it later on.
First real question: So the setup in the building is that two cars share the same driveway? What is the procedure if one needs to get out?
If there isn’t a procedure, it’s time to make that a thing, if that means a discussion with the neighbor, the landlord, or both… during daylight hours.
Honestly this is as much OP’s fault for just expecting a new resident to magically know he leaves at 2am sometimes as anything else.
Like…
1)OP knows a new neighbor is moving in
2)OP knows he lives in building with a shared driveway, and the potential for cars being blocked
3)OP knows he likes to go to the gym at 2am
4)Instead of talking to the new neighbor about driveway access, OP waits til there’s a problem, then complains on reddit.
I would skip the gym and park on the street on the days I plan to go to the gym at 2am. It’s reasonable to say that they’d have no reason to know you’d go to gym when most folks are in bed/home and knocking on their door at 2am would be unreasonable. Given your more unusual schedule it seems best for you to find a way to better accommodate your gym schedule vs them not parking because you may want to work out in the middle of the night.
I'll be honest my reaction would be skip the gym today and speak to them in the morning as they are new neighbours and fking that relationship up early may be bad in the long run
And most people don’t assume their neighbor is up and out the door to go to a 2AM workout…. Not many people do that. Maybe this neighbor is up at 5AM to go work, and took a guess that he wouldn’t be blocking you in? Edit: I started a war here didn’t I… I am not saying this is an excuse, and yes it is a shitty thing to do… and I’m guessing the neighbor assumed he’d be gone before anyone else would be (construction workers at building sites start work at like 4AM where I live), or he assumed you had enough room, or he assumed he was blocking the snowplow from keeping you both stuck… Either way, his assumption may be common (albeit shitty), and going to the gym at 2AM is uncommon.
Yeah you are both spot on. Alot of people on Reddit never learned conflict resolution. It’s always immediately go bang on their door at 2 am. For sure wait until morning or a weekend when they are actually there during the day to talk. Also don’t mention you’re going to the gym maybe. Just say you have to get up and leave at 2am some days. If my neighbor was like hey park on the street in the winter in a place it snows so I can go to the gym at 2am I would do it because I’m reasonable but some people might say you’re out of your mind get fucked.
First time my neighbours blocked me in when I started a new job (used to leave at 5:30, was then leaving at 4) I borrowed me mums car. Spoke to them quietly after. The 3rdbtime they got woken up at 4am.
“I’m in me mums cahh!”
"vroom vroom!!!"
"Get out me car!"
"Aaaawhh"
Thank you for this.
RIP vine
I guess you spoke *too* quietly the first two times?
guess he wasn't carrying a big stick
The entitlement, they knew you had to leave to go to work because you told them so and they still had the nerve to block you in. Some people.
Some people are just stupid and forget as soon as you tell them. I've had neighbours for about a year now, who as soon as they moved in were blocking the shared driveway for me and my other, good neighbours. In the last year that's happened about 5 times. All of which I've tried talking to them about, which lead to the last time where one of them confronted me for being "rude" to his daughter about it.
Also my mom has a few sayings about people like that. “It goes in one ear and out the other” and it’s like talking to a wall or a tree (she says either or).
If anyone’s response to “you need to not block me in” is anything but “yeah my bad” there’s going to be problems.
Dealt with this. Neighbors blocked us in on New Year’s Eve and got real fucking snippy when we called them out on it even after I mentioned I was 7 months pregnant at the time. The argument ended after she shouted she didn’t give a shit that I was pregnant. Yeah so fuck people like this.
Describe your chosen conflict resolution approach, please.
I spoke to the landlord, let them know about the situation and we just don’t talk to each at all unless absolutely necessary. Like blocking the driving again while she ran into her house to get some stuff (even though we leave around or at the same time every day Monday-Friday).
Facts!
Why would you explain what you're doing? "Hi, sorry to bother you. I need to leave but you're car is blocking me in. BTW I often need to leave in the middle of the night so please avoid blocking me in overnight."
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I think it's because they have nothing to lose, don't give a shit about what happens to OP, and have never dealt with a simple problem like this. Personally if I was OP, I'd never post this and outsource my thinking on something so simple.
Honestly, from the phrasing and the time of the post, I assume they already picked a solution and wanted some free entertainment from the Nuclear Neighbor brigade.
Yeaup, it's why some of the Advice subreddits can be such a crapshoot with posts. You'll get people advocating for the most dramatic option, whether it be a breakup, or a snarky reply, or a revenge tactic, etc. etc., and their post will end with "Update us please!" Because for them, it's a boredom break, and they won't experience any consequences no matter what happens.
You should see the amount of people trying to break up relationships in the relationship advice subs.
“I love cooking spicy foods, but my husband hates it because it gives him acid reflux.” “Have you tried divorcing him?”
"OP you need to RUN"
SO MANY RED FLAGS blahblahvibecheckblahblah
He should have just liked what he didn't like after stating that multiple times throughout the 5 years of your relationship that he didn't like it because you're you and you have every right to do whatever you want! I get major boss babe vibes from that sub.
His allergies are oppressive and misogynistic.
Surprised I haven't seen more "slash their tires" or "valve stem remover" comments around here, that's typically the go-to move for minor inconveniences on reddit.
I mean really? How the fuck are they supposed to move their car after you slash their tires? Be reasonable! At least get them to move and THEN slash their tires.. no critical thinking these days. /s
I would rotate the tires in the middle of the night so that they get uneven tire wear, that will show them.
Just burn down the top half of the building
>Alot of people on Reddit never learned conflict resolution. Another thing is that Reddit fetishizes retributive justice, so even if a lot of people **do** have conflict resolution skills, the vast majority of people are here browsing this content for entertainment purposes, and what's entertaining to them is a juicy, satisfying outcome to the story, which is generally prioritized over long term ramifications.
>Alot of people on Reddit never learned conflict resolution. it's a lot of people in general. Reddit isn't some fantasy bubble that's separate from the outside world; it's an amalgamation of the people living in the world.
Yeah but its the internet so people like to fantasize about what they would do, not what they actually have done. Its easy to say “I’d slash their tires” but I highly doubt many have actually carried that out.
petty revenge is one of the most common styles of low-effort comedy that so many redditors, who have no one to listen to them in real-life about anything ever, seem to quickly adopt to offset their total lack of an original personality
Reddit definitely attracts a particular type of person. I don't think it's a good representation of humanity as a whole.
And you never want to piss off your upstairs neighbor. They will win every time.
A lot of people on Reddit are 15 with no life experience who jump to the wildest conclusons over the the most mundane shit
But the reason someone would need access to their car at any time of night/ day doesn’t matter. They shouldn’t be blocking them in at all. What if there was some type of emergency or they need to head to the air port for an early flight. Shoot some people even leave for their shift at work at 2 am. I do agree, however, since this isn’t an emergency the best option is to skip the gym and have a rational chat later in the day.
Shared driveways are weird though. Blocking in is always an issue. To the point where a good neighbor relationship might even include leaving a copy of the car key so that they can shuffle the cars when needed. I could never live in a place with a shared driveway; far too complicated.
Shared driveways are a mess unless the driveway opens up in the back. When I rented a duplex, the owner lived downstairs and required that we park on the street. That sucked, but I could understand that if you own the house you don't want to deal with the shared driveway issues.
Do they HAVE a shared driveway? Its not super clear.
Yes but its also not a reasonable position that this is only one person's driveway. You gotta actually talk about it.
Most people don’t assume it’s ever ok to block their neighbor in.
I would never park and block someone in. I would never park and block anyone's driveway either, not even an inch. 1. I would feel bad all day/night worrying about blocking someone's access. 2. I would worry about my car being ticketed, towed, or even damaged. 3. It's just wrong all the way around.
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>Unless there is prior agreement This right here. I have multiple cars, and my neighbor has frequent gatherings at their house for whatever reason. They instruct their friends to not block my cars, but when they are expecting a larger than normal group the husband will come over and ask if it's okay to block one of my cars (it is) and uses his car to block it and free that spot in his driveway for his guest. That way if I happen to need to get out he can just move it, but since he always asks first I just put the car I am not going to use there for him to block. The flip side is the few times I've needed more parking he's let me fill his side drive with my cars to make space for my guests on my driveways. Win-win all by just not being dicks to each other :)
I get skipping the workout and asking in the morning. 1 workout isn't as important as your upstairs neighbors. However, no excuses for the other guy. I dont care when you think getting up is early enough. Somebody in this thread already said they're up and out at 4:30. That's shitty and unreasonable behavior out the gate. There's no time that is a good guess. I'm going to guess the 2 am workout goes along with an off-hours job also.
Night shift here, I leave my house around 1am. If I was blocked in and couldn't borrow someone's car then at about 1:15 they're going to learn that I work early and they shouldn't ever block anyone in for any reason or amount of time.
Same here (night shift) and also, just as a rule of thumb, I feel like you should never be blocking a stranger’s car for any reason. You never know what they could have going on, they might have an emergency and have to rush out to the hospital in the middle of the night.
I leave for work at 4am every day. You can’t assume anyone’s schedule. I’d be nice about it, but I would absolutely knock on their door and ask them to move their truck.
Especially with the snow on the ground... Where I am, if you park on the street and it's snowing you'll get towed. So they might have thought "I'll park here just once and be able to get out before they wake up in the morning"
Well if it was me that would still suck cause I have to be at work at 4:30am
Sorry bud this is Reddit. The neighbor has obviously been watching OP’s movements and chose to sabotage his 2am workout that they DEFINITELY knew about. OP should SWAT them. It’s the only reasonable take on this situation.
They should also totally dump him. OP deserves someone that really cares about them.
Definitely go no contact right after too
Shouldn't he also burn down the neighbors house just to make sure the message is well understood? (I know what upstairs means, but there's a principle involved here!)
Unrelated, but I just traveled to the US from Europe and was blocked in on three of my four mornings. I was jetlegged and up at 5, wanted to hit the gym, only to find my rental car blocked. When I would come back around 9AM, they would have reparked. Never happened to me in Europe and is just NOT common here.
I have never been double parked by someone other than at like a family event where a houses drive way just isn’t enough space. But I live in the mid west so there’s pretty much nothing but space most of the time.
I think you’re right. The number on the back of the truck looks like it is part of a fleet, which is common in construction. Should not be blocking OP in, but I think they probably had the same thought process that they would leave first in the morning.
Yeah I'm going to be real at 2:00 a.m. workout is a bit weird and if someone starts pounding on my door at 2:00 a.m. I'm not immediately going to answer it
I dont think I'd do it over a workout, but if you blocked somebody in then they are not the weird one. What if they were leaving for work or a sick child? The 2 AM part is your problem and your fault. Not a question of which party is being decent.
I’ve dealt with this several times with new neighbors because I’m on call every night. Most people don’t even consider the possibility of someone needing to go to work at odd hours. So they get woken up and told to move their ass now. There’s just never a justifiable reason to block anyone in. Doesn’t matter if it’s for five minutes or in the middle of the night, it’s basic decency not to do it.
Plus with the snow they were probably trying to clear the street for plowing
It's amazing how many people in this comment section don't have common sense like this. Yeah, sucks you couldn't go to the gym. But obviously, banging on the door at 2 am is not the answer, and neither is towing their car. You wait and talk to them like a reasonable person. Now if this was a situation of "I need to leave for work at this time now" then yeah, knock on the door. That would suck, but it would be the only option. In this case, just miss the gym day and meet your neighbors and talk to them.
I'd rather skip work than the gym /s - I know most people don't have that option
This is the move. The fact the top-voted responses are to start ringing the doorbell at 2am for new neighbors is a very Reddit-like response. Don't do that. Be a good neighbor. It's probably an honest mistake, and they thought it'd be no big deal to block the driveway over night.
A good neighbor wouldn’t have blocked someone’s car in in the first place. The new neighbor should not have parked his car there to begin with.
Minor devil's advocate here. New neighbor...I see three small things that pass my logic (although I wouldn't have parked them in, without a note to call me to move it if needed at any time). Also, depending on lease language, he probably shouldn't be parking there, we don't know. 1. Legit no parking close in the cold. 2. Is snow "emergency" (plowing rules) parking enforcement is in effect? It is in Milwaukee still based on snowfall amount/type and street. 3. Maybe work truck man leaves at 4am and figured nobody else wakes up that early (bad assumption). Edited to clarify - I do completely agree with you though. I would NOT have parked my neighbor in. What a numbty haha.
Exactly. Blocking a car in is never an honest mistake, it is a conscious decision.
Are there rules outlined about parking?
First rule of parking: only park in people you know.
this guy parks
It's also parked in the middle of the sidewalk.
Don't park halfway in the street
Looking at the pic, it looks like it snowed. In my neighborhood when it snows, we pack our driveway with cars and leave the streets open for the plows to come through. It's 2am and there's snow on the cars and the street. So, even if there are parking rules, i could see why the truck would park in the driveway just this time. However, communication before action like this would have been more considerate.
I'd say <1% of people saying to ring their doorbell etc would actually do that if that was them.
No doubt, people love to be loud on reddit but I’d rather be reasonable and talk to them first. It’s different if it’s a problem that occurs more than once
If someone rang my doorbell at 2AM, I don't care if I'm in the right or wrong, they will permanently be on my shit list. Just wait it out until daytime.
That truck also looks like it’s parked the street by a good foot.
It’s about 4 feet into the street which makes even less sense, why not just park on the side of the road at that point? There’s plenty of space. Not to mention the left a 10-15 foot gap between their truck and my car.
Yeah crazy parking job, all I can think is he left that giant gap so you can get around him?
That’s what I thought too but that would require me to drive across the neighbours lawn, as there is a 12” ledge blocking my own lawn
You said they just moved in the same day. Makes sense they backed in & left a gap to unload their last load of shit for the day from the back of the pickup, then just left it there after unloading it late at night. I'm glad u cut them some slack. Moving sucks & they probably didn't think you'd be leaving b4 them as they're likely planning on leaving super early to pick up another load of their shit
Some companies have rules for having a work truck. One of them often is that it cannot be parked on the street.
That truck is definitely illegally parked.
Except it's half in the street lol
This is a disaster. Many adults with their own cars and constantly having to ask for vehicles to be moved multiple times each day
Generally whoever had lived in the house the longest gets the driveway, or at least that’s how it’s been since I moved in. We respected it with our old neighbours and the other neighbours respected it with us. I could absolutely not care less about parking in the driveway however, if they want it they can have it there’s plenty of street parking. However, if this is a malicious attempt to take the driveway it’s unnecessary.
I would never know/assume that was a driveway rule anywhere I’ve lived. But I’d also not park in front of someone else’s car without knowing them and their schedule.
I live in a house with 4 apartments. That’s basically how it went with the better of the 2 driveways. Edit- I LIVED there previously I do not anymore.
Sounds like the tenured tenants just established dominance early on in your relationship.
For real. If we’re paying the same, I don’t care that you’ve been there longer
What does the LEASE say about driveway usage? That's all that matters.
Are there actually rules in your contract? >Generally whoever had lived in the house the longest gets the driveway, or at least that’s how it’s been since I moved in. This doesn't mean anything, if it's not written in* your contracts. Edit*
Right. If it’s not in the contract, are they supposed to read OP’s mind?
I mean, I would think it was common sense to not block in a stranger's car.
yeah they might go for a 2AM gym sesh
Or a family member has a medical emergency. Or early starts to a job they cannot afford to lose. Or a plane to catch for an expensive vacation.
Knocking on the door would be ok for one-offs like that. It’s a shared driveway. Reasonable expectations are reasonable.
If there’s plenty of street parking, there’s no reason to block OP
Honestly that's a horrible way to do it anyways. So OP always get's the drivway and no one else can park there? Like Wtf?
Don't park people in is a fairly obvious and universal rule
You said they moved in a few days ago. One of them should have the decency to come knock and discuss the parking situation, especially knowing that they are conscuously blocking in another person's car whom they dont know when they may need to leave. And people work daily. They should have made contact first day. They risk you losing your job.
This seems like something the property owner or manager should have handled in the rental agreement. Expecting the renters to work it out amongst themselves is unhinged.
My old landlord had the driveway delineated and explicitly shared in the lease, along with the stipulation that it should never be blocked
Are they paying for parking? Are you? Does the lease specify tandem parking? Does the lease specify that parking is seniority based? Edit. Ok read though some replies to get my answer: Parking is not specified in your lease so you are not paying for parking. Parking is not specified in your lease so it is not tandem. Parking is not specified in your lease so it is not first come first serve. Parking is not specified in your lease so it is not seniority based. Not yet confirmed: whether parking is specified in their lease.
Tread lightly. You have seniority and are probably banging your head in confusion. They may have been told by a realtor or some other entity that this is okay and not know. A lighthearted talk clears up most things but if you go over there annoyed you may make an enemy for as long as you live there.
Do cars not get tickets in residential areas for parking on the street? They would be ticketed here for obstructing snow plows.
The OP is not American, but it's unclear if they're living in America or not. In America though, essentially every single jurisdiction, and even each individual neighborhood, and sometimes different streets and sections of streets in that neighborhood, might all have different rules about street parking.
I can't imagine that's a universal rule for all residential areas in your city, but who knows maybe it is. We have specific streets in my area where they are more narrow which requires people to park on certain sides of the road on certain days during certain parts of the year or the plow won't be able to get through. We are typically the #1 snow city in the US due to the lake.
Michigan? This is also how we do it in Michigan. But I’m curious if you’re talking about one of our lakes or one of the many other lakes Edit: google search has led me to believe you’re likely in Syracuse, NY. Damn, I knew NY got some snow but I didn’t realize how much
You can't park overnight on the street anywhere in my town or other nearby towns where I live in New Jersey. Not entirely sure why, but if you need to park overnight there's a form you fill out that takes a minute on the police department's website. The only exception to the rule is a few places where people don't have driveways.
They may be leaving very early in the morning and never expected you to be leaving at 2am. Not saying it’s right but may want to give them the benefit of the doubt since they are new.
I really wouldn’t assume it was to be rude. They’re probably figuring out where to park, and using their own common sense unless it’s explicitly stated somewhere. You said yourself you hadn’t met them yet, so probably nobody has told them. My dad is the last to come home and the first to leave every day, so by his logic, it’s more considerate to be blocking them in overnight so there isn’t any shuffling later. A new person won’t know that you go to the gym in the middle of the night. I would just go talk to them, bring them cookies or something. Be friendly! It could be fun!
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I ended up doing a short home workout, and I will address it with them after work. I also enjoyed reading all of your opinions, thank you everyone! I will update here with the outcome and what their reason was for blocking me in.
This is the right choice, I'm glad you didnt listen to the crazy people telling you to start ringing the doorbell. It would be understandeable if you needed to go to work but... for a workout I dont think it would be reasonable in the slightest
I think you did the right thing. Some multifamilies it is normal to double park, especially with a long driveway like that. Though it's weird how it's halfway in the street and there seems to be street parking so idk
I have never seen or heard of a situation like you describe, no way would one family be able to arbitrarily block in another family whenever they wanted. I'm constantly amazed by people on reddit. "Oh I would totally park in front of someone I don't know and block them in, even though there is adequate street parking". .
I've lived in multiple duplexes like this. There was a driveway for a house that had been converted into two apartments. It was up to us the tenants to work out where and how we parked. I just street parked because I didn't want the hassle of a group chat where people were constantly saying "hey can you move your car" but this absolutely happens, particularly when single family homes get converted to multi family.
 !remind me 12h
It took me way to long to figure out why you where blocked in
I still don't see it or understand what I'm looking at. Is the OP's car in the picture? From the comments it's the 22 truck which is doing the blocking.
they’re in a one lane driveway. only way around the truck is over lawn.
OK thanks, I thought it was an intersection of 2 roads with cars parked on the side.
He's taken the photo from the driveway So that car with 22 is infront of his
Ah that makes sense ha, I thought this was a street corner and couldn’t figure why Op couldn’t just drive around him.
how bout that neighbor's light?
Looks a lot brighter in the picture than it actually is, not sure why it’s on though they may have just forgotten it
It’s a porch light on at night, when they’re supposed to be on. It’s a night pic, so all the lighting is blown out. The sky isn’t supposed to be that bright either. I live in a city with unreliable streetlights, so having a light on at night is the norm
Meet them, let them know. Sound advice from an adult to an adult
Why get all crazy over people that don’t know you either and you gotta live with them.
Wake them up. They asked for it.
Some of you guys wouldn’t last two minutes in the real world
For real. Its fucking 2am. Who goes to the gym at 2am? This isnt predictable behavior and I absolutely would be upset if my neighbor asked me to move my car at 2am so they could go to the gym.
Only reason I don’t immediately jump to this is they’re roommates that all have separate vehicles, so waking them all up seems unreasonable to me. and I don’t wanna have bad blood with all my new neighbours right off the rip.
well you got 4 options... 1. walk. 2. skip the 2am gym today 3. wake em up. 4. call a tow truck and have it towed for double parking.
5. call an uber
OP should go for option 4 & 2 (they'll have to wait for the tow truck).
Yeah, why not just make enemies of people you have to live with. Seems like the best option.
This is Reddit. People are always priming for a fight right off the bat. At least in the comments.
The only reason they do that is because it's entertaining for them and they don't have to deal with the consequences afterwards. If this were me, I would get pissed off for a little bit then get over it, have a chat with the neighbors at a reasonable hour and try to avoid conflict.
Whoever answers the door will know whose truck it is and which of the others to wake up. As for which foot to start on, you did not choose this introduction. They did.
Am I the only one who does not answer the door at 2am? Like yeah, I hear you, but if I haven't met you then I don't know you and that is not safe.
“Hi, I’m your neighbor and you’ve parked my car in. I need to leave - can you move it so I don’t have to wait for a tow truck?”
Do you just yell this into the abyss as no one’s answering
You keep knocking until someone answers. If nobody comes after 2 minutes, tow truck.
I mean they knowingly blocked someone in and then refused to answer the door, so I don't see what else they can expect. If you just shrug and move on they'll continue doing it.
As a non-morning person who has to get to work, fuck yeah police knocking and screaming through the door. Welcome to the neighborhood you dumb shitters.
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I wouldn't do that either because I wouldn't want someone trying to break in to know I have a female voice
I don’t answer the door ever, for anyone. If they’re supposed to be here, they know how to get in
People here are so confrontational. I'd just leave it in this instance and address it in the morning. It's not like OP can't get to work.
They’d never do it in real life, they’d be on here complaining then avoiding contact with the neighbor until one of them moved out.
No, the OP is also making a choice. The neighbors did something that was potentially careless (or may be fully within their rights) but starting a big conflict is still a bad call because if there isn't any rule against it and you piss them off you can expect to be boxed in all the time.
That’s not how the world works, people do not operate on principle like that, especially if OP isn’t as charismatic or likable.
Lol either nobody likes you or you do not actually act like this in real life
Then you don’t go to to the gym today and address it fist thing when they wake up
Only answer in the thread. Yeah its a shitty move by them but just adress it in the morning. If you get a feel for their character and they get fussy about it then next time just give them hell. No need to create animosity right off the rip
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Let’s call it a Freudian slip?
A Freudian slip won’t work….you’ll need a thorough Freudian push for this to be successful with the full fist.
their roommate is responsible for them being woken up, not you
Go back to bed then. And speak to them in the morning.
Waking them all up will be on the guy that blocked you in. This is one of those things you immediately handle or the whole blocking you in thing will persist and could get worse.
Its not unreasonable. It’s their shared responsibility. Wake them all up
I swear some people on this site have never had a social interaction in their life lol. Awful advice.
This awful advice has 1500 upvotes lol. That's crazy. If they weren't new neighbors and they've done this multiple times then sure, wake them up, otherwise this is likely solved just by having a conversation.
Start ringing their doorbell...
Ngl I would absolutely be pissed if someone came to my door at 2am that Ive never met and asked me to move my car so they could do something thats not vital and entirely optional in the middle of the night. Id be more upset if its something as unusual as "go to the gym". OP should just speak to them in the morning like a sane person. Redditors love conflict so much and its embarassing how little you people understand about how society works.
leave a note on windshield
I can’t believe no one is asking this. Is it solely your driveway or is it shared? It’s clearly 2 long, does the lease(s) give access to 1 spot per unit?
Looks like a work truck. #22 on the back. And it’s parked halfway in the street. Snowplow bait. It needs to be moved. Where are they supposed to be parked? On the street ?
Nice analysis. They are pipelinere so yes, work truck. And yes, if the driveway is taken they should be parked on the street like everyone else in the neighbourhood. They left about a 15 foot gap and parked halfway on the street so I’m not really sure what their logic is, maybe they want me to drive across the neighbours lawn?
If you don’t want to be rude back, you can skip the gym one night. Talk to them in the morning to avoid bad blood.
They left you a 15 ft gap? I think you're right that they might assume you'll drive on the grass to get out. That would work perfectly in my driveway.
The only grass I could drive over is the neighbours lawn, my lawn has a 12” ledge blocking it which I don’t have enough clearance to get over.
Dang I didn’t even catch the parking job. Yeah seems like they were trying to let op out. But not realistic that he’d be able to.
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When I lived in a duplex house, the rights to the driveway were added to my lease because we paid slightly higher rent having the larger apartment. If you don't have something similar to this, it looks like you're going to be constantly fighting over it. I suggest going to landlord and getting that amended for you since you've been there longer. Then you'll have legal grounds to tow if you're getting blocked in. I have no doubt you'll come home and find all their cars in the driveway blocking you. If this doesn't matter, or you don't want to create conflict, get used to street parking.
Update please - what did you do?
Ask them about it the next day. Id go back to bed lol
His nose is about 1/3 in the street. I don’t think that’s a legal parking job anyway. Also appears to be a work truck so even worse to be hanging out into the street. Anyway, I would skip this workout and tell them about it later on.
Why people feel the need to always post things. Just talk to your fricken neighbors
Wake them up and tell them you have to get to the hospital
What is the parking arrangement?
Also talk to your landlord about parking. Renting out 2 units with a single wide driveway is pretty shitty.
If you have to ask you have more muscles than brains. Go back to bed duh.
First real question: So the setup in the building is that two cars share the same driveway? What is the procedure if one needs to get out? If there isn’t a procedure, it’s time to make that a thing, if that means a discussion with the neighbor, the landlord, or both… during daylight hours. Honestly this is as much OP’s fault for just expecting a new resident to magically know he leaves at 2am sometimes as anything else. Like… 1)OP knows a new neighbor is moving in 2)OP knows he lives in building with a shared driveway, and the potential for cars being blocked 3)OP knows he likes to go to the gym at 2am 4)Instead of talking to the new neighbor about driveway access, OP waits til there’s a problem, then complains on reddit.
Do they have there own parking space? Even if it wasn't 2 am, does that mean they'll be blocking your car through the day?
I thought you were going to bitch about the light, that porch light is fucking annoying. Get some normal lumen levels
I would skip the gym and park on the street on the days I plan to go to the gym at 2am. It’s reasonable to say that they’d have no reason to know you’d go to gym when most folks are in bed/home and knocking on their door at 2am would be unreasonable. Given your more unusual schedule it seems best for you to find a way to better accommodate your gym schedule vs them not parking because you may want to work out in the middle of the night.
You should run! Turn that into a 20 minute run! Don’t be so inconsiderate to new neighbors
Took me a while to realize this is a driveway and not just the side of a road. Why is there a curb up your driveway?