the CONS of snow + city life

With every pro, there is a con (or cons).  Such is the case with snow.  On the first days of fresh snow, we are in awe of it.  We played in it, took pictures, reveled in it... and then...

Well, besides the digging and the shoveling.  There's slush.  No longer the beautiful snow it once was....just a mix of melting snow that thawed, frozen, and thawing again... (as the temperatures waxes and wans).

But the grand finale of it all...that makes me turn from a snow-admirer to the snow-hater... is the fight for street parking.  The worst scenario is having to spend hours and hours digging out your car, and then to have someone steal your spot after you go on a quick errand.  Parking-spot-stealing is almost looked upon like a crime here.  (Not officially, but an unspoken rule on the street).

How to protect your spot after digging out your car?  Here are some photos of the "space-savers" on our street.

A stool
(And notice the unsightly snow piles)

A Microwave.  

Not pictured here are also lawn chairs, tables, folding chairs, trash bins, toys, and cones.  (I think the cones were stolen from the city.)

I didn't realize how serious they treated their spot, until friends informed us that their tires got slashed. Not only that, but the local police department released a statement that car vandalism sky-rocket during snow season.

So then here is the dilemma.  I don't want my tires slashed, so I don't want to steal someone else's spot.  But parking spaces are all taken and hard to come by.  So in order not to take someone else's spot, I had to "save" our own spot.

So in the end, we had to join in the ridiculousness.  Too bad I don't have pictures, but we've used diaper boxes, bins, crates, etc.

So far it's working.

Maybe because others are afraid that if they take our spot, their tires will get slashed? (Not that we would). But, after all, it's an unspoken street rule.

Sigh.  I am so ready for spring.