Please give me some guidlines/etiquette on this whole parking "dibs" business (Chicago: school, parks)

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by UC18

Theoretically, if the snow is really packed down into hard-to-shovel icy chunks, and you wanted to COMPLETELY clear it, I could see how it could take "hours," especially if you don't have a top-notch shovel or if the person using the shovel is older or out-of-shape. Personally I just do the minimum amount of shoveling necessary to get my car in and out, though. I think once it took 30-45 minutes last winter when it was really bad, but it has never taken "hours."

At this point it would take hours, if not all night, to clear out any of the legal spaces that aren't currently occupied on my street. They're all full of 3-4' mounds of snow and slush that froze into gigantic blocks of ice. Tonight I tried to expand the path I dug to the fire hydrant, and it's rock solid ice at this point. You'd have to whack at it with a Pulaski ax for awhile before you could move any of it.

Granted, everything was very easy to shovel on Monday (I did 3 spaces that day), but became strenuous to shovel on Tuesday (melting and plowing). While a lot of people like to talk about loving their neighbors and shoveling out multiple spaces, when it's 19" of snow almost no one does it - especially once the plows come and turn everything to heavy slush.

[Drover]

Pulaski Ax would make a good name for a Polish rock band.

I wonder if Irishtom calls it a Crawrod ax.

[UC18]

The tool is just called a pulaski, not a pulaski axe. I agree Pulaski Axe would be a good name for a Polish band, but only if they played bad metal.

[glass_of_merlot]

Originally Posted by Drover

All I gotta say is winter tires and AWD. Haven't had to lift a shovel yet. What's more, I can plow right into un-shoveled spots that nobody else would dare to try, and plow right back out. It's like any given street has a bunch of open spots reserved just for me.

ETA: I take that back, I did have to shovel out my wife's car since she doesn't have the benefit of AWD. But with winter tires she still has a pretty solid advantage and I only had to shovel her out for about 10 minutes.

We bought a Subaru a few months ago so I know what you mean. Last year we struggled with our Ford Escort getting stuck all the time.

[Lookout Kid]

I'm thinking about driving in to the city just to steal some dibs debris. If I had a junk truck, I'd be cleaning up right now.

[Anne C M]

Originally Posted by Attrill

At this point it would take hours, if not all night, to clear out any of the legal spaces that aren't currently occupied on my street. They're all full of 3-4' mounds of snow and slush that froze into gigantic blocks of ice. Tonight I tried to expand the path I dug to the fire hydrant, and it's rock solid ice at this point. You'd have to whack at it with a Pulaski ax for awhile before you could move any of it.

Granted, everything was very easy to shovel on Monday (I did 3 spaces that day), but became strenuous to shovel on Tuesday (melting and plowing). While a lot of people like to talk about loving their neighbors and shoveling out multiple spaces, when it's 19" of snow almost no one does it - especially once the plows come and turn everything to heavy slush.

The issue after such a large storm isn't the snow removal part of shoveling, its finding a place to throw the snow. Once the mounds on the parkway get to a certain height, throwing snow on top becomes really strenuous. I have heated garage parking, but need to drive into neighborhoods and park on the street for work. I shoveled out a space Tuesday and it was very difficult. Like you said, the snow starts to turn to heavy slush and/or ice that you then have to throw on top of a giant mound.

Dibs would be less problematic if it was limited to people only dibs-ing spaces that they shoveled out. People will claim dibs on a spot that hasn't been shoveled and is full of snow, that their car was parked in so wasn't snowed in, or, worst of all, yet not uncommon, that a someone else shoveled out.

The whole thing is just beyond comprehension for a reasonable adult. You are parking your car outdoors in Chicago in the winter. Snow is part of the deal. Shoveling an area on the street, or sometimes not even shoveling but still claiming it, doesn't make it yours.

Dibs is nothing more than a form of bullying and intimidation. How anyone is for it boggles my mind.

[Anne C M]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

I'm thinking about driving in to the city just to steal some dibs debris. If I had a junk truck, I'd be cleaning up right now.

I agree, but the problem is that dibs-ers are vindictive. You remove the dibs and shortly after an innocent person comes along and parks in the spot. They didn't know someone dibs-ed it. The dibs-er will assume the person who parked in the spot removed the dibs and take out their petty revenge via keying, burying in snow, etc.

[ChicagoMeO]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

I'm thinking about driving in to the city just to steal some dibs debris. If I had a junk truck, I'd be cleaning up right now.

if you collected that and put it in your house, you also bring in unwanted critters like bugs. seriously don't ever do that.

[ChicagoMeO]

Originally Posted by Anne C M

I agree, but the problem is that dibs-ers are vindictive. You remove the dibs and shortly after an innocent person comes along and parks in the spot. They didn't know someone dibs-ed it. The dibs-er will assume the person who parked in the spot removed the dibs and take out their petty revenge via keying, burying in snow, etc.

yes that's what I was worried about also, earlier. that is very troublesome.

[glass_of_merlot]

Originally Posted by Anne C M

I agree, but the problem is that dibs-ers are vindictive. You remove the dibs and shortly after an innocent person comes along and parks in the spot. They didn't know someone dibs-ed it. The dibs-er will assume the person who parked in the spot removed the dibs and take out their petty revenge via keying, burying in snow, etc.

I cannot believe how not only do people take public parking spots and make it their own, they also commit further criminal acts and destroy peoples property. In other words, they are just common criminals