Resident pays teenager to dig their car out of snow, only for a neighbor to demand to park in that spot instead, resident refuses: ‘Dig yourself out’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Feb 23, 2026 1:00 PM EST

Why shovel your own way out of the snow when you can wait for someone else to do it for you?

I don't live anywhere near a snowy climate, so it's been years since the last time I saw snow. This also means that I am not versed in the etiquette of living in a snowy neighborhood, and I would not know what to do if I got caught in a neighborly dispute about it. The only way I learn is by reading stories like the one below, and educating myself in case I even find myself in a similar situation.

If you are also unfamiliar with how one should behave when their neighborhood is covered in white, here is one example of a simple rule: If you clear a parking spot of snow, that spot is yours and should remain yours until the snow melts. This means you should never park in a shoveled spot if you were not responsible for shoveling it. 

You want to park in a shoveled parking spot? You have to ask for permission from the person who cleared it, and you have to accept it if they say no.

That is what happened between the neighbors below. One resident needed to use their car, despite the snow around it, so they paid a young teen to clear it so they could enjoy a snow-free car and parking spot. Another resident saw the cleared spot and left a note on the car asking to use the spot after the owner drives away. The neighbor who cleared the spot thought this request was quite odd, and didn't love the idea of letting someone else use the parking spot they paid to clear. This led the neighbor to debate whether or not they should let someone else use the spot while they were gone, but by the time they had made a decision, it was too late.

Scroll down to read about the dispute that happened between the two neighbors after the resident didn't move their car to allow their neighbor to park in the snow-free spot. 

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  • Young man shoveling snow off a car.
    via norrphoto

    Young man shoveling snow off a car.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • AITA for not moving my car in the snow after a neighbor left a note?

    I live in Brooklyn and use street parking. Parking rules were suspended for like three weeks after the recent storm.
    via yallcat
  • Last weekend, I paid a teenager to dig my car out so it would be ready when I needed it to move it by this weekend.
    via yallcat
  • Friday, i planned to drive to dinner. I found a note on my windshield from the guy parked in front of me asking me to text him when I moved my car.
    via yallcat
  • His plan was for me to pull out so that he could reverse into my (clear) space and then drive forward out of his own snowed-in spot, rather than dig himself out.
    via yallcat
  • This leaves his spot either unusable or needing to be shoveled by the next person who parks there.
    via yallcat
  • I saw the note Friday night when I actually went out to move the car (not sure when he left it).
    via yallcat
  • When I tried to start my car, the battery was de d from sitting idle in the cold.
    via yallcat
  • was in a rush, so I borrowed a car for the evening and didn't get a chance to deal with my battery until the next day.
    via yallcat
  • When i went out to try my portable jump- starter Saturday morning, it didn't do anything (it was also in the cold + wasn't fully charged), so i took it in to charge overnight, as it requires.
    via yallcat
  • This morning (Sunday), I went out with the jump- starter to get the car running. My neighbor, whom I'd never seen before, was outside with a shovel.
    via yallcat
  • As I approached, I waved and asked in a friendly tone if he had left the note.
    via yallcat
  • When he saw me, he seemed angry. He confronted me, saying i should have texted him as soon as I saw the note, although it asked me to contact him when i moved the car (which I would have done [despite my disapproval of his plan to exploit the labor i paid for and to leave the snow blocking his spot for someone else to deal with]).
    via yallcat
  • I explained that my car wouldn't start and my jumper (like 2 cubic feet and in my arms, so he couldn't have missed it) had to be charged overnight.
    via yallcat
  • I was about to jump it and move it. He seemed offended and kept muttering to himself that it was "weird, man, weird" that I hadn't called him to update him.
    via yallcat
  • He also asked if i had been out of town and which building I lived in, which felt like intrusive and aggressive in the context.
    via yallcat
  • Woman Using Snow Brush to Clear Car Windshield
    via Alliance Images

    Woman Using Snow Brush to Clear Car Windshield.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Then he disappeared. Tl;dr; * I paid to have my car dug out of the snow before i needed to use it.
    via yallcat
  • * The neighbor's plan was to rely on me moving my car so he could avoid shoveling his own space, and then blocking the space by parking where my car was or leaving the space for someone else to deal with.
    via yallcat
  • * My car was incapacitated (de d battery) from Friday night until Sunday morning. I did not respond to the note (which asked me to contact him when* i moved) before i moved my car because I was dealing with my own stuff.
    via yallcat
  • * He was a little aggressive when i encountered him, once i had the means to move my car.
    via yallcat
  • I feel like I didn't do anything wrong since I couldn't move the car even if I wanted to, but his reaction has me wondering if I broke some unwritten rule of Brooklyn snow etiquette.
    via yallcat
  • notorius-dog Make sure that number finds its way on the wall of a stall at the Port Authority.
    via notorius-dog
  • yallcat Original Poster's Reply Excellent revenge but unfortunately that's not me
    via yallcat
  • Gattina1 NTA. You had no reason to notify him, since you didn't go anywhere. Even if you did, you still had no obligation to notify him. He didn't do anything to deserve your spot. ETA: >He also asked if i had been out of town and which building I lived in, Absolutely none of his business. I hope you didn't answer his questions.
    via Gattina1
  • yallcat Original Poster's Reply I gave him a vague "over there" wave. I figured it would loosen up but he just bounced. Obviously he didn't need to move his car
    via yallcat
  • VoodooGirl47 Adding that it's the silliest because you didn't even have the opportunity to move the car. So it doesn't really matter if guy was mad, if you would have let him have it, or what people consider to be snow rules. Your car didn't and couldn't move. No one would expect you to text someone you don't really know when you can't move your car anyway.
    via yallcat
  • yallcat Original Poster's Reply I felt so reasonable up until he seemed so upset! And then I just had some second guessing.
    via yallcat
  • LiveKindly01 NTA He's just mad, lol. He's lazy and grumpy. Snow does that to people.
    via yallcat
  • biff_talon NTA. Your neighbor is a crank, forget about him and move on.
    via biff_talon
  • Nightlilly2021 NTA He spent a bit of time getting himself all worked up and practicing in his head all the things. he wanted to say to "the a hle neighbor". When you came out with your perfectly reasonable answer, he had nowhere to dump all that mad energy.
    via Nightlilly2021

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Tags

neighbors parking space snow neighborhood neighborhood-drama cars Bad Neighbor weird parking entitled people shovel
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