Do you respect chairs?

octopus

Tue, Feb 02 2016, 5:34 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

Are these frum neighbors? FWIW I don't respect chairs, but my city says I don't own a parking space in the street, and we don't get enough snow for me to be concerned. I also have off street parking. When we did get 25" two years ago the four of us tenants all shoveled our little lot, sidewalks and walkways and around the trash cans. It was an effort since snow shovels are uncommon here. But when it was over we had fresh banana bread, hot cocoa and peppermint schnaps.

no. It's the italian neighbors.

sourstix

Tue, Feb 02 2016, 7:05 pm

when you live in a city like brooklyn all mentchlichkeit goes out the window. and I lived there so I can explain and say its normal for them.

there is absolutely nowhere to park. period. my dh spent so much of his time looking for parking that he would come home in a bad mood just bec of it. and I have heard it from so many people. there is a speach that I once heard on shalom bayis saying to women that we should be extra kind to our husbands when they walk in just thinking of how hard its to find parking.

it sounds comical but it isnt. its very very very difficult.

now putting a chair in that parking space is not ok, bec like another poster mentioned that that public property is public to everyone. if you paid for it and it belongs to you thats a whole other story.

gp2.0

Tue, Feb 02 2016, 7:39 pm

marina wrote:

This is one of those threads I opened because the title was so mysterious, but the mystery just deepened the more I read.

Lol I almost didn't open it at all because I thought it was a spoof thread.

gp2.0

Tue, Feb 02 2016, 7:40 pm

sourstix wrote:

It's funny, because to you, moving a chair is a lack of mentchlichkeit (apparently) but to me, putting the chair there in the first place is a lack of mentchlichkeit.

shanie5

Tue, Feb 02 2016, 8:03 pm

I put out garbage pails or chairs after digging out my spot. I have no problem if s/o wants my spot while I am at work, but if I don't put chairs out, neighbors who just shoveled enough to get their cars out (barely) will now park in my perfectly cleaned out spot.
There is a hospital a block away. If one of the hospital workers wants my spot, Im fine with it-just put my chair back when you leave.
Most people respect chairs here.

seeker

Tue, Feb 02 2016, 10:21 pm

In a city like Brooklyn you should have LESS of a problem than other places for the most part, because there's great public transportation infrastructure throughout NYC. Even if the MTA trip you need to take is a hassle, there is very very little chance of it being more of a hassle than parking after a snowstorm. This is the reason the subways were about six times more crowded than usual for about a week after that last snow. They suspended alternate side for a few days so you wouldn't have to move for at least long enough for some spots to get shoveled.

*ETA though of course if there is some really pressing need that you HAVE to move your car (maybe you're EMS?) and even a cab won't help, then you are seriously out of luck.

Last edited by seeker on Tue, Feb 02 2016, 11:55 pm; edited 1 time in total

youngishbear

Tue, Feb 02 2016, 10:24 pm

gp2.0 wrote:

It's funny, because to you, moving a chair is a lack of mentchlichkeit (apparently) but to me, putting the chair there in the first place is a lack of mentchlichkeit.

I think sourstix was saying the same thing?

At least in the post you quoted.

Fox

Tue, Feb 02 2016, 10:48 pm

Years ago, chairs were ubiquitous on Chicago residential streets when it snowed more than an inch.

Former mayor Richard M. Daley, who like his father (the late Richard J. Daley) took a paternalistic approach to governance, tried to stop the practice one time. He was wildly unsuccessful, and he gave one of the truly classic Daley press conferences in response. He basically threw up his hands like an exasperated parent and said in essence, "Fine! If you people want to act like you were brought up in a barn, be my guest!" It felt like the whole city had been summoned to the dinner table to hear Dad rant and rave.

Though Daley retired several years ago (when, coincidentally, the city ran out of money), the practice itself is declining. Granted, last year was a mild winter, but our block was completely chair-free all winter!

People still do it, but it's increasingly looked on as something kind of low-class and tacky. At least, not the kind of thing that nice Midwesterners should be doing. Not a minute too soon, IMHO.