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’

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.