Marking Your Territory

This past weekend the Washington area was hit with what was one of the largest snowstorms to hit the region in many years. Of course any snowfall total that amounts to over a quarter inch in this region is enough to send many Washingtonians into a state of hyper-panic. But in the case of this storm at least it was justified. With just over two feet of snow, it was enough to make a mess of things but fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your perspective) it occurred over a weekend again so most people were able to stay off the roads and avoid becoming road hazards for crews that worked very hard to keep the roads and lanes clear. But by staying off the roads what that meant was that many people ended up having to dig their cars out after the snow fall reduced.

A system that works well for us is to go out and shovel a bit of the snow every few hours even as it is falling so that when the snow finally does subside then there's less to deal with. Sure you have to trudge out there more times but would you rather shovel two feet of snow or two inches? I rest my case. One of the main problems that comes from this type of storm though is dealing with the dilemma of figuring out where to dump all the snow that accumulates. In a parking lot like the one in my complex, that is a very serious dilemma and what happens when a plow coming through discovers an empty space? Why all the snow is dumped into that space and the spaces adjacent. It comes down to the intrinsic understanding of most such services. Most will tell you that their job is to clear the travel lanes in the parking lot and nothing more. What is done with the excess snow is not their problem.

So for those of us who get our cars or our parking spots buried under snow not only have to deal with the snow piled into our spaces but surrounding our spaces as well. Now what is one saving grace is that for most of us in my complex who live in my building or the surrounding buildings, we have at least one reserved parking space so the problems that were occuring elsewhere in our complex or in places like DC didn't affect us so much? What problems would those be? Well after spending several hours digging your vehicle out of the snow to either head out to work or to go out and run errands it would be frustrating to know that someone would very likely come along and nab the parking space that you had so lovingly cleaned just to gain freedom.

What some residents in DC took to doing then was to 'mark' their territory with some object that would prevent others from taking the space. Unfortunately according to DC law, if a space is along a public road then it cannot be reserved or held through the use of traffic cones or folding chairs unless police have authorized such action. Now to me that makes sense but I also think that the laws should be bent in the case of heavy snowfall like what we had this past weekend. Think about it, it took nearly two and a half hours to make the road in front of my parking space passable so how do you think you would feel if you drive off for half and hour and return to find someone parked in your space or snow piled into the spot? Exactly. Of course the anger and frustration probably wouldn't be as strong with those who simply take the spot. They figure it's their good fortune to nab a pristine spot like that. Yet it's the principle that matters. One should be able to enjoy the fruits of one's labors without having to worry if the work will be enjoyed by someone else.