Mom Uses Baby Stroller To Prevent Other People From Taking A Parking Spot So Her Husband Can Park There When He Arrives
Was she acting entitled?
zhukovvlad / Shutterstock A woman and a driver stirred a fierce debate online regarding who had the right to a parking space.
Some people believed that since the woman noticed the spot first, it was rightfully hers. However, others argued that the car driver was entitled to it since he had a car he needed to park at that moment.
A woman used her baby stroller to hold a parking space for her husband, preventing other people from snagging it.
The driver of a car, who was looking around for a parking space, began recording the woman after she refused to budge with her stroller to allow him to park.
The man (@aquino3031) posted the footage on TikTok and claimed that the woman had been standing there for five minutes before he started filming her. “Karen uses her child to block me from parking,” the man wrote in the text overlay of the video.
The man then stuck his head out of the driver’s side window and asked her to move out of the way so he could park. “You’re gonna hit my child?” the woman said with a chuckle.
She then said that her husband dropped her and the baby off and was circling so that he could park in the spot she was holding.
Minutes went by with no sign of her husband, and the man again asked if she would move so he could park. She ignored him and talked on her cell phone.
Photo: kali9 / Canva Pro
Her husband eventually pulled up, and the woman could be heard telling him to “back in” to the parking space. Although, he continued to sit in the middle of the street in his vehicle.
The man waiting for the spot moved his camera to capture the husband’s car and zoomed in on his plate number. Seemingly at a stalemate, the woman finally walked out of the parking space, but not before snapping a photo of the man’s plate number.
The man thanked her for moving, and she responded, “No problem, it’s all yours! I just got your plate number!”
Now, people are debating who was in the wrong.
Some people argued that the man had the right to pull into the parking space since he was already there waiting.
“The car has the right, not a body,” one user commented.
“That lady is out of her mind,” another user wrote.
As it turns out, although it varies from state to state, the fact that this was public street parking and not a private lot technically meant that the woman was in the wrong for, as attorney Jahan Kalantar explained on TikTok, "disrupting the flow of traffic."
Many people even said that they would have blasted the horn, which would’ve likely made the baby cry, giving the woman no choice but to move out of the way.
However, others believed that the woman was entitled to hold the parking space since she was there first.
“That driver is in the wrong. If you see me standing there, it’s obvious I’m waiting for somebody,” one user shared.
Others argued that since she already appeared to have a lot to juggle with the baby, she deserved a parking spot more than the man.
“I’m sorry, but if the wait for parking was long and I got a baby, I’m not gonna give this parking spot up,” another user wrote.
In many places, such as the U.K., standing in a parking space to reserve it for someone else is not allowed and may be against local regulations or ordinances.
Photo: Take Photo / Shutterstock
However, if a driver behaves aggressively toward someone standing in a parking space, they may also find themselves in trouble.
If you are going somewhere and parking is limited, it is best to plan accordingly.
As a general rule and common courtesy, it's always best to plan ahead and give yourself enough time to park.
Map out nearby lots, drop anyone with limited mobility or a mom with a stroller off at the location, and then go park. But as a matter of safety, don't stand with a stroller in the street saving a spot, and most definitely do not have an attitude if someone asks you to move because things can escalate in a moment.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.