Nathan and I went swimming yesterday. Came home. Decided we were hungry. I realized I had no hamburger in the house, so we had to go to the store. I walk out to back my car out of the garage and bam! The picture to the left is what I saw. My neighbor had parked his truck in front of my driveway so I couldn't get out.

And scene:

Andy: (walk over to neighbor's and spots him) "Is this your truck"

Neighbor: "I figured that would get your attention"

Andy: "Can you please move your truck"

Neighbor: "Nope"

Andy: "Can I ask why not?"

Neighbor: "Because your friend is parked in front of my house"¹

Andy: "It's a public street and she is breaking no rules parking there"

Neighbor: "That's not true. It is our space in front of the house"

Andy: "I have reviewed the neighborhood association rules and it states this is a public street and anyone can park anywhere"

Neighbor: "Well, I am an owner of a dealership, maybe I'll just bring a bunch of cars from the dealership and park all over the place"

Andy: "You would be free to do that, like I said, it is a public street. Now can you please move your truck"

Neighbor: "No, it is our space. I'll move my truck when she moves her car."

Andy: "First of all, she isn't here, she left with my roomatte. Second of all, no it isn't your space. I talked with my attorney² and it is not your space"

Neighbor: "Ohh you talked to your attorney, well, sue me!" (neighbor begins to walk inside and makes no indication he is going to move his truck from blocking my driveway)

Andy: (dials 911)

911: "911 Emergency what is the situation..."

So, I explain to the 911 operator what is going and she says a police officer will be right there.

In the middle of the conversation with the operator I realized that I hadn't taken a picture of the offense and I see the neighbor coming back out with a key. The 911 Operator was still not ready to hang up, but I couldn't take a picture with out getting off the phone.

So to buy some time I say to the neighbor, who is now walking towards the truck:

Andy: "ohh so now you are going to move your truck. Now that I have called the police."

Neighbor: "I didn't say I was going to move my truck."

Andy: "then why is your key in your hand?"

All the while the 911 Operator: "Sir! Sir! Do NOT escalate the situation. Do not escalate the situation. Wait for the police officers."

But the plan worked as the neighbor didn't move his car until after I got off the phone and took the above picture.

The Police came (3 actually). I explained the situation and apologized for having to bring them out for such a petty thing, but he refused to move his truck so I had no option.

My favorite part was when the police officers started to walk towards him, he acts like he is waxing his car, and responds "We don't have a problem here. Everything is resolved."

I explained to the Police Officers that not everything is resolved and I would like a Law Enforcement Officer to remind the guy that this is a public street and they have no ownership of the space in front.

The Police Officer then shared with me that what the neighbor was doing wasn't just against Homeowner Policy, but that it was against Roswell City Law as a car cannot park anywhere for more than 10 hours in one spot.

Anyways...they explained the law and situation and hopefully we won't have anymore problems.³

But here's my question: was I wrong in doing this? Should I have turned the other cheek? There is a bit more of a back story to this, as people don't just park cars in front of driveways and other people just don't call the cops. But you get the basics.

Gotta love living in the burbs!



P.S. If you don't get the title reference, I have attached a video of Klondike Bar's most recent ad campaign. This blog title actually came out of the fact I went to the grocery story after this whole deal and I saw Klondike bar's in the freezer and said to my friends who were with me, "Hey Andy, you just called the cops on your neighbor, you deserve a Klondike bar..." We laughed.