I Cursed A Guy Out For “Parking Spot Saving” At The Shore Over The Weekend – I Don’t Care If I Overreacted
Over the Fourth of July weekend, my cousin and I decided to have a beach day at Point Pleasant NJ. Did we have a good time? Yes. Could we have picked a better, less-crowded weekend than Fourth of July weekend? Also yes.
I don't need to tell you that all summer long, the Jersey shores are packed. And sure, maybe that's not a bad thing.... if you can find a parking spot first.
And let me assure you, parking spots near the boardwalk at Point Pleasant beach on this Sunday were pretty much non-existent. We encountered a couple who said they'd parked half a mile away.
Finally, after about 40 minutes driving around, we did manage to find one little lot close-ish to the boardwalk. A lady hastily waved us in and collected $60 from us. Honestly at this point, we were happy to pay that money after our long search.
As we were carrying our things to the boardwalk, we cut through one of the crowded parking lots. One we'd had no luck finding a spot in. This was a crowded parking lot with an assembly line of cars scanning for empty spaces or somebody getting ready to leave. Less than a quarter mile away from the boardwalk for $35? Any of these parking spots was hot real estate.
And as we kept walking, we heard a small commotion just ahead.
Here were about 3 cars lined up in front of a sweet, empty parking space. Only the space wasn't totally empty. There was a man, about 50 or so, standing inside of the space, blocking anyone from taking it!
As we got closer we got a better sense of the situation. His car was already parked in the space next to the empty one - his wife was unloading their beach gear from the trunk. He, on the other hand, was in the middle of cursing somebody out for telling him to move.
"I'm not moving, man! This spot is for my mom! You gotta keep moving' buddy, get the **** away from me!"
I like to think of myself as a pretty mild-mannered gal, but I'm a Taurus, and when I see something, or someone, like this, the bull comes out.
Keep in mind, we'd just spent a good 30-40 minutes driving around looking for a parking spot. So after our ordeal, there was something about this that rubbed me the wrong way. Why does his "mom" matter more than the rest us? She wasn't even there, but here this bozo is, claiming the empty spot like it was his! Or his "mom's".
It's the inflated sense of entitlement for me. It's the brazen audacity for me.
I just couldn't stand the injustice of it! I felt compelled to say something.
"Yo! You can't do that!" I called out from the other side of the aisle. He pretended not to hear me. So I said it a little louder. "You can't do that! There's other people out here that needs spots too! It doesn't belong to you!"
He looked over at the short lady calling him out for being a jerk. I made a "what the hell" gesture with my arms at him.
"I can do whatever I want!" was his brilliant rebuttal.
"No you can't! This is a public parking lot - you can't save spaces! ... ***hole!"
I left it at that and kept walking with my cousin. I could see how frustrated the drivers of cars were who were lined up in front of this entitled man. One or two of them reluctantly started to inch away, conceding the space.
Personally if it were me in the car, I would have cleared my schedule, thrown my vehicle into park, and sat there until he moved.
It's since been hinted at me that maybe I could have let it go. Maybe if the guy wasn't such a jerk, I could have minded my business and said nothing. But I feel like jerks should be called out for being jerks. I have no regrets.
Do you see this kind of behavior at the Jersey Shore? What do you do in this situation? Sound off in the comments!