AITA #AmITheAsshole #EmergencyParking #NeighborhoodDispute
Understanding the Context: A Mother’s Emergency
So, picture this: you’ve just received alarming news from your child’s pediatrician—your young one could have a potentially life-threatening condition like appendicitis. Your heart is racing, adrenaline is pumping, and all you can think about is getting to the hospital as fast as humanly possible. 😰
Here’s the situation:
- The child has a high fever and stomach pain.
- The pediatrician advises immediate hospital admission.
- Upon rushing out, you find your driveway completely blocked by a car from a neighbor’s party.
Understandably, the stress and urgency lead you to demand the car be moved ASAP, considering even threatening to call the cops.
Reason Behind Threatening to Call the Cops
Why would someone threaten to call the cops in an emergency?
- Health and Safety: The primary motivation is the child’s urgent medical need. Time is of the essence.
- Obstruction: The car blocking the driveway completely prevents quick access to necessary medical care.
- Legal Rights: You have the right to unobstructed access to your property.
Neighbor’s Reaction and Its Repercussions
The immediate reaction from the neighbor’s friend, who quickly moved the car, shows an understanding of the situation. However, the neighbor himself (host of the party) reacted differently the next day. He came over, angry, and unreasonably confrontational, unable to grasp the gravity of the emergency.
Key points regarding the neighbor’s reaction:
- Lack of Empathy: The neighbor failed to understand the emergency situation.
- Misdirected Anger: His anger seemed more about the potential disruption of his party than the child’s critical health issue.
- Poor Communication: Flipping off and calling someone an AH instead of understanding and ensuring future compliance reflects poor neighborhood ethics.
Reflecting on the Situation: Am I The AH?
In situations where a child’s health is at risk, taking decisive action is essential. The neighbor’s failure to empathize indicates his lack of perspective on emergencies. Let’s break down the factors:
Reasons YOU are NOT the AH:
- Immediate Danger: Responding promptly to a medical emergency is paramount.
- Reasonable Actions: Asking for the car to be moved, even threatening to call the cops, in such a scenario, is reasonable.
- Communication: You explained the situation to the neighbor clearly.
The Neighbor’s Misunderstanding:
- Self-Centeredness: Prioritizing the party over a child’s health.
- Unacceptable Behavior: Resorting to flipping and name-calling shows a lack of decorum and understanding.
Tips for Preventing Future Incidents
-
Communicative Awareness:
- Inform neighbors if expecting guests to avoid future blockages.
- Use social apps or neighborhood groups for better communication about parking issues.
-
Emergency Protocols:
- Make sure driveway markings or signs indicate no blocking.
- Discuss emergency passages with neighbors.
- Mutual Understanding:
- Foster an environment of empathy and communication.
- Address concerns calmly and respectfully to maintain good neighborly relations.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, given the dire medical emergency involving your child and the reasonable nature of your response, you are absolutely NOT the AH. Emergencies necessitate quick actions, and your primary concern was your child’s health, a sentiment most parents will undeniably understand. Moving forward, open communication and establishing clear boundaries with neighbors can prevent such issues, fostering a supportive community environment. 🏡👩👦
NTA – of course. I can’t believe you even have to ask. He’s lucky you didn’t just ram the car and then sue him for the damages to your car.
Depending on where you are, it’s usually illegal to block a driveway. NTA
NTA
Your neighbor sucks and the guy who parked the car like that sucks
**NTA.** They were blocking your driveway *and* you had an emergency. This is exaclty why these traffic laws exist…
NTA. You told him that you had to rush your child to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy and he called ***you*** an AH for doing what you needed to do to get your child to the ER?
> the whole car was blocking me in
NTA – So one of his guests was an asshole and he of course reverse uno assholes you. FML some people….
NTA..you’re a nicer person than I am.
NTA – It is illegal to block driveways in most jurisdictions and is the standard practice to call the cops if someone is violating so that they can ticket or tow the offender.
NTA. Not even close.
NTA
Even if all you wanted was to go to McD’s the party goer was an AH for blocking your driveway.
Maybe if the neighbor and his friends weren’t all AHs everyone’s life would be better.
NTA.
NTA
If you block my driveway, I’m not even having you towed.
I’m putting [a set of wheel dollies](https://www.harborfreight.com/automotive/jacks-jack-stands/vehicle-dollies/wheel/1300-lb-capacity-self-loading-positioning-wheel-dolly-64601.html) on your tires, moving your car out of the way, and leaving it somewhere MUCH, MUCH WORSE for you to be parked.
Oh my gods, NTA. Your neighbor is a PRIME asshole, though.
Definitely NTA, it was an emergency, so you said what you said, and that was it. Your neighbor then proceeded to flip you off like a child with an ape brain after you explained what happened. lol. I hope he stubs his toe every day for that. In fact, tell him that.
NTA. I wouldn’t have threatened; I’d have done it right then and there.
NTA. At all.
People make mistakes and obviously the guest knew they shouldn’t be parking there based on their quick response, but they obviously didn’t need to make a big deal of it nor should the disrespectful neighbor have made an issue out of it.
I hope your sweet son is recovering well, I can’t even imagine how scary it must’ve been for all involved.
NTA. Blocking the neighbor’s driveway is a dick move anyways, and trying to flip it on you as if he wasn’t the one violating your boundaries, putting the health of your child in jeopardy is insane. Not to mention saying that you threatened to call the cops implies that you were giving them some uncalled for ultimatum, which is an unfair way to frame what happened as well
You’re NTA You were dealing with a stressful situation, rushing your son to the hospital due to a medical emergency. Blocking someone’s driveway is a serious inconvenience, especially in such urgent circumstances. You handled the situation appropriately by expressing your frustration and asking for the car to be moved. Your neighbor’s reaction was unreasonable and uncalled for. It’s understandable that you’re feeling frustrated, but don’t let one unpleasant encounter overshadow your love for your home. If this behavior persists, you might consider discussing the issue with your neighbor or exploring other options to address the situation.
NTA. Your son had a medical emergency, and a car was blocking your driveway. You threatened to call the cops to move it. The neighbor’s angry reaction was out of line; you acted reasonably given the situation.
NTA. The guy who actually *owned* the car you were fixing to have towed seems to have been gracious about the whole thing. Your neighbor is out of pocket.
LOL absolutely NTA, who parks in another person’s driveway BLOCKING THEM ENTIRELY IN? Is that person entirely unfamiliar with driveways? Have they never encountered one before? Do they also park their cars in the middle of one way streets? What a dork.
I hate when someone blocks a driveway, NTA
Sounds like your neighbor wants you to sprinkle instant mashed potatoes in their yard
He’s a bastard. Have every car who blocks your driveway towed. This is exactly why you don’t block someone else’s driveway.
NTA – you didn’t know it was a car from someone at your neighbor, you were in a state of panic/emergency/distress, and THEY were especially wrong. Because regardless of an emergency, you might just have been planning to do your grocery shopping. The whole point of having your own vehicle is that you are able to go do what you need to do whenever you do it, and parking it on your property is supposed to be part of that.
If they had asked you if it was okay to block you in, you might have agreed, knowing that you could just go knock if you needed them to move it. But they didn’t do that. So you had no way of knowing whose car it was or how to contact them.
Calling the cops in that situation is absolutely justified.
If you had called an ambulance, the cops would have likely come to assist and given the guy a ticket.
NTA
NTA, your neighbor seems a bit dense about priorities.
NTA. I have a 3-car driveway behind my house that I often have to chase strangers out of (we live in a city, so parking is at a premium at the best of times).
People know better, and yet they choose to FAFO. This guy — and his friend, your neighbor — were simply fortunate that the vehicle was moved prior to the FO part happening.
NTA. That’s one horrible neighbor. If I had a truck I would have been tempted to just ram that vehicle out of the way.
tell the neighbor that it’s really too bad that your child needing emergency surgery in a potentially life-threatening situation ruined his party, it ruined your night too!
Nta if his guest didn’t trespass there wouldn’t be a problem
I can understand the neighbor being angry initially if he didn’t know the full story….but any decent person would change their tune and be apologetic the moment they heard you’d been trying to rush a child to the hospital.
NTA
Nta your neighbour is terrible.
NTA. His friend’s selfishness could have resulted in your child being even more seriously hurt, or possibly worse. Further, his friend’s parking was actually illegal. If someone tries to call you an asshole because you aren’t letting their friends do crime in peace, *they are a fucking asshole.*
NTA. You should indeed call the cops on that AH flipping out
NTA. Your neighbor is a colossal jerk.
NTA. You had an emergency. Those neighbors are not intelligent. Respect the neighborhood you’re visiting for a party.
NTA. This is why I refuse to engage with neighbors. By this I don’t mean I don’t talk to them. I just don’t feel a need to justify things to them. I don’t care what they think of me. I certainly don’t care to explain anything I do on my own property if they have an attitude. If they’re nice and seem to want to come to a mutual understanding fantastic. We’ll have a conversation. That’s not what this neighbor did. He was very accusatory. Therefore I wouldn’t have answered his question. I would have simply said the next time someone is parked illegally on my property I’m having it towed. (Check your local laws on this first).
I, for one, am grateful that the idiot who blocked the driveway reacted quickly and left. If OP had to call police there is a chance that the appendix could have burst before getting the child to the hospital, which I believe could be really bad. OP definitely NTA
Um that’s a genuine EMERGENCY!!! Your neighbor is the AH here. He’s more worried about “ruining his party” and his very rude guests than he is about a child with appendicitis. Lovely dude he is. Your child could’ve gone into sepsis, and he’s worried about his AH friends than he is about a TRUE emergency YOU had while his inconsiderate friend blocked your driveway! He knew he was inconsiderate-that’s why he came running out.
Tell him to go eat a bag of dicks.
Your child’s medical emergency is far more important than any stupid party.