Special Snowflake Stories

[PastryGoddess]

...
Unfortunately, I don't have the tow truck number and the management company is 9 to 5 only since the units are individually owned.

Assuming it was safe to do so I'd have parked across the back of the truck, if I was feeling kind I'd have left a note telling them how to reach me when they wanted to leave.

I was moving from a hotel into my townhouse and arrived in the morning to find a car parked in my driveway.  I did park them in, asked my neighbors on either side (they didn't know who owned it), and then went inside to unpack for about an hour.  After no one came to ask me to move my car in that time, I went to the mgmt office and had them give me the tow truck number.  I asked the tower to let me know when he got here so I could move my car and he could tow the offender away.

Tow truck arrives, I move my car to a temporary spot, and he starts configuring to tow the offender.  Cue two girls running over from the townhouse across the street, begging me to call off the tow truck!  Er, sorry girls, I don't care if you were sleeping one off at your cousin's house, you're on my property.  I told them it was between them and the tower.  I don't know if they paid him or what but he didn't tow them and they got the heck out of there.

My story ended well.  A friend from grad school had a different ending.  She found a truck repeatedly parked in her paid spot.  She found out it was her neighbor's girlfriend's truck so she tried the polite route and asked them not to park there.  That didn't work, so she had it towed at least once.  Neighbor guy was so aggrieved that he set my friend's car on FIRE one night.  He fled, they never saw him at the apartment again, and my friend had to deal with all the police reports and paperwork without any justice ever being done (they couldn't prove it was him).

I can't park to block them in without blocking the entire parking lot. Today they're still in our stall (2 cars per stall), parked more towards my neighbor's side, but not so far that I could get into my spot.

Why can't you just call a local tow place and have them towed.  I'm sure your building has a place they prefer, but there is nothing stopping you from having them towed.  If you continue to allow them to park with no consequences, then they'll keep taking advantage of your parking spot.  If you call now, you'll have your parking spot back in an hour or so

[mbbored]

...
Unfortunately, I don't have the tow truck number and the management company is 9 to 5 only since the units are individually owned.

Assuming it was safe to do so I'd have parked across the back of the truck, if I was feeling kind I'd have left a note telling them how to reach me when they wanted to leave.

I was moving from a hotel into my townhouse and arrived in the morning to find a car parked in my driveway.  I did park them in, asked my neighbors on either side (they didn't know who owned it), and then went inside to unpack for about an hour.  After no one came to ask me to move my car in that time, I went to the mgmt office and had them give me the tow truck number.  I asked the tower to let me know when he got here so I could move my car and he could tow the offender away.

Tow truck arrives, I move my car to a temporary spot, and he starts configuring to tow the offender.  Cue two girls running over from the townhouse across the street, begging me to call off the tow truck!  Er, sorry girls, I don't care if you were sleeping one off at your cousin's house, you're on my property.  I told them it was between them and the tower.  I don't know if they paid him or what but he didn't tow them and they got the heck out of there.

My story ended well.  A friend from grad school had a different ending.  She found a truck repeatedly parked in her paid spot.  She found out it was her neighbor's girlfriend's truck so she tried the polite route and asked them not to park there.  That didn't work, so she had it towed at least once.  Neighbor guy was so aggrieved that he set my friend's car on FIRE one night.  He fled, they never saw him at the apartment again, and my friend had to deal with all the police reports and paperwork without any justice ever being done (they couldn't prove it was him).

I can't park to block them in without blocking the entire parking lot. Today they're still in our stall (2 cars per stall), parked more towards my neighbor's side, but not so far that I could get into my spot.

Why can't you just call a local tow place and have them towed.  I'm sure your building has a place they prefer, but there is nothing stopping you from having them towed.  If you continue to allow them to park with no consequences, then they'll keep taking advantage of your parking spot.  If you call now, you'll have your parking spot back in an hour or so

I didn't think I could do that without having to pay for that myself, seeing as how it's private property.

[Firecat]

...
Unfortunately, I don't have the tow truck number and the management company is 9 to 5 only since the units are individually owned.

Assuming it was safe to do so I'd have parked across the back of the truck, if I was feeling kind I'd have left a note telling them how to reach me when they wanted to leave.

I was moving from a hotel into my townhouse and arrived in the morning to find a car parked in my driveway.  I did park them in, asked my neighbors on either side (they didn't know who owned it), and then went inside to unpack for about an hour.  After no one came to ask me to move my car in that time, I went to the mgmt office and had them give me the tow truck number.  I asked the tower to let me know when he got here so I could move my car and he could tow the offender away.

Tow truck arrives, I move my car to a temporary spot, and he starts configuring to tow the offender.  Cue two girls running over from the townhouse across the street, begging me to call off the tow truck!  Er, sorry girls, I don't care if you were sleeping one off at your cousin's house, you're on my property.  I told them it was between them and the tower.  I don't know if they paid him or what but he didn't tow them and they got the heck out of there.

My story ended well.  A friend from grad school had a different ending.  She found a truck repeatedly parked in her paid spot.  She found out it was her neighbor's girlfriend's truck so she tried the polite route and asked them not to park there.  That didn't work, so she had it towed at least once.  Neighbor guy was so aggrieved that he set my friend's car on FIRE one night.  He fled, they never saw him at the apartment again, and my friend had to deal with all the police reports and paperwork without any justice ever being done (they couldn't prove it was him).

I can't park to block them in without blocking the entire parking lot. Today they're still in our stall (2 cars per stall), parked more towards my neighbor's side, but not so far that I could get into my spot.

Why can't you just call a local tow place and have them towed.  I'm sure your building has a place they prefer, but there is nothing stopping you from having them towed.  If you continue to allow them to park with no consequences, then they'll keep taking advantage of your parking spot.  If you call now, you'll have your parking spot back in an hour or so

I didn't think I could do that without having to pay for that myself, seeing as how it's private property.

You'll need to check on things in your area. I know that here there are some tow companies that will tow at the vehicle owner's expense. If nothing else, you might want to check with the office on what you should do when they're closed.

[Nikko-chan]

Mr. Special Snowflakus I will just let my dog barkus.

My next door neighbor has a dog. Lovely thing really, he just gets overly excited when outside (not often) and barks.... constantly. At least last night neighbor took him in and didn't leave him out all night like the last few times this has happened....

[mbbored]

...
Unfortunately, I don't have the tow truck number and the management company is 9 to 5 only since the units are individually owned.

Assuming it was safe to do so I'd have parked across the back of the truck, if I was feeling kind I'd have left a note telling them how to reach me when they wanted to leave.

I was moving from a hotel into my townhouse and arrived in the morning to find a car parked in my driveway.  I did park them in, asked my neighbors on either side (they didn't know who owned it), and then went inside to unpack for about an hour.  After no one came to ask me to move my car in that time, I went to the mgmt office and had them give me the tow truck number.  I asked the tower to let me know when he got here so I could move my car and he could tow the offender away.

Tow truck arrives, I move my car to a temporary spot, and he starts configuring to tow the offender.  Cue two girls running over from the townhouse across the street, begging me to call off the tow truck!  Er, sorry girls, I don't care if you were sleeping one off at your cousin's house, you're on my property.  I told them it was between them and the tower.  I don't know if they paid him or what but he didn't tow them and they got the heck out of there.

My story ended well.  A friend from grad school had a different ending.  She found a truck repeatedly parked in her paid spot.  She found out it was her neighbor's girlfriend's truck so she tried the polite route and asked them not to park there.  That didn't work, so she had it towed at least once.  Neighbor guy was so aggrieved that he set my friend's car on FIRE one night.  He fled, they never saw him at the apartment again, and my friend had to deal with all the police reports and paperwork without any justice ever being done (they couldn't prove it was him).

I can't park to block them in without blocking the entire parking lot. Today they're still in our stall (2 cars per stall), parked more towards my neighbor's side, but not so far that I could get into my spot.

Why can't you just call a local tow place and have them towed.  I'm sure your building has a place they prefer, but there is nothing stopping you from having them towed.  If you continue to allow them to park with no consequences, then they'll keep taking advantage of your parking spot.  If you call now, you'll have your parking spot back in an hour or so

I didn't think I could do that without having to pay for that myself, seeing as how it's private property.

You'll need to check on things in your area. I know that here there are some tow companies that will tow at the vehicle owner's expense. If nothing else, you might want to check with the office on what you should do when they're closed.

I'll look into it. Regardless, Mr. Big Truck managed to move his truck over enough that I can fit my car into my spot. I'll be out of town this weekend, but if it repeats when I get back I'll talk to management first thing Monday morning.

It may be wimpy, but sometimes I'm very conscious of being a young looking, very petite woman who lives alone, and I try not to make waves in the neighborhood.

[iridaceae]

I was at PetSmart the other day and witnessed a woman busy explaining to the check-out cashier that as she was from a state that does not have a state sales tax [for non-USAns, not all states have state taxes on items, and when states do what is taxed and the amount can vary greatly] she should be exempt from paying sales tax.

[clio917]

I was at PetSmart the other day and witnessed a woman busy explaining to the check-out cashier that as she was from a state that does not have a state sales tax [for non-USAns, not all states have state taxes on items, and when states do what is taxed and the amount can vary greatly] she should be exempt from paying sales tax.

Here in Washington (sales tax state), residents of Oregon (no sales tax) shopping in WA can show their ID in stores and have the sales tax waived. Not sure if other states do that...

[shadowfox79]

One the other day at work...

I am a university administrator. Woman rings my office saying that she is landlady to one of my students and he has fled the country without paying his bill. She wants me to threaten to withhold his degree if he doesn't pay up.

I point out that we can't do that. She says "If he didn't pay his fees, what would you do?" I explain that yes, we can chase him for OUR fees, but we have no authority to withhold his degree because he hasn't paid someone ELSE money.

She then switches to "I know the Chancellor of your university! I want to be put through to the Chancellor!"

I'm well aware this is a load of crap, because the Chancellor is an honorary role given to a local celebrity. The highest ranking person who actually works here is the Vice-Chancellor, and there is no way in heck I'm going to pass this on to her office.

Instead, I pass her to my line manager, who manages to calm her down by letting her rant for a bit and saying "Mmm," while I sit and fantasise about going for a Mojito in my lunch break.

[faithlessone]

My SS Next-Door Neighbour started building a fence today.

With power tools.

At 5am.

On a Saturday.

*cries*

(No point complaining to him/any one else. There's no laws against it in my area, and this guy is an SS to the extreme. Truly believes he's the centre of the universe.)

[Slartibartfast]

From a friend attending a scifi/fandom convention:  Friend attended the convention because she specifically wanted to see a VERY popular author. VERY popular author was headlining the convention and attended a Q&A session with fans. My friend and her friend decided to go to the sessions in the Q&A room two hours ahead of the Q&A so they would be sure to get seats. (There are no rules against this.  They checked with the event staff.  The rooms were not cleared between sessions.  The seats were open and there were no tickets.)  Two other people also did this after getting permission from the staff.

... [editing for length]

Friend may have been slightly SS-ish for picking a seat early and sticking in it, and perhaps the staff should have handled it differently, but I think SS takes the prize for her rudeness and scene-causing.  At least Friend asked permission and was polite about it.

I don't think your friend was SS, given she was specifically told it was okay, but . . . this is why at "my" convention we always clear the more popular rooms in between panels.  If we didn't, people would show up first thing in the morning and monopolize the best seats for the mid-afternoon panel, sitting there all day through panels they don't care about and keeping fans of those other panels from getting to sit in front.  We also occasionally have panels that fill up completely, and we'd much rather have people out enjoying the convention than feel like they have to stand in line for eight hours to see one thing.

That said, we always get people who sneak in a panel or two ahead of the one they want to see and then throw a big tantrum when we make them leave the room and get in the back of the line for "their" panel  Worse are the special needs folks (there are always one or two SS each year) who insist that because they use a wheelchair, we should pull out chairs and they should be able to sit in the front row!  Sorry, if you're the tenth person in the wheelchair line, you get the tenth reserved seat - which will probably be in the middle of the room, not all in front.  You only get special front row seating if your handicap requires it.  Luckily, in the big panel rooms we have some fantastic volunteer staff who deal specifically with the special needs line (separate from the main queue) so we don't all have to be sidetracked by the SS tantrums while we're trying to load the other two thousand people into the room!

[weeblewobble]

From a friend attending a scifi/fandom convention:  Friend attended the convention because she specifically wanted to see a VERY popular author. VERY popular author was headlining the convention and attended a Q&A session with fans. My friend and her friend decided to go to the sessions in the Q&A room two hours ahead of the Q&A so they would be sure to get seats. (There are no rules against this.  They checked with the event staff.  The rooms were not cleared between sessions.  The seats were open and there were no tickets.)  Two other people also did this after getting permission from the staff.

... [editing for length]

Friend may have been slightly SS-ish for picking a seat early and sticking in it, and perhaps the staff should have handled it differently, but I think SS takes the prize for her rudeness and scene-causing.  At least Friend asked permission and was polite about it.

I don't think your friend was SS, given she was specifically told it was okay, but . . . this is why at "my" convention we always clear the more popular rooms in between panels.  If we didn't, people would show up first thing in the morning and monopolize the best seats for the mid-afternoon panel, sitting there all day through panels they don't care about and keeping fans of those other panels from getting to sit in front.  We also occasionally have panels that fill up completely, and we'd much rather have people out enjoying the convention than feel like they have to stand in line for eight hours to see one thing.

That said, we always get people who sneak in a panel or two ahead of the one they want to see and then throw a big tantrum when we make them leave the room and get in the back of the line for "their" panel  Worse are the special needs folks (there are always one or two SS each year) who insist that because they use a wheelchair, we should pull out chairs and they should be able to sit in the front row!  Sorry, if you're the tenth person in the wheelchair line, you get the tenth reserved seat - which will probably be in the middle of the room, not all in front.  You only get special front row seating if your handicap requires it.  Luckily, in the big panel rooms we have some fantastic volunteer staff who deal specifically with the special needs line (separate from the main queue) so we don't all have to be sidetracked by the SS tantrums while we're trying to load the other two thousand people into the room!

Agreed, it probably should have been handled differently.  I think the funny thing was that SSOF didn't see her behavior as rude or inconsiderate of the other fans, when she was saving eight front row seats for people who weren't there.

[Slartibartfast]

From a friend attending a scifi/fandom convention:  Friend attended the convention because she specifically wanted to see a VERY popular author. VERY popular author was headlining the convention and attended a Q&A session with fans. My friend and her friend decided to go to the sessions in the Q&A room two hours ahead of the Q&A so they would be sure to get seats. (There are no rules against this.  They checked with the event staff.  The rooms were not cleared between sessions.  The seats were open and there were no tickets.)  Two other people also did this after getting permission from the staff.

... [editing for length]

Friend may have been slightly SS-ish for picking a seat early and sticking in it, and perhaps the staff should have handled it differently, but I think SS takes the prize for her rudeness and scene-causing.  At least Friend asked permission and was polite about it.

I don't think your friend was SS, given she was specifically told it was okay, but . . . this is why at "my" convention we always clear the more popular rooms in between panels.  If we didn't, people would show up first thing in the morning and monopolize the best seats for the mid-afternoon panel, sitting there all day through panels they don't care about and keeping fans of those other panels from getting to sit in front.  We also occasionally have panels that fill up completely, and we'd much rather have people out enjoying the convention than feel like they have to stand in line for eight hours to see one thing.

That said, we always get people who sneak in a panel or two ahead of the one they want to see and then throw a big tantrum when we make them leave the room and get in the back of the line for "their" panel  Worse are the special needs folks (there are always one or two SS each year) who insist that because they use a wheelchair, we should pull out chairs and they should be able to sit in the front row!  Sorry, if you're the tenth person in the wheelchair line, you get the tenth reserved seat - which will probably be in the middle of the room, not all in front.  You only get special front row seating if your handicap requires it.  Luckily, in the big panel rooms we have some fantastic volunteer staff who deal specifically with the special needs line (separate from the main queue) so we don't all have to be sidetracked by the SS tantrums while we're trying to load the other two thousand people into the room!

Agreed, it probably should have been handled differently.  I think the funny thing was that SSOF didn't see her behavior as rude or inconsiderate of the other fans, when she was saving eight front row seats for people who weren't there.

Yeah, that's definitely not cool.  We tell people "You can either sit where you are and let other people use these seats, or when your friends get here you can go back and sit with them."  Suddenly a lot of people don't care quite so much about sitting with their friends!

[violinp]

My SS Next-Door Neighbour started building a fence today.

With power tools.

At 5am.

On a Saturday.

*cries*

(No point complaining to him/any one else. There's no laws against it in my area, and this guy is an SS to the extreme. Truly believes he's the centre of the universe.)

Lots of hugs!

[gramma dishes]

Would it be mean of me to hope (just a teeny bit) that he incurs a minor injury from working while it's still not quite daylight out yet?   

[Snooks]

<snip> Luckily, in the big panel rooms we have some fantastic volunteer staff who deal specifically with the special needs line (separate from the main queue) so we don't all have to be sidetracked by the SS tantrums while we're trying to load the other two thousand people into the room!

Just out of interest, how do you manage the length of the special needs line vs the regular line?  I always wonder how it's made "fair" if a person in the regular line has been queuing for an hour yet the special needs line is shorter and therefore they effectively queue jump.