Mom Demands Neighbor Give Up His Apartment Parking Spot Because She ‘Needs It More’ For Her Kids
BaLL LunLa | Shutterstock While it doesn’t apply to all parents, some definitely feel like they’re entitled to whatever they want that might be in a childless person’s possession. That was the case with one mom who told her single neighbor he needed to trade parking spots with her at their apartment complex so she could be closer to the door.
Naturally, he refused to switch, which just made her even angrier. The neighbor shared his problem in a Reddit post, which led commenters to point out that having kids doesn’t mean you get a free pass to do whatever you want in life or to take other people’s things. Still, he wondered if he should just give in to end the drama, which sounds like it’s gotten pretty intense.
The neighbor explained that he lives in an apartment complex that has assigned parking based on your unit number.
He has unit 12 and spot 12. It’s “pretty simple” to him, but one of his neighbors doesn’t see it that way. “New neighbor ‘Kelly’ moved into unit 18 last month with her husband and three kids,” he said. “Her assigned spot is 18, which is further from the building entrance than mine. We’re talking, like, maybe 40 extra feet of walking.”
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Kelly took matters into her own hands, showing up at the man’s door and asking to trade places. He declined. “She seemed shocked I said no,” he continued. “She said, ‘I have THREE KIDS under 5, you live alone, you don’t NEED the close spot like I do.’” Kelly even took the issue to their landlord, but he “told her spots are non-transferable unless both parties agree.”
It’s people like Kelly who give parents a bad reputation.
Instead of just letting things go, it seems like Kelly has gotten pretty passive-aggressive. “She came back to me AGAIN and said, ‘Please reconsider, you’re being really selfish here,’” he shared. “I said no again and she’s been giving me dirty looks ever since. Yesterday she parked in MY spot and when I knocked on her door she said, ‘Oh, I thought you’d be at work, I just needed to unload groceries quick.’ But her car was there for three hours.”
Other Reddit users were quick to point out how unreasonable Kelly was acting. “Even if it’s ‘just for a few’ — report her to the landlord,” one said. “Have her towed. SO tired of people with kids acting entitled … I have FOUR and I do not expect anything from anyone, they were my choice.”
Parent Cue contributor and leadership podcaster Carey Nieuwhof shared that parents acting entitled is a lose-lose situation because it perpetuates the same kind of behavior in their kids. “It’s so critical we combat entitlement in ourselves and our kids because entitlement kills our ability to experience two critical things in life: gratitude and joy,” he explained.
Entitlement is growing among everyone, not just parents.
Obviously, not all parents act entitled. Many are very humble, grateful people who would never think of practically insisting that a neighbor give up their parking spot so they could be six spots closer to the door. And, while it may seem to some like parents possess this trait in spades, it’s really on the rise across the board.
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Clinical psychologist Arlin Cuncic, MA, said, “People with a sense of entitlement feel that they deserve more than what they have in life … They expect to elevate their lifestyle above that of others without putting in the effort needed to do so.”
It’s easy to see how this is a trait that pretty much everyone is more likely to possess these days. In an era of unprecedented instant gratification, people just think they deserve the best, no matter what. That’s not always practical, though. Sometimes you just have to accept what you’ve been given in life, even if it means taking a few more steps to the door with your kids.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
