Aubrey Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 A guy just came to my backdoor to ask if the suburban parked in my driveway (backyard, unfenced) was mine. When I said yes, he asked if I would move it. The neighbor house to ours is a little resale shop, so the back yard is a gravel driveway that runs into our yard. The guy was trying to...I'm not sure. He's got a great big giant tow-truck-looking-thing. The thing is, I can't move the suburban. Dh has the keys. I told the guy this, & he seemed kind-of annoyed. I felt bad, locked the door, & wished my shades were drawn, so he couldn't see me in here looking like I don't care. But really, the more I think about it... what would he do if there was a FENCE there instead of a suburban? I mean, since it's a moveable object, I guess it was ok for him to ask to move it, but...I don't know. It seems weird to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Why does it matter if it is in your driveway? Is the driveway shared? In that case, he may have a right to use it as well and it is a reasonable request and not weird. If it isn't shared, you can do what you want with your driveway and have no obligate to move your vehicle on your propery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Sherry Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 (edited) Why did he want you to move it ? Did he need to move something through your driveway ? Do you have a shared driveway with him ? If he was just needing to move something it doens't seem weird to me that he would ask you to move your suburban. It would be annoying to me if this were a regular thing, but I wouldn't mind for a few times. But if this is a shared driveway and he has a right of way then you really do need to move it for him if it is in his way. But either way, it just seems like it shouldn't be that big of a deal just to move your vehicle for a neighbor. Edited March 19, 2009 by Miss Sherry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I think it's weird that he would get annoyed at you for having your own car on your own property. I mean, he was asking a favor of you, right? And it isn't possible for you to accomodate him at this time, so get over yourself just a bit, Mr. Neighbor. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 Well, it's not really a driveway; it's our back yard. There's no fence between it & the other back yard, which is a parking lot. Does that make sense? I can't move it. I don't have the keys. Dh's got them. He's on his way home, but honestly, he won't be able to park *his* car because of this guys' thing. Dh won't mind moving the truck. He wouldn't be bothered if he were stuck here w/out the keys, either. :glare: He's an easy-going help-if-he-can, not-too-worried-if-he-can't kind of guy. I'm a hyper-sensitive freaked out weirdo who would really prefer that people not knock on my door in the first place. Esp my back door. I feel like I'm hiding fr trick-or-treaters now. :001_huh: I know, I know...:leaving: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 Ok, so I'm hunkered down, peeking out my back window, & it is a tow truck--the kind that you lift the whole car on top of. And it's the back yard neighbors who have hired the tow guy, not even the people next to us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsdash Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I would be thinking that if I did it for him once, he'd be asking me to do it all the time. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Well, it's not really a driveway; it's our back yard. There's no fence between it & the other back yard, which is a parking lot. Does that make sense? I can't move it. I don't have the keys. Dh's got them. He's on his way home, but honestly, he won't be able to park *his* car because of this guys' thing. Dh won't mind moving the truck. He wouldn't be bothered if he were stuck here w/out the keys, either. :glare: He's an easy-going help-if-he-can, not-too-worried-if-he-can't kind of guy. I'm a hyper-sensitive freaked out weirdo who would really prefer that people not knock on my door in the first place. Esp my back door. I feel like I'm hiding fr trick-or-treaters now. :001_huh: I know, I know...:leaving: I would be the same way. I think the rudest thing here is that he came to your back door. That in itself is wierd in my opinion. I understand his asking you for the favor of moving the vehicle, but if you can't he should get on with his life, adapt, improvise, overcome and all that. But I totally understand... I don't like uninvited interruptions in my household either. hugs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 So does he want you to move the car so he can DRIVE on your lawn? Does he need it out of the way to maneuver the tow truck? Seriously, if you want me to move MY car that is parked on MY yard you better ask permission to drive through my yard. Big trucks can do major damage to a yard. If he needs it moved so he can maneuver through the gravel and not drive in your yard okay, but still, he should clarify. Maybe I'm daft and a tad defensive but if you knock on my BACK door to ask me to move something on my lawn you had better give me details as to why. :lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in MD Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 My guess is that it would make it far easier to load the car he needs to tow if your car could be moved. I wouldn't have any problem with such a request. Even his annoyance wouldn't bother me because he's job has just become more difficult. In your shoes, I'd sit back and relax. But there is one thing that would bother me in this situation. That's the fact that I didn't have the keys to a vehicle I own and may need to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 That is just strange. Its your property, your car stays and he moves his truck if your dh cant get in. Sorry, I am just grouchy today. NO patience for complete idiots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen sn Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Ya never know when ya might need a neighbor to help you.... No biggie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 but I can't relate at all to finding it weird that someone would ask you to move a car in order to facilitate towing another. I would do at least that to help a neighbor, whether I knew him or not. Yeah, if there were a fence there, you couldn't move it. But there wasn't a fence there. There was a car there, and it seemed to him that the easiest way to tow the car he needed to tow was to ask you to move yours. No big deal. What I want to know is, if you did have the keys, would you have moved the car for him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 but I can't relate at all to finding it weird that someone would ask you to move a car in order to facilitate towing another. I would do at least that to help a neighbor, whether I knew him or not. Yeah, if there were a fence there, you couldn't move it. But there wasn't a fence there. There was a car there, and it seemed to him that the easiest way to tow the car he needed to tow was to ask you to move yours. No big deal. What I want to know is, if you did have the keys, would you have moved the car for him? Well...it's more complicated than that, but sure, I'd have moved it if I'd been able. I think it's more one of those things...like if someone has their hearing aid turned up too loud, & then they ask why you're shouting. I kind-of live life w/ my stuff turned up too loud, so everyone comes across as shouting & demanding. I figured it was mostly me & not him, but...I never know for sure, see? As far as the car goes, this is the suburban that I couldn't drive anyway. If I had had the keys (there's never needed to be more than one set), I probably *couldn't* have moved it, but I tend to be so obliging, I'd have just handed them over to the total stranger at my door, kwim? And *then* thought, gee, I hope he's just moving it! :lol: I guess I think it would have been nicer if the neighbor himself had come over, introduced himself, & asked about moving the car in a friendlier sort of way. The tow-truck driver was...gruff. To my hyper-sensitive self. Fwiw, he managed to work around the suburban effeciently enough that he was out of here before dh even got home--under 10 min. I don't know if that is an indication of anything, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I'm with Dana; I can't relate to finding anything weird in this scenario. So he asked if you can move the car; no biggie. What strikes me as odd, to be honest, is the fact that your car is sitting there and you're not able to even get into it. I mean, what if there was something in the car that you needed? Any-hoo. xoxo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Been there! Small world, right? Except it was one of those little bulldozer thingies and our Lincoln ;) I couldn't move the car, the guy flipped, at first, then I reminded him that he was on private property. Once I saw what he did to the other yard (they moved their things) I was glad I could not comply. I like having a yard sans deep furrows. I can't move half the vehicles in my yard. I have my vehicles, he has his. I understand not having keys to everything :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Is it obvious that the gravel is your yard? My imagination has it as a continuation of the parking lot, and so to him it may have looked like a 'community' property issue than a 'private' property issue. It sounds like maybe he should have just been a little more considerate in how he asked (or who asked) but his request in content makes sense. He was just trying to make things easier for himself. I would definitely get another set of keys made, just in case of fire (so you can move it) or in case the other set is lost. Just because you can't move it personally, doesn't mean someone else who is willing to help you, won't be able to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 The request itself - no. His coming to the back door - yes. Was he too lazy to walk to the front??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenS Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 It would've bothered me, but I don't like folks coming to the door either. :) I've seen what big trucks do to yards, too, and I would definitely have wanted to be consulted before one went across my yard ... so it's just as well the vehicle was in the way, you know? It's just a tow job for him, but it's a yard work hassle for you afterwards. Sure, being neighborly is important ... but the neighbors have to ask neighbor-like too! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I think I would have said, "no...this is my BACK YARD. I can park MY vehicle in MY back yard." And slammed the door in his face. But that is just me. I am not nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Everything is always more complicated that it seems when we just post a message on a public board. I definitely can understand just getting a bad feeling about someone, and I also can understand finding it easier to just hand someone the keys than to load up the children to move a car - and God knows I wouldn't leave them alone in the house with some man who gave me the creeps standing there. I can sort of imagine, after the guy drove off with our car, trying to explain to my DH why I handed a stranger the keys:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedbel Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I would of been completely spooked if someone I did not know knocked on my back door instead of the front. Of course I live in a home with a gated backyard so the person would of had to jump the fence to even get to my back door and that is the part I would feel spooked about!:D I also am kinda hesitant about opening the door to a stranger when I am home alone with the kiddos so I can totally understand you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I can beat you at the half - there are 5 vehicles in my yard. I have keys to one - "mine". Not bothering me - just makes HIS asset numbers higher in the divorce :lol: My first thought was that he was trying to repo a car - hence him asking and not the neighbor! LOL!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I'm not sure if it is weird or not because I cant picture how you are describing your yard set up. But I just would not have answered the door. During the daytime, when DH is not home, and neither are majority of the people on our cul-de-sac, I dont answer the door. Unless I use the peep hole and can see that I know them. The kids know that if the door bell rings, they are to be quiet. And even if the stranger knows we are home, I still wont answer the door. Too risky these days.....I dont want to be a five o'clock news story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Virginia Dawn Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 In our area, the back door is the one you knock on. People who go to front doors are the ones you avoid, because they probably come from somewhere else. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katiebug_1976 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 My neighbor is the only person who occasionally knocks on my back door, anyone else would have been eaten by my dog. Mabye you should get a dog!?! I think it's creepy and rude for a stranger to use your back door. If he wanted to ask you a favor at the very least I think he could have gone to the front door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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