Southie Law

I live in an area of Boston affectionately known as Southie. The neighborhood is famous for being infamous - i.e. busing riots of the '70's, the Irish mob (think "The Departed") and some of the nation's worst housing projects. Times have changed somewhat in this place; lots of yuppies moving in (hello! that's me!), more diversity than purely Irish Catholic (though still the majority) and the pubs are much safer for the uninitiated (but not all of them, so watch your back). New Southie is still old Southie in many ways, some things don't change - most of its residents, yuppies and blue-haired old-timers alike, agree that is a good thing.

There are a few rules around here and one of the oldest and most notorious has to do with parking spaces after a snow storm. Parking is valuable in these parts, an honest-t0-goodness parking space of one's own is the ultimate luxury. But most, my household included, have to contend with the ever-dreaded street parking - every car for itself circling the blocks over and over and over to find a place to rest its wheels for the night.

The parking issue gets taken to a whole new level in the winter time. Southie law says, "You shovel it, you own it" and that holds true pretty much until the snow melts. Chairs, trash cans, bright orange traffic cones, old crates, etc. are all used to mark a spot as claimed. If you dare to park in a staked out spot after a big snow fall be prepared to find your tires slashed and paint-job keyed the next time you walk outside. And no cop in these parts will be sympathetic to your filed report, they'll look at you like, "what were you thinking parking in that claimed spot?? Don't you know the rules around here??".

This weekend snow fell for three straight days all over the city, almost two feet. My valiant husband spent hours Friday, Saturday and Sunday shoveling the back yard, back porch, front steps and sidewalk and then digging out the car from underneath a mountain. When the snow plows come through to clear the streets it just shovels all the snow off the road to and to the side, creating a virtual wall of snow against all the cars parked along the street in addition to what has already fallen down on top of them naturally. It can take, literally, hours to dig, shovel and scrape a car out of a spot. So parking is already a scarce resource, but when you dig your car out in the winter like that, the thinking goes, you have earned the spot, and no one else should get to swoop right into the nice, neat parking space you worked your tail off in the elements to clear.

We had to leave with the car for awhile over the weekend, so we busted out an old folding chair and claimed what was ours. This is our first winter in Southie and I was so nervous that our spot would get taken. I'm not sure bold and desperate parking seekers would fear the retribution of a couple of yuppie lawyers. But Southie law rules the land and our spot was safe. As much of a pain as it is, in a way its more convenient than ever right now because (until the snow melts or subsides) I have a known spot to go to, instead of having to hunt around seemingly endless blocks.

Behold, the forbidding chair of conquest:

Our back yard, covered in snow and a tiny bit shoveled: