A Southern tradition???

[El Tejon]

Have a new family in the neighborhood.  They bought the place across the street from the crazy man who used to put stuffed sharks in his window.

They are from Virginia.  They are all moved in now, but they continue to park their cars on their lawn (I could see it if moving furniture or something) overnight.  I have never seen this and find it very strange.  They have a nice big garage and a driveway that will accomodate several cars.  Why park their cars there?  Now I understand from watching CMT (that video "Hicktown") that Southerners sometimes drive their pick ups off roads and into mud, but why do it on your lawn?

I asked some people in the neighborhood and they frowned and said it was a Southern tradition.  WTH?  Some please explain?

[Werewolf]

Hmmm... lets see. I've lived at one time or another in VA, FL, SC, TX and OK. That's a fair representation of southern living. I won't say I've never seen a car parked on a lawn but the few times I have it was in a part of town I wouldn't walk around in with out the support of a battalion or two of marines.

Why not just go over there and ask why they're parking on the lawn. It's a pretty tacky thing to do after all and definitely makes a neighborhood look trashy.

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

Just a thought, but I think it's more an urban v. rural thing than a north/south differential.

When I was in high school, I lived in what can best be described as Virginia Hunt Country.  An hour plus outside D.C., huge farms surrounded by white or blackwash fences, many many folks owned horses and competed in dressage (English jumping/riding) competitions.

It was upscale, but rural nonetheless.  Folks had lots of room, it wasn't cookie-stamped, neatly sidewalked subdivisions.  Lots of pea-gravel drives, no real borders or curbs, and it just made sense to park off to the side of the driveway, so if folks arrived pulling a horse trailer, etc., you were out of the way for them to pull on around.
May or may not be the root of your neighbor's activity.

Or, OTOH, they may just be inbred, toothless NASCAR fanatics like MOST of us down here.
Just giggin' you, El T.  No harm meant.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Fig

[Guest]

Nope, some of us damn Yankees do it, too. Like right this minute, my van is pulled up by my back porch because I'm a slacker and didn't want to lug a dozen bags of groceries up to the door.

[Stand_watie]

Nope, some of us damn Yankees do it, too. Like right this minute, my van is pulled up by my back porch because I'm a slacker and didn't want to lug a dozen bags of groceries up to the door.

Barbara, I've lived in Michigan, Maine, North Carolina, Mississippi, Indiana, Colorado and Texas, and seen as much of it in the north as the south. I don't know of it being "tradition" in either place - but I do it myself when neccessary.

If it actually is a "tradition" I suspect it is more to do with a tradition of people who have more visitors than the carrying capacity of their driveway than with south or north.

Michigan and Indiana (where a lot of my family are from) actually have a lot of southern tradition due to displaced persons from the depression (my maternal family were displaced southerners). My elderly uncle told me that they and the other 20% or 30% of the townsfolk in their small village in Michigan who were poor southerners used to get called PWT's (poor white trash) by the natives when they were kids.

[Guest]

I would suspect since they just moved in the garage is full.

I mean you have to have a place to put stuff not yet set up, a place to drag stuff to that don't work, match, or fit.

I think it is written you are not supposed to use the garage in a new place for at least 4 months.  Then again the whole time I lived in one house - I never parked my truck in the garage. That was for the pallets of firearm stuff...matter of priorites you understand.

Maybe they heard about the incident about a neighbor and the Cops yelling "about all them guns..."

Back into yard, fast get-a-way from neighbors...

Now, one thing I have to bring up and I hate to point fingers, folks do park in yards as Barbara and such mentioned. Legit and all.

Those not so legit often hide license tags ( we only have a rear plate, no front one) and back into yard, so vehicle is closest to door for whatever illegal stuff that may need to be transported to and fro house.

I used to live in a house with only a single car carport, we had two lots , on the corner.  No place to park on narrow front street, accross the road , BIG ditch and then a field , and then Choo-Choo tracks.

Being the guy, the wife got the carport. I parked alongside carport onto grass , often backing in  as to not draw attention taking guns to and fro,

Yes we had double a fence leading into back yard with  a little barn type shed out back. My truck often was used in back yard for yard stuff and all them boxes of hulls that just appeared in my truck bed.

"Honey, why are driving around the back yard?"
"If I drive on this part - I won't have to mow it - If I drive over there, I can level out the dirt..."
"Why is the dog in the bed?"
"He is watching out for lawn logs and dirt sharks".

BTW - One of Mentors & Elders, born and raised in PA  taught me the " lawn logs and dirt sharks", line.  He taught me - a southern boy that line.

[Guest]

Here we have snow snakes and eskimo bears.

[K Frame]

My car is parked on the lawn at my parent's house right now. If I pull into the driveway behind the Expedition, Dad gets me up at 5:30 to move it so he can go to work...

[roo_ster]

Only time my truck is on the lawn is whe I'm working in the yard and the truck is an integral part of the work.

[Smoke]

They have a nice big garage and a driveway that will accomodate several cars.

BUt if the car in the garage is blocked in by the cars behind, you have to play vehicle shuffle to get yours out.
Parkin' in the grass allows any car to leave without having to move the others first.


Smoke

[grampster]

The question is...Do they move the cars?  Across the street from me one guy parked his van caddywampus in front of his house, pulled his car (one of 'em) into the yard.  They haven't moved in 2 years.  Tires are flat.  The guy next door to him has two vans on blocks in his back yard, an old Pontiac with a tarp over it in his side yard.  The tarp matches the two tarps on his roof which cover up the holes.  He also dragged up an old piece of dung cheby, missing one wheel and no license plate and dropped it off.  It blocked his own driveway.  SWMBO got the last laugh on that one.  She called the Sheriff and he impounded it because it was (chuckle) blocking a driveway.

I live in a rural area that attracts a lot of trunkies from the city because of the two rivers, bunch of lakes and oak and piney woods.  We are also a magnet for those folks that my builder friend likes to describe as..."Their family tree is a straight line."

[El Tejon]

Holy Sweet Flying Banjo-Picking Monkeys!  The truck stayed out on the lawn overnight!

We just got the crazy guy to stop putting sharks in his window, now this!  I'll have to look at the city code and call the city attorney on Monday.  I won't tolerate this, tradition or not.

Smoke, grampster, no, they aren't playing car shuffle.  Just parked the %$$#@ pick-em-up truck on the lawn overnight!  Geez.  

Werewolf, that's probably a good idea and the best way to handle this.  Maybe they just don't know that they are being tacky and bad neighbors?  Maybe everyone does it where they are from?

Stand_watie, that's true, we had a lot of culture clash here when Southerners were immigrating north in search of work during the 30s, 40s and 50s.  The opening of Thomas Sowell's book (Black Rednecks and White Liberals) is a rant by an Indianapolis resident concerning the behavior of the new immigrants.  We passed a lot of laws against this sort of behavior, I'm hoping there's an ordinance against doing this as I do not want to spend time getting an injunction in civil court.  However, Werewolf has the right idea.

[Waitone]

It s human thingy.  Charlotte has a major infestation of yuppie scum and even they got fed up.  Yup, in Charlotte you can collect a $300 IIRC fine for parking on the grass.  $50 bill for speeding in a school zone butr $300 for parking on your grass.  Second offense they will tow it off.

LT, just calm down and don't put your bowels in an uproar.  Read a half dozen Lewis Grizzard books and you too will be assimilated.

To paraphrase a THR philosopher, "Indiana gets stronger everytime a southroner crosses the border."

[jefnvk]

We park cars on our lawn, and have never lived anywhere but Michigan.

Why?  Garage holds things that we don't want left outside.  There is room to park all the cars on the driveway, if you want to back out onto a busy road.  Easier to just put a few cars on the lawn, that way everyone can pull straight out.

Also nice to keep the driveway clear for visitors, or if you need to do anythign on the driveway.

[Guest]

An injunction? Against a person putting their personally owned vehicle whereever on their personally owned property they want to?

Dang.

[bratch]

RANT on

As a person who grew up out a little ways from town and now moving into town its crap like this that really drives me nuts.  My town has recently passed a new set of regulations to punish "nusiance houses" limiting what you can do with your house and what you can have in your bak yard.  Too many violations and they can condemn your property.

As soon as I can get the chance I'm the &*$^ outta here. The ONLY advantage I have seen is convience with lots of stuff being fairly close.

RANT off

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

Barbara,
He's a law-critter.  It's what they "do".

Fig

[El Tejon]

HOORAY!  They moved it and not too soon, it's raining cats and dogs here now.

This morning my neighbor was walking her dog and told me that she talked to the new guy and he moved his truck immediately and apologized.  Apparently he is a lineman for one of the power companies here.  Got called out, moved his truck so his work truck could get by and then left (forgot to move it back).  The job lasted longer than he thought it would and he stayed in a motel overnight.  Wife was gone with kids to see their relatives in KY for the holiday weekend.

Wait, that's sound advice.  But you know how yuppie scum are with houses that they have worked to improve and kill mortgages on!:D  The sharks in the window were enough to do me in and now this!  Actually, isn't the flow from the North to the South now?  All those damn Yankees down there doing Yankee-like things?

Barbara, yes, an injunction is the proper remedy, not suing them for money.  Money damages are too speculative, better to sue for an injunction and not have an individual commit the harm again (especially if the harm is easy to correct).  I would have to go injunction since there is nothing about it in the city code (*kicks rocks* I'm going to change that too).  No one is allowed to harm their neighbor with their property, it's just not usufruct like Tommy Jefferson said.

[Smith]

Good god, El Tejon, please don't tell me you're a yard nazi.  Yes, it is not atypical for folks in the south to drive onto the yard, front or back.  It doesn't mean the car is broken down or is going to be up on blocks...it is just a leftover from the time grass on lawns didn't exist!  You're neighbors don't mean any harm, please just look the other way.

[Guest]

If I were your neighbor, I would make my lawn a shrine to tackiness just to annoy you. I'd paint "Injuntion This" on the butt of one of those fat lady cut outs.

[El Tejon]

Smith, *kicks rocks* well, Yard National Socialist?, ummm, maybe just a Yard Fascist?  I do ever so enjoy goose stepping around the back patio in khaki.  I set five year growth goals for my Norwegian spruces in the back, practice weed control with an Italian pistol, and end my speeches to the grass with "one lawn, one leader."

I can sleep though loud parties and pick up cigarettes butts, but the stuff that permanently affects me drives me nuts.

Barbara, fat lady cut outs?  Uh oh, is this something I need to look out for?  What exactly is this?  FWIW, if he leaves his truck off his lawn, then no reason to do anything.  Hopefully this was a one time incident and there is no need to correct his behavior--I hope, I hope, I hope.

[K Frame]

Hey Tejon,

Give me the guy's address. I have some pink flamingos and a couple of big plastic barrel cacti that I want to send to him...

[Guest]

[El Tejon]

Mike, *grabs chest* I don't feel well.  I'm going to go polish my jack boots and shine my silver helmet.

Barbar, good grief.  You put that on your lawn?

[Gewehr98]

Barbara, Smith, I'm thinking El Tejon considers the harm to his property in terms of resale value, which have become the buzzwords of choice for the yard nazi homeowner's associations.  Living out in the country with a John Deere sitting in the side yard, I guess I'm not in the "4Q, your eyesore is costing me money" frame of mind...