What are your city's unwritten "laws"?
 

So this is an open thread to discuss any of those quirky cultural norms, behaviors, rules, etc. that aren't legally on the books in your city, but that most people still abide by, and can cause conflict when they aren't followed.

The idea for this thread came to me from the recent big snowfall we got walloped with. In chicago, as I'm sure exists in other northern cities, there's the tradition of "dibs" wherein if you dig your car out of street parking spot after a big snowfall, you can put lawn chairs, garbage cans, saw horses, traffic cones, pretty much anything in that spot when you leave it to reserve it for yourself for some unspecified amount of time.

Now, there is absolutely no law on the books that sanctions this "reserving" of parking spots after big snowfalls, yet in many many neighborhoods this behaviour is tolerated and followed. Many a conflict between neighbors has been had over people not respecting another person's "dibs" and about how much time "dibs" can still be claimed after a big snowfall.

https://i.huffpost.com/gen/2493240/t...O-DIBS-570.jpg
Source:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chica...otos_n_6471978



So what about your city? Does it have any silly rules like the above that people pretty much follow and abide by even though they have no backing in law?

I've never seen the space blocking here in NYC, but it may happen in the outskirts of the outer boroughs where there may be more tolerance for it. Otherwise the rule is that you have no claim to any street parking space

One unspoken rule in NYC is that if you enter/leave a subway station behind a woman with a baby in a stroller, you must help her carry it up/down the stairs. Especially if you're a male aged 16 - 70.

Yeah, I've never seen people claiming "dibs" in downtown or other urban cores areas of chicago, or even on major streets anywhere in the city. It's strictly a residential neighborhood side street thing.

In Asheville, unless you are on a very dangerous and very busy road -- and often not even then -- locals simply do not and will not use their turn signals. Only tourists use their turn signals, and if you use yours it signals to locals driving nearby that you aren't one of them. Often, that will trigger the locals driving nearby to drive more aggressively. Locals also tend to drive more like dicks at the sight of an out-of-state license plate.

Usually, about the only time locals will use their turn signals is when they're driving on a really busy road like Airport Road, and need to turn into one of the myriad shopping centers or some such. It's one thing to be part of the herd driving along on the interstate, in which case, people will be veering from lane to lane without so much as a single blink from the turn signal lights, but it's another to need to get off of Airport Road, slow, and turn. Without the turn signal on Airport, you're just begging the guy behind you to barrel into you at 65mph.

Meanwhile, down here in Greenville, SC, insurance fraud is a major pastime of a great many members of the population, to the point that the locals here know to leave a very wide berth between them and the next car in line -- to the point that it tends to tie up traffic. Up in Asheville, the cars bunch up at every light and stop sign, nose to tail. Down there they usually leave at least three car lengths in between the hood and the trunk of the next car up. It's either that, or you pay out when the car in front of you suddenly and violently throws itself into reverse. Cars also tend to pause awkwardly in parking lots if they see you backing out, and position themselves perfectly for you to run into them. Fraud pays.

In the winter, the north becomes a civilized anarchy as far as parking. If you can find a spot, it's yours...

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d9/e2/25/d...6fb64680d5.jpg

I wouldn't recommend nabbing someone else's "dibs" spot in chicago.

Your car might end up getting keyed, or a tire slashed, or worse. After all, this is chicago we're talking about. Idiots in this town shoot guns at each other over petty-ass shit like this.

^ thats funny because you are gonna get just that reaction for even thinking about trying it in ny.

i do happen to notice that around my father in laws place in suburban centerville, ohio before the 4th of july when everyone puts crap out and ropes off their treelawns for dibs on parade viewing spaces. i imagine challenging that might lead to a few cross comments lol.

otherwise, also in ohio it is your god given right to never drive faster than the posted speed limit in the left hand lane of the highway at all times.

and back in ny if the bartender likes you after a couple drankies you might get the knock. thats a knock on the bar and an upside shot glass reminder your next one is on the house. subject to a nice tip of course. only a dwindling number of old school joints do this anymore though.

People where I live don’t do the chair reservation thing. But in the previous neighborhood I lived in some asshole would regularly block the entire street with Pittsburgh chairs so nobody could park. I used to almost daily throw the chairs back onto the sidewalk; sometimes people would run them over with their cars. It’s a public street, you can’t reserve spots. Now if it’s snowing and you had to clear the parking spot that’s a different story.

São Paulo:

--- It's an extremely work-oriented city, people are always rushing, so don't you ever walk slowly on sidewalks during weekdays;

--- Leave the left side of subways' escalator free;

--- Don't blink when the traffic lights turn green or cars behind will honk immediately;

--- Don't put ketchup in your pizzas. People in Rio does that for Paulistas horror.

--- Don't call São Paulo "Sampa". People from other parts of the county think it's a "cool", an "insider" expression, but no one in São Paulo calls the city that. Never.

These are true in all big cities where people commute on public transit.

This is a New York thing too. It is more annoying than people who take too long to move on a green light.

I'm appalled by the fact that one even needs to be a rule...... :runaway:

^ he is right, i actually saw people in rio put ketchup on pizza. rio people. a stunna!

edit -- this is from a rio website -- no, it is NOT typical of all brasil lol!!!


https://rioandlearn.com/wp-content/u...n-brazil-2.jpg

Pittsburgh


- The Parking Chair is definitely a thing here in tight residential neighborhoods
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon...._AC_UX569_.jpg

- The Pittsburgh Left is when you turn left at a traffic light as soon as it turns green, not yielding to oncoming traffic, or you allowing opposing traffic to turn left in front of you at an intersection when the light turns green before you proceed through. I don't like it either way.

- When two cars are on a steep and narrow hilly street, the ascending car is given the right of way.

In São Paulo, it’s olive oil. That’s the main reasons people hardly ever eat pizza with their hands like Americans do.

while yes that is mostly true for take out pizza, but actually, its pretty impossible to speak so broadly for all of america.

it depends.

if you go to an avpn approved naples style pizza place, or a big italian restuarant actually run by italians, where they have traditional pizza appetizers, they will offer to top your pizza with good olive oil. then you eat the first few bites with a knife and fork, but can pick up the end of it.

and if you eat some of those fake americano pizza styles, like say that lasagna they call pizza in chicago, no hands, you are going to need a shovel. :haha:;)

Cincinnati (and apparently also St. Louis): When asked "what school did you go to" means high school, not college. Its how to figure who's local and who isn't, as well as to also form opinions of someone's character and ethos quickly if someone went to a rival high school (high school football in Greater Cincinnati is serious business).

Phoenix: Where are you from? (Midwest, Canada, California)

I laughed out loud.

You might be able to get by with a shovel for that imitation national chain deep dish, but for a proper chicago stuffed pie, you're gonna need a damn fork lift.

2,000 calories in every glorious bite!

It all comes back to PIZZA

Well, it's the one true religion...... So yeah.......

haha -- yeah as god intended !!! :tup:

I know what's for dinner tonight.

https://media.onebite.app/3e/ca/f3/7...efaee21fd9.jpg

fuck it I was gonna get Arepas but maybe pizza is the right call.

Pizza is always the right call :cheers:

Very commonly accepted for two to three cars to make a left turn immediately after the light has turned red in Los Angeles.

London:

1. Heavy snow = unofficial national holiday, once in a generation.

2. Don't stare at anyone, ever. You're creepy if you do.

3. Don't talk to strangers for conversation, or talk loudly in general (especially on the phone), unless you're dangerous, or crass. Or North American (they will love you if you do).

4. Take turns when buying rounds. Not doing so will be silently noted by everyone, forever.

5. When eating, mix n mash, dib n dab new combos rather than savouring each thing separately. It's designed that way.

6. Never honk your horn, even when you're screaming at each other and giving the finger, or about to die. They are purely decorative.

7. Don't walk side by side, it's as bad as standing on the wrong side of the escalator. Don't walk slow, don't stop, fool.

8. When talking to the working classes, put on your best Cockney accent. You may have to keep this up for the rest of your life.

9. If you have any other regional British accent (read: every 25 miles in any direction across the country) put it in a box and bury it. You may have to keep this up for the rest of your life. Unless you're Cockernee.

10. Be as passive aggressive as humanly possible. Weaponise the word 'sorry'. Unless you're a Northern twat.

11. Don't talk about Brexit at dinner parties, it's been done to death.

12. Never talk to/ befriend your neighbours, that's just plain rude.

13. Don't say sir or madam, that's just plain rude.

14. Never, ever do anything outside of work, weddings or funerals in a suit.

15. Never serve/ order pizza thick.

16. There's no correct side to walking on a pavement, at the last minute both sides will swerve.

Caveat ^ all of the above need not apply when getting drunk, which is every day with a 'd' in it. Let it all hang out, you deserve it.

In Detroit, U-turns can be done at any time on any street, even in front of cops, despite them being illegal in Michigan.

It is technically illegal to drink alcoholic beverages in San Francisco parks, but the police will leave your group alone as long as the bottle/can/mixing cup is discretely tucked away from open view when not in use (e.g. don't advertise it), and as long as nobody gets shitfaced enough to bother other parkgoers. What bothers other parkgoers depends, of course, on just how shitfaced everyone in the park happens to be at the time. ;)

The Pittsburgh Left is the only thing that keeps traffic moving on many streets too narrow for turn lanes. The trick is to start your movement just before the light turns green so that opposing traffic knows what you're doing. That is unless they have already flashed their lights to give you the okay.

I'm not a native and I love the Pittsburgh Left.

Most of the streets where people do this are wide enough to fit both cars, but for some reason, Pittsburgh drives in the middle of any street without lines. Oh well, giving the ascending car the right of way works so I just go with it.

Another unwritten traffic-related rule:

- There are no enforced speed limits on both Bigelow Blvd and Rt 28 from Downtown to just past the Blawnox exit where a Harmer Twp cop sits daily. These are the Pittsburgh Autonbahns, enjoy

I've spent a lot of time in Deloris park with the post-brunch crowd. Everyone is drunk and continues their drinking openly. I'd hardly call any of it discrete.

San Fransico is funny how even the act of waiting at a restaurant is part of the dining experience. People just get shitfaced standing in the street or on the sidewalk while waiting over an hour of a table at brunch time and the restaurants make bank selling mimosas and bloody marys to the crowd. It's like no one in that city thinks something is worth the while unless you have to queue up for it. The drinking just makes sit even more of an event.

The problem with the Pittsburgh Left is when people allow like 5 people to go in front of them... thinking they’re being so considerate, right? No, they’re being terribly inconsiderate to all the people behind them who now won’t get through the light. Or when people stop in traffic (not at an intersection) to allow a left turner to turn in front of them for no fucking reason whatsoever, nearly causing cars behind them to ram into their back.

Hear you on 28... it can be total slot car racing through the twists and turns. Speed limit is 45 :haha:

Yeah this doesn't strike me as something that would jive in a major city like Chicago, NY or Philly. Small towns are more tolerant and laid back about this sort of thing. I used to leave my car running while I ran into a store when it was 20 below in Upstate. It would be gone in a bigger city.

St. Louis:

St. Louis established independence from St. Louis County many, many years ago. Currently it is not in any county. All places located within St. Louis County shall be referred to as being "in the county" rather than in a specific city. To be more specific, you may refer to things as being in "North County," "South County," or "West County." (What's particularly interesting is that many St. Louisians don't seem know this is unique to St. Louis and refer to suburbia in other cities as being "in the county.")

This one is a pet peeve of mine so pardon the rant... apparently, under no circumstances, should a driver turning left from a traffic light pull out into the intersection to prepare for a break in traffic. If the light turns yellow and traffic has not cleared, you wait for the next light cycle. Worse, if there is not a left-turn lane and you are behind someone who is trying to turn left, you must not try to go around them regardless of how much space there is to the right of the left-turning car to do so. You, also, will be waiting for the next light cycle. In the three previous metro areas I have lived - Chicago, Ames, IA, and Omaha - each of a wildly different size than the others, it is accepted that however many cars turning left that can fit into the intersection before or at the moment a traffic light turns red are allowed to turn left without any hassle from other drivers.

If you move away for college, you must eventually move back with a spouse or significant other.

Only natives enjoy provel cheese.


Chicago:

The Sears Tower shall never be referred to by any other name, regardless of what any current owner names it. I believe this holds for Comiskey Park and the John Hancock Center as well... or maybe it was just me.

With some exceptions, Wrigleyville is not an appropriate area for going out on weekends for anyone past their mid-twenties.

When parallel parking, it is polite to park as close as possible to the car ahead or behind you so as to allow as many cars to park as possible. Lightly tapping someone's bumper when trying to fit into a particularly tight space does not warrant any compensation to the owner of the other car.


Omaha:

The street system is a grid. North-south streets are numbered and east-west streets are words or letters. As such, when telling someone the location of a place, you do so by listing the closest arterial cross streets in the order of numbered street first, then word/letter street (ie, "Yeah, I grew up near 156th and Maple").

There shall be no city rivalry between Omaha and Lincoln for Lincoln is home to University of Nebraska Husker football and is thus Mecca. Des Moines however..

The demarcation between urban and suburban is 72nd Street.

Spaghetti Works has only one acceptable location.

Plus, no waiting for some pedestrian to cross the street. If they're not physically blocking the lane you're trying to get into, you drive around them.

You're allowed to make a U-turn anywhere without a median if you spot a parking spot on the other side of the street. Likewise you can make an immediate U-turn after pulling out of your spot if your destination is in the other direction.

If someone tries to get around traffic using the left turn lane, you're obliged to make it unpleasant for them to merge in. If they use the shoulder, you don't let them in at all.

"Avoiding traffic" is an acceptable excuse for not wanting to go somewhere between 7-10am and 4-7pm. Anyone who works a shift that doesn't start/end at these times is to be congratulated for not dealing with traffic, even if that shift is 10pm-6am.

Don't make eye contact with panhandlers/flower sellers in the median unless you plan on giving them change.

On the freeway, the speed limit in the right hand lane is ~70. Everywhere else it's ~80-85. You always drive the speed limit if able unless someone spots a cop. You will know when someone spots a cop because all the traffic suddenly slows down to 65.

Arizona, the one that comes to mind is the "requirement" that restaurants and other public accommodations provide free drinking water if requested. This one is prevalent enough that it's become sort of an urban legend that it's actually a codified law, and you see it on "strange laws" compilations, even though it's not actually a law. I imagine most places all over the country are not charging for water, but it's deeply ingrained here, and you don't really see even the occasional place only providing bottled water for sale, or having a surcharge for tap water, like I've seen in other places.

- No own "owns" a public parking space on your street, even in front of your house. Attempting to reserve a shoveled spot by blocking it will be a failure. The chairs and objects in the photo would be scattered or crushed if anyone tried that here.
- In winter stop signs are slow-down signs, as stopping puts you at risk of getting stuck on ice, or rear-ended by the guy behind you. Divers learn to alternately weave through. (some people continue this habit all year...)
- You must make your own lanes on city streets, as weaving around stopped and turning cars is expected, and what may seem like a 2-lane street may functionally operate like a 3 or 4 lane street. In winter its a necessity, in summer the city helps out by not re-painting the stripes as often as needed.
- Two conflicting local laws are waiting at least 5 seconds after a light turns green for the yellow-light runners to pass and immediately leaning on the horn if the guy in front of you isn't off his brakes as soon as a light turns green.
- And along with the above, speeding up at a yellow light is a necessity, as the driver behind you is not looking at your car but at the light ahead of you and will rear end you if you slow down or stop.
- Speed limits on expressways are not to be exceeded, and speed limits on city streets are to be ignored. Unless you are a Canadian, and then the opposite applies.
- A fondness for ranch dressing on wings is considered at best a character flaw or at worst a disgusting adulteration of the the local preference for blue cheese. It is best to avoid ranch when visiting. (look up Joey Diaz rant on Joe Rogan show for context).

In Canada's capital city of Ottawa, when skating on the Rideau Canal (the world's largest skating rink), it's perfectly cool and safe to leave your boots under a bench or in one of the shelters unguarded when you're out skating.

No one in a million years would expect your boots to get stolen.

Here the person who tried to claim "dibs" would be the one with their car being vandalized.

I live in a metro on the border between Ontario and Quebec. Both sides have their own city and provincial police, but for some things the RCMP (the Mounties) do patrol on either side - this is especially true of parks, and we have many large ones here.

Anyway a few years ago a media report revealed what many people had long suspected: in spite of the fact that the law is exactly the same on both sides of the river, the RCMP (often the same officers, I'd suspect) is much more lenient when it comes to alcohol in public on the Quebec side of the river than in Ontario.

Relative to the number of "interventions" they did, the number of tickets issued in Ontario was exponentially higher. In fact, they issued almost no tickets for drinking in public on the Quebec side.

Oh my lord...Stockholm...if written out, they would fill volumes.

Dibs is such a stupid unspoken law - especially the getting keyed part...How the hell does the idiot claiming a spot know the car in their spot was the car that moved their shit?

Another for Detroit: Speed limits are a suggestion. Speeding mostly doesn't start until at least 10 over the posted limit. A good rule of thumb is that a 55 MPH posted limit translates to an actual of 70 MPH. And a 70 MPH posted limit translates to an actual of about 82 MPH. There are some heavily enforced areas in some suburbs, but these are easy to spot because people will suddenly slow down and drive comically slow until they're out of the enforcement zone.

I hear some similarities here...

I've heard the county thing similarly in Baltimore, MD (which is also independent like St. Louis)... people say Baltimore City or Baltimore County, but haven't really heard a directional added to the county part.

Two other cities I've lived in, Dallas, TX and Erie, PA, are located in their same named counties. Though in the case of Dallas, it is actually in parts of 5 counties, which seems kinda ridiculous, but it is common in Texas for cities to be in multiple counties for some reason. Anyway, that likely has something to do with never hearing people refer to places outside of Dallas city limits as "in the county"... there didn't seem to be much identity with counties. People just said the city/town in the suburbs by name.

In the case of Erie, there is definitely a clear distinction... City of Erie (or somewhat less commonly Erie City) vs. Erie County (or commonly just "the county"). One hears "south county", "west county", but never "east county" for some unknown reason. People generally say the actual name of the town/suburban area, though older people still have that broad grouping distinction mindset -- City or County.

In high school sports, there was always the Erie Metro League (9 public and Catholic high schools in the city proper) and the Erie County League (11 public high schools throughout the county). It was always funny to have this dynamic in a smaller city. In the good ol days, I imagine it was more urban vs. rural (also meaning racially diverse vs. mostly white)... which gave the games a distinct flavor... and there was still some of that when I was in high school, but it was pretty much city vs. suburbs by then. Funny how high school sports can set boundaries among an adult population.


People in Pittsburgh do this, and I fucking hate it. Why are people so scared to proceed into the intersection and yield to opposing traffic when making a left turn? That's what everyone is taught when you're taking your driver's exam for your permit and your license, at least in Pennsylvania.

I think this is pretty common all over the northern US because the cities over the past century have been so much less transient... i.e., people's parents don't move as much.

Didn't quite get the reasoning behind that weird cheese on my pizza while there. Didn't hate it... but I can't say I enjoyed it. :haha:

Oh yeah, I agree it's kinda dumb, and I'm glad we have an off-street spot for our car so we can avoid it for the most part*, but I still find it interesting from a sociological perspective.

Strange and silly cultural "laws" like this that aren't really laws at all are fascinating to me. Especially the part where everyone just goes along with them, unspokenly.



(*) I drove over to andersonville this morning to swing by the dispensary and I was trying to find a side street spot to avoid paid parking on clark (the dispensary process is a crap shoot on time these days due to covid, sometimes there's a long line), and all over the place there were empty spots with lawn chairs, folding chairs, traffic cones, etc. I've lived in chicago long enough to know not to fuck with that shit, so I bit the bullet and paid for a spot on clark.

I've noticed in Detroit proper that traffic signals are treated like stop signs at night in some neighborhoods? Kinda strange.

I've heard that before but I've never really noticed anyone other than cops do it in Detroit. The only place I've actually seen this happen on a regular basis is in Rio de Janeiro. Cabs in Rio often treat red lights as stop signs at night.

On Pittsburgh's southside, the parking chair thing causes violent confrontations periodically. It's a VERY dense, maze-like 1820s semi-grid neighborhood with incredibly narrow side streets (I'm talking sidewalks not even 4' wide on some blocks) and a TON of bars... so there is a constant battle between residents and weekend drunks. Parking is a total nightmare on Thurs-Fri-Sat nights.

I used to bartend many years ago at a really popular college to early 30s bar, and there was an old yinzer (pejorative name for a white, blue collar Pittsburgher) who lived a block away and always was causing some type of trouble because someone parked in front of his shitty rowhouse. He would complain to us, as if we had anything to do with it. Funny thing is that he didn't even have a car, but he still didn't want anyone parking in front of his house. So he put up at different times, a sawhorse and an old microwave oven to claim "his" spot.

Both ended up through his front window.

^ for my own clarification, is the pittsburgh folding chair in the parking spot a year-round thing, or just after big snowfalls like in chicago?

If you attempted to "reserve" a parking spot like that in Chicago at any other time, it will be thoroughly disregarded. The "dibs" rule only applies to big snowfalls. What qualifies as a "big snowfall", and how long afterward "dibs" can still be rightfully claimed, are always open to some interpretation and debate, which can of course lead to conflict.

You see it year-round in Pittsburgh, but especially during the winter.

I think it's understandable if someone takes the time to shovel out the spot, but you'll see them in the streets in the middle of July. Some of the old timers in Pittsburgh's very dense neighborhoods just don't want people parking in front of their houses, and they often don't even own cars.

I've seen the same in Boston.

Gotcha, thanks for clarifying.

As I said earlier, "reserving" a parking spot in chicago is only ever tolerated after big snowfalls. It's the local culture's way of saying, "hey, I put in the sweat equity of digging out a foot of snow from this parking space, so I'm gonna keep it for a little while". And the vast majority of other people just go along with and respect that.

But in July? WAY out of bounds. That is definitely not part of chicago's parking culture.

Even if you attempted to call "dibs" on a space after a paltry little 1" snow, you'd be getting all kinds of sideways glares and stares from your neighbors. It's gotta be a big snowfall, one substantial enough such that digging your car out from under it actually means something.