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.......