Trouble in Paradise
Someone on our street - and most of us felt there was a likely suspect - had been putting anonymous notes on cars she didn't recognize or that didn't have DC tags and resident parking permits. The notes told them they were not allowed to park on our street, AT ALL. She also harassed at least one neighbor's mother-in-law. Can you imagine?! The good news, I felt, was that at least the cars weren't being vandalized, as has happened in the past. The bad news, of course: we still had a problem.
So it became incumbent upon Will and me, in our official positions as Neighborhood Watch Block Co-Captains, to say something. I felt like I was back in the classroom. How do you talk about something in such a way as to hopefully correct a miscreant's behavior while at the same time giving him or her a way to save face and come into the good graces of the rest of the class again. We came up with this.
"hello, dear neighbors,
we understand there remains some confusion about who may park on our block, when, for how long, and under what conditions. in fact, we have recently had two incidents in which the family or guests of some of our neighbors were wrongly chastised, verbally or via anonymous notes, for parking on our block. we do not think this is a good way for us to treat our neighbors or visitors. we don't want to be a block that is known for unfriendliness or unfairness.
as we understand it, anyone can park on our block
1. for under two hours during the day monday through saturday,
2. on any night (midnight to 7 a.m.), or
3. all day on sundays (7 a.m. to midnight).
residents can obtain a permit for parking for visitors from the 2nd district police station on idaho avenue. if you have visitors who are going to be here for a few days, you can even go over ahead of time to get it. you will need the car's license plate number to get a permit.
(shall we now try to solve the middle east crisis?)
thanks!
pat and will"
We sent it this morning and several hours later I got an email from Ms Miscreant 'fessing up and asking if I had any suggestions for dealing with the problem of having no place to park near your house when you get home late at night and having to walk to your house by yourself. I suspected that was the problem all along, but had no idea so told her I would consult with Will and maybe the whole block and we would see what we could come up with.
Last night neighbor Kathleen and I went for a long walk around the neighborhood and hashed over the events and considered possibilities, but still we could come up with nothing that seemed practicable. However, this morning Co-Captain will called with a brilliant idea - a Jocelyn Street escort service! So we are going to run that by Ms Miscreant and presuming it meets her needs ( I know it will meet the needs of several others on the street), we will put it out there to the block and see if it works for them and if we have volunteers. I have little doubt about that.
I am so impressed with Will! And so happy about probably coming up with a resolution to a big problem caused by the parking congestion on our street in a way that will make the whole block feel good about itself again.
So it became incumbent upon Will and me, in our official positions as Neighborhood Watch Block Co-Captains, to say something. I felt like I was back in the classroom. How do you talk about something in such a way as to hopefully correct a miscreant's behavior while at the same time giving him or her a way to save face and come into the good graces of the rest of the class again. We came up with this.
"hello, dear neighbors,
we understand there remains some confusion about who may park on our block, when, for how long, and under what conditions. in fact, we have recently had two incidents in which the family or guests of some of our neighbors were wrongly chastised, verbally or via anonymous notes, for parking on our block. we do not think this is a good way for us to treat our neighbors or visitors. we don't want to be a block that is known for unfriendliness or unfairness.
as we understand it, anyone can park on our block
1. for under two hours during the day monday through saturday,
2. on any night (midnight to 7 a.m.), or
3. all day on sundays (7 a.m. to midnight).
residents can obtain a permit for parking for visitors from the 2nd district police station on idaho avenue. if you have visitors who are going to be here for a few days, you can even go over ahead of time to get it. you will need the car's license plate number to get a permit.
(shall we now try to solve the middle east crisis?)
thanks!
pat and will"
We sent it this morning and several hours later I got an email from Ms Miscreant 'fessing up and asking if I had any suggestions for dealing with the problem of having no place to park near your house when you get home late at night and having to walk to your house by yourself. I suspected that was the problem all along, but had no idea so told her I would consult with Will and maybe the whole block and we would see what we could come up with.
Last night neighbor Kathleen and I went for a long walk around the neighborhood and hashed over the events and considered possibilities, but still we could come up with nothing that seemed practicable. However, this morning Co-Captain will called with a brilliant idea - a Jocelyn Street escort service! So we are going to run that by Ms Miscreant and presuming it meets her needs ( I know it will meet the needs of several others on the street), we will put it out there to the block and see if it works for them and if we have volunteers. I have little doubt about that.
I am so impressed with Will! And so happy about probably coming up with a resolution to a big problem caused by the parking congestion on our street in a way that will make the whole block feel good about itself again.
posted by pat at 5:48 PM
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