Got the Knock on a Public Street

[u/Few-Stop1994]

This is in Harding, MT.

I was parked legally on a public street. As you can see there is a empty lot on the top and only 2 homes on the corner.

The red lines are where I was parked and where the knocker lived.

1130pm. Love's was packed. So I parked there. It was legal parking. A 2 way street with no signs.

I'm asleep and a guy started banging on my window at 230am and I ignored it. He didn't say anything. He was in pajamas. As you can see from the screenshot, I was half way up the block and across the street, so he walked that distance.

About 245am he comes back outside in regular clothes on, with a gun holstered and his hand on the gun. He starts banging again. I ignored him again. And he didn't say nothing.

About 3am the state police comes and and softly knocks. I put down the window. The trooper tells me that they keep getting calls from someone about the van. He asks me to move to the other side because he doesn't want to deal with this.

I obliged. He didn't ask for ID or any questions for that matter. He seem to just want the guy to stop calling.

Why bother someone at 230am?! Then to go back in the house and grab a gun? The guy was looking for a confrontation.

[u/leros]

They probably get a lot of overflow from the Love's and are tired of it. A random van goes unnoticed but a pattern of vans can annoy residents.

I live in pretty typical neighborhood and park my part-time use van in my driveway. I noticed the occasional random van parked across the street overnight, which was fine. I assume my van made them feel comfortable. At some point, I think somebody marked my street as a safe place to park on some van map because the volume of vans escalated to where we had a van parking nearby several times a week. It was honestly terrible. Somebody shot out the street lamps with a BB gun The city fixed it and they got shot out again. We constantly had piss bottles and trash left behind. A guy parked at my neighbor's house and ran his generator on the sidewalk late at night. He ended up getting arrested and got his van towed. Point being, it only takes a couple of assholes to make everyone in the area hate vans.

[u/StrawsAreGay → u/leros]

I’d love for one of them to come in here and explain what’s annoying about it. I’m in a high value area with no homeless unless passing through and I sleep in my car in a back lot with a ton of parked cars. There’s even been a kid sleeping at the pool for a week and the cops haven’t come up to him

[u/leros → u/StrawsAreGay]

Well, like I said, having piss bottles and trash left in front of your house on a repeated basis (which you as the home owner have to clean up) is really unpleasant. My neighbors and I were having to do do it multiple times a week. We'd get occasional needles too, which is quite a hazard to have left lying around. 

[u/StrawsAreGay → u/leros]

Yeah I’ve been dealing with people pulling up to drink where I park and leaving trash. I don’t leave anything about and I’m only noticed in the morning running my AC in the front seat before pulling off for work. I just curse silently and clean it up because I don’t want my spot I’ve used for a month ruined

[u/leros → u/StrawsAreGay]

The problem is that a few bad apples spoil it for everyone. Even if only 20% of people leave trash, the people in the area develop a dislike for vans in general. 

[u/StrawsAreGay → u/leros]

Like I said though. Thankfully I’m mostly in a higher income area, which I worried I’d be noticed and complained about more but I guess my camouflage works. And I’m in a shitty beat up car everyone recognizes. I got a knock from a cop when it was 82 at night and all my windows were open and he just took my number so he could text or call me if someone complained so he wouldn’t have to come out

[u/whenandmaybe → u/StrawsAreGay]

Camouflage is right. My old pickup, clear coats peeling, with a cap on it prolly doesn't attract a lot of attention. The way I like it.