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Do you do "dibs?" Since we're smack dab in the eye of the storm, with 5 inches freshly dumped on us and up to double that coming tonight and tomorrow, we figured this would be an appropriate time to discuss "dibs."
Despite the obvious problems with plowing this year, it's hard to defend the process that has become tradition in Chicago every winter. We've all seen the ironing boards and lawn chairs and milk crates in the street after every snowstorm. But a simple lack of space and effort involved in clearing it doesn't make it right, does it? Even our Esteemed Mayor Daley famously defended the process, equating things like vandalism and destruction of property to a "tradition." Right, in the same way that riots are a "tradition" after Bulls championship victories, Mr. Mayor?
In our completely anecdotal evidence of two days walking to the El and some rubbernecking out of the window, it does seem like dibs has diminished (at least for this year). Maybe change we can believe in carried a shovel with it. And a short, completely unscientific survey of the Chicagoist staff reveals a range of emotions from "dibs is the domain of total scum" to "we shovel other peoples spots because we're awesome human beings." (Which, of course, we are.)
It's understandable to feel that if you put in the sweat equity of clearing out some snow, you want to hang on to it for a while. But what happened to doing something for the sake of doing something good? As for anyone that breaks windows, slashes tires or puts glue in locks in spite, those people deserve swift kicks in the ass.
Here's a short list of some "dibs" resources:
Zorn discusses the etymology of dibs.
An interesting essay on "dibs" by law professor Fred McChesney.
Metafilter discussion on selling "dibs" by Wrigley Field.
A short "dibs" discussion from UofC equating it to property rights and patent law.
The LA Times looks at "dibs."
And finally, here's the last time we posed this question, 2 years ago.
We don't know about you, but we'll be out there with our shovels soon enough, heart attack risk be damned. Pay it forward and all. (That, and we don't have an ironing board we can spare to the elements.) Your thoughts?
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I don't drive, but usually if I see this sort of crap when I'm out walking I tip it over out of spite/justice.
I do the same*. Those are public streets, and dibs represents litter.
* perhaps not as often as I would Iike, because I am a wuss who worries that some unsuspecting driver then would take the spot and face vandalism from the Chicago sheep who keep this stupid tradition going.
In any case, if you can't handle parking without dibs, perhaps you should move to Naperville and its pristine driveways, to use a favorite tool of the cavemen Chicago natives.
Yeah, I hate this shit. Then you've got the mayor lending some kind of legitimacy to it with his comments. Another reason to get rid of him. It should be treated like garbage and removed from the street. If everyone even halfway did their part of shoveling even a little bit around their vehicle it wouldn't be necessary.
I think you should be allowed to use anything you want to mark "your" spot, as long as it is licensed and functioning automobile.
From what I've seen most jagoffs who employ dibs don't even bother with the shoveling they just want priority parking on a public street.
Since the city needs money why not just start actually selling the parking spots. A few hundred dollars for a year of reserved parking could go a long way to filling the hole in the budget.
And we're off...
I was waiting for this "discussion" to begin, what with the snow and all. It's old school Chicago vs. new school Chicago. I look at it (and other discussions of what is now socially acceptible in the city) as an evolutionary examination. But, please, continue...
I had never seen nor heard of this until I moved to Chicago.
It's pretty funny...and even funnier to listen to opposing sides argue about it.
But I will never understand how someone can think that a patch of PUBLIC PROPERTY is their own. All summer long you deal with off street parking, and then all of the sudden you stake a claim on land just because you shoveled some snow.
I'm all about tradition, but some traditions really have to fade away.
This really needs to stop. I was mad when Daley defended it a few years back. I have actually shovelled a spot, left and come back to to have someone claiming "dibs" on the spot I shoveled. I promptly moved their junk to the curb and parked, no retribution. However, I did drive a piece of crap at the time.
I think it is still early in the season yet, and in the last 10 years, we haven't had snow like this-this early. But Tuesday night did bring out the flotsam and jetsam. Growing up I used to see rocking horses, ironing boards (as listed), chairs that were worth A LOT more than the owners thought, and even laundry baskets. Now I'm seeing bullshit like old Tide boxes and window flower boxes. If you are going to shovel out a spot, and defend it with your life, at least put a trophy out there that is worth it to stake your claim. Are you going to put a single-wick candle on a wedding cake?
Now I'm seeing bullshit like old Tide boxes
An old Tide box??? That's not "dibs", that's trash. Kick that sh*t to the curb!
I think it's utterly ridiculous to claim a parking space for your own. As I walk to and from the L for work I will pull any garbage I see being used for this and move it to a dumpster in an alley.
Not only is the act of saving a parking space for yourself selfish and stubborn but you make the neighborhood look like a freaking DUMP because now we have your crappy dining room chairs and milk crates all over the street.
This isn't Sanford & Son.
I hate it. Thus far my street hasn't been bad, I think there are three or four people claiming dibs, and luckily parking on my street in general isn't bad.
I look at dibs as an opportunity to go rummaging for pieces of furniture I normally wouldn't buy. things like coat and hat racks, bar stools and chairs, ottomans and toadstools. If you claim dibs with a pair, it winds up in my kitchen or den.
It seems to me that the same people that will spend an hour shoveling out a parking spot are the same ones that won't spend 20 minutes on their sidewalks.
"This isn't Sanford & Son." LOL.
We discuss this here nearly every year and it's refreshing to hear everyone say that this is a ludicrous practice.
I am so over this tired argument that if you are against dibs, you must be a naive transplant who knows nothing about Chicago. Just like if you weren't absolutely born in the city of, you obviously have NO idea how government works, so you shouldn't expect anything more than horribly corrupt, dumbed down Daley politics ... because your garbage gets picked up and your snow gets plowed.
Oh, wait. That's not happening now. And we still have a buffoon for a mayor. Who's naive now?
Dibs is one of the stupider Chicago traditions, borne of the same strange sense of Midwestern territoriality that prompts Chicagoans to cross their arms and spread their legs wide on an el seat, taking up as much of the other seat as they deem their right.
I haven't seen any chairs on my street yet, but health issues are giving me lots of time off while everyone else is working. Once dibs kicks in, I intend to collect a lot of free chairs.
I take extreme pleasure in moving chairs, traffic cones, saw horses, whatever, out of the way in order to park.
It's a public street. I need to park. Any questions?
Another infuriating thing about dibs is that once somebody stakes their claim they'll leave their shit out there trying to hold on to their space long after the street's clear.
"An old Tide box??? That's not "dibs", that's trash. Kick that sh*t to the curb!"
@ Stealth - You can't man. They fill it with sand, or rocks or something. I only hope there wasn't a camera on me when I tried moving one. I looked like I was trying to coax a mule.
@ Chuck
Some apartment by my house had four bar stools lined up taking four spots. Perfect shape, and vintage like out of Kelcy's Bar or Goodfellas. I still regret not grabbing those. They were the type of stools you build a bar for because you have them.
@Von Erich:
My dog's favorite chair (until I tossed it) and matching ottoman was something found walking around at 2 a.m. One good steam cleaning and it fit right in.
Clear? Try "long after it rains and all the snow has melted."
This "tradition" makes us look like a bunch of rubes.
I go out of my way to move anything of this nature.
To me, this is where corruption starts.
You think the likes of Blago and Daley sprang fully formed and ready to pay/play you into the ground? No. It starts with claiming a bit of public land as your own. Cause it's easier, cause it seems reasonable, it seems "fair". You did all that digging, why should that yuppie asshole with the Obama sticker on his Mini take "your" spot? Why should someone "nobody sent" get that job when your cousin has been out of work for six months with a bad back? Corruption starts with fairness and ends in madness.
I grew up in Chicago, spent my childhood digging out sidewalks and parking spaces on my street. I used to get five bucks from the old couple in the 2-flat next door whenever it snowed to clear off their big huge buick, start it up and get it warm. They never put out dibs and when I offered to the wife said it was "unfair to all the other people." She saw the street (and to get all Mitch Album on you, the whole city) as a place for everyone, not something you get to call "dibs" on.
Mind you, taking someone's dining room chair from a spot is sticking your head in the lions mouth and being surprised when you suddenly see a white light and lots of dead relatives.
Interesting insight, Albany. Never thought of it that way.
Well, as usual, I seem to be on the less popular, uncool side of this argument. Saving shovelled parking spaces is a Chicago tradition, much like ketchup-less hot dogs, "party cut" pizza and sixteen inch softballs. If you don't like dibs, then move to a different city, because it is not going away.
I am somewhat distressed, however, that the once ubiquitous vinyl floral-print dinette chairs (historically used by many to save parking spaces) seem to be disappearing.
Kass or Zorn will write about this for the 357th time and a bunch of people will come out to defend the practice of claiming a city street and the right to break the windows of cars that take their spot. Whatever.
Dibs is proof positive that your average born-and-raised Chicagoan will turn into an uncivic-minded thin-skinned asshole as soon as it gets cold outside and they have to actually do something the city won't do for them.
The sprit of "I will"
If you don't like dibs, then move to a different city, because it is not going away.
Love it or leave it, heh?
Hey, I don't like the Daley-Stroger friends-and-family plan, part of another tradition. Do I have to surrender my Chicago passport for that, too?
Some traditions are stupid, and some survive only because they benefit a brain-dead minority. The existence of a tradition does not assume wisdom or efficiency.
And the no-ketchup thing is dumb, too. It's a fucking hot dog, not caviar or prime rib.
One of my friends spent an hour digging out a spot once. She went to work and returned later to see lawn chairs in the spot she'd dug out. She moved the chairs onto the parkway and parked there. She returned later to find one of her windows broken. That's not a tradition. That's called "being a fucking asshole."
I don't have a car, but I always move the crap people leave so there won't be dibs on my block.
And it works!
The dibs fools learn quickly that they can't save spots here!
Matilda, I agree with you 100%
I put extra ketchup on my hot dogs.
Well, allow me the temerity of speaking for the masses when I invite you to head to North Ave. beach and start walking east. You'll find surcease of sorrow in the icy depths.
I only like ketchup and onions on my hot dogs. Maybe some dark mustard, but that neon green relish? My body is a temple.
A temple to Dionysius, but a temple all the same.
This is just part of the city and it's ways. It's been around before you were here and will likely remain after you're gone.
it's still ridiculous, Mucky.
Oh, great, guys....
I just got back from Trader Joe's with tons of 'snow storm food' and a few bottles of cheap wine and now I'm CRAVING a hot dog. With ketchup. And I did not get any hot dogs.
:(
Mind you, taking someone's dining room chair from a spot is sticking your head in the lions mouth and being surprised when you suddenly see a white light and lots of dead relatives.
LOL. Amen. While I have never actively participated in dibs (I could never decide what to put in the parking spot that seemed appropriate. Anal-retentive: that's how I roll), I NEVER move anyone's stuff. Even if you don't agree with the practice, there are a bunch of nuts out there as any casual perusal of the newpaper will let you know, and retaliation, if they see you, may range from fisticuffs to something involving ballistics.
If you can get away with tossing their junk, do it. But just remember that the person who put that out there is no doubt very old school and probably not prone to give-and-take discourse.
i am pretty hardcore about mustard/onion on the old dog. but if you want ketchup (myuk), go for it.
and i *NEVER* move dibs crap after i heard that some dude got his whole car frozen solid (nice bucket of water on a cold ass day doesn't turn out so well) after he moved someone's dibs. dibs is crazy, but i don't screw with crazy.
here's what *I* want to know: does anyone know what the penalty/fine/punishment is for getting caught doing donuts/turning too tight a radius/some shit like that??
I find the idea of any practicer of "dibs" getting pissed about someone walking off with their junk ridiculous, since they seem to be the same type of people that would take your lawn chairs, grill, whatever off your front walk or porch in a minute if you weren't looking.
I was born and raised here in Chicago and I think dibs is the most meatheaded practice ever.
I don't know about the rest of you, but in the Chicago I grew up in, people had manners and respected their neighbors. Growing up, no one on my block would have tried this. If they did, they would have been regarded as the block douchebag and their shit would have been in the alley in no time.
THANK YOU mitchapalooza for pointing that out. Is it just in my neighborhood, or does nobody shovel their sidewalk anymore? Nothing makes me sweat quite like pushing a stroller with two fatty toddlers in it through 4 inches of snow shoveled ONTO the sidewalk by people digging their cars out.
As the offspring of good old civic-minded southsiders, let me just clarify that dibs seems to be practiced by people who live in neighborhoods that have become gentrified and more crowded than they used to be. They get all discombobulated that they no longer have that spot right out front (that they believe is theirs) so the whole sad white trash lawn chair thing ensues. My grandparents never drove their whole lives but my grandfather still shoveled the walks of several old ladies on his block. His neighbors would dig out spots and park their cars on the street even though they had garages. Anyone who took their spot got the bucket of water treatment. The only people I see dibbing spots on the northside are lifelong residents. They're the same kind of assholes who you see out on Addison on game days, selling their garage spots. On my street there's one house with like six cars and they dib the hell out of the end of the block. I'm sure they wouldn't hesitate to set my car on fire if I took one of their spots.
I'm contemplating an extravagent display to take up a spot, with no intention of ever parking there.
As the offspring of good old civic-minded southsiders, let me just clarify that dibs seems to be practiced by people who live in neighborhoods that have become gentrified and more crowded than they used to be.
i disagree. "Dibs" has been going on WAY before the current gentrification move has been happening. I'm talking late '60s, 70s', etc. (at least that I can remember, and quite possibly before that). i saw it in my 'hood and it was far from gentrified.
That being said, anyone with a garage and driveway who "dibs" a parking spot on the street should have their tires flattened. No matter how many cars they have.
I am happy and a bit surprised to see people condemn this. I have always thought it was pretty selfish. It is a public street bub, sorry. We should try to shovel a larger than needed area and the street will be clear. DO NOT shovel your snow onto my car.
The practice of Dibs is also illegal. It violates ordinance 10-8-480 (Casting refuse and liquids public way) which is punishable by a $50-$200 fine.
Albanyparkour most also be a
Voodoo Houngan because he most have stolen a piece of my cho!
How else do you explain him all of a sudden becoming all most as funny/clever as ME!
Any way last year I saw this fat moron( who drives a 1980's conversion van ) come waddling down the alley, with four chairs, and shovel which used to
clear a spot right infront of my H.Q.!. He lived on the next block! Oh yea I tossed those chairs pronto! First of all I hate all those conversion vans that litter Logan Square in the first place!
Any way I enjoy walking home drunk at 2:00am and just tossing chairs in the alley.
LOL Spook!