Chicagoist Reading Club Selection: Wikipedia's "Dibs" Page

By Chuck Sudo in Miscellaneous on Dec 28, 2010 9:30PM

Yeah, it's a slow news day. But it's given us a good opportunity to really dig in (pun intended) to Wikipedia's entry on parking chairs or, as they're more commonly known, "dibs."

It's a riot. Check out the "etiquette" section under "During Inclement Weather" (emphasis ours):

"It is always preferable to help neighbors dig out from heavy snowfall, rather than to claim personal parking spaces with chairs. When chairs are used during snowstorms, their intent must be as a short-term placeholder. A chair cannot be used for longer than the day during which the spot was cleared. It is not a free pass to use the spot indefinitely, especially during longer absences. Parking chairs must be removed as soon as a reasonable number of parking spaces become cleared on a street. This encourages collaborative neighborhood clean-up efforts."

Let's just cite this as the latest example as to why Wikipedia should not be trusted at face value. The chairs currently marking dibs on our block will be on the street through the end of March.