John Kass, whom I normally cannot stand, has a clever article today about "Dibs" in Chicago (and perhaps other cities?). It is quite well described by Kass as:

quote:

For those who don't know, Dibs is about making use of old kitchen chairs, two-by-fours, milk crates, broken baby strollers, fishnet-stocking-leg lamps, paint buckets and other junk. These are placed artistically in the street parking space that you just shoveled out with your own hard labor. It means the space is yours, or, "I got Dibs over by here."

The Dibstitution is the "sacred document" with the Bill of Dibs that sets forth your rights when claiming your Dibs. For example, it explains what happens when a foolish neighbor disrespects your Dibs; overnight his car is transformed into a gigantic block of ice.

Oh, we do have fun in Chicago!

But, butttt, Kalleh, Eugene V. Dibs was a Socialist who woulda said that was anybody's parking space!

quote:

For example, it explains what happens when a foolish neighbor disrespects your Dibs; overnight his car is transformed into a gigantic block of ice.

Around here it's called "urban terrorism."

Wow, shoveling out parking space on a public street? Har, har, youse guys are saps (Bklyn accent).

I can imagine how long a few dibs would last on my old block in Brooklyn. On those occasions when one's parking headaches were complicated by snow-- & the city hadn't suspended alternate-side-of-the-street parking-- everyone would sit in their cars, engine already warmed up by 7:58a.m., waiting for the checkered flag to drop & race, careening, into the unshoveled parking spots.

Several years ago the mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino, made it official that anyone shoveling out a parking space was entitled to it. How the courts would have looked at any dispute over one is another matter.

Here's a photo gallery of dibs in Chicago.