Photo is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]
Photo is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]

A photo of shopping bags placed in a parking space to hold the spot has drawn widespread irritation online.

On Thursday, a post titled "The new way to reserve a parking spot: put down a shopping bag" appeared on the social media platform Threads, accompanied by a photo of a parking space occupied by bags.

The person who submitted the photo said, "Since people standing in spots end up on the internet, they're now using shopping bags instead."

The photo showed a paper shopping bag and a tote bag placed side by side in the middle of an outdoor parking space, with other vehicles parked in surrounding spots.

No car or person was inside the marked space, yet the bags sat there as if to block any other vehicle from pulling in.

The tactic appears to be a deliberate workaround: after incidents of people physically standing in parking spaces to block other drivers recently sparked public backlash, someone has now swapped the person for objects.

Under current law, however, there is no provision that directly penalizes such behavior.

Online reactions to the photo ranged from baffled to blunt: "I have no idea why anyone would do that," "Just move the bag — problem solved," "Looks like the kind of person who'd call the police if you touched it," and "Just run it over."


choigo@heraldcorp.com