tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344981180035127840.post1477810757520427680..comments2023-05-09T06:52:16.263-07:00Comments on Neighborhood Watch: Down with "Dibs"Christyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14762814181349108405noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344981180035127840.post-12778724483454312072011-02-21T07:36:44.037-08:002011-02-21T07:36:44.037-08:00Thanks for the tip, Anonymous. Looks like the book...Thanks for the tip, Anonymous. Looks like the book is out of print and available only through antiquarian booksellers or rare-books collections. It'd be fun to stumble across a copy one of these days.<br /><br />Found this nice photo of the cover, though:<br /><br />http://digital-libraries.saic.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/jfabc&CISOPTR=3022&CISOBOX=1&REC=1Christyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14762814181349108405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344981180035127840.post-9502194662103066212011-02-20T15:29:28.881-08:002011-02-20T15:29:28.881-08:00Check out Cal Kowal's photo monograph of Dibs ...Check out Cal Kowal's photo monograph of Dibs in the 70's. Great fun photosAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344981180035127840.post-6887253694492808022011-02-16T05:52:10.915-08:002011-02-16T05:52:10.915-08:00The claim that you aren't entitled to an opini...The claim that you aren't entitled to an opinion because you don't own a car really annoys me. That's like that people who don't own dogs shouldn't have a say in leash and poop policies, right? Grrrr.tracyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06620325789994488046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344981180035127840.post-34113266481049489342011-02-15T22:03:30.517-08:002011-02-15T22:03:30.517-08:00Good post - "Dibs" is such a divisive to...Good post - "Dibs" is such a divisive topic in Chicago. I agree though, that if everyone worked together to shovel out the street, expend that same effort they did on cars, problem solved. I love your chair idea though.. I get so tired of looking at the dirty snow and Dibs detritus..grrr.Ms.Dinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17117125874097499674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344981180035127840.post-41636335528165819472011-02-13T18:41:56.317-08:002011-02-13T18:41:56.317-08:00Rosemary, I *love* the Skittles guy. He took somet...Rosemary, I *love* the Skittles guy. He took something so volatile and made everyone laugh at themselves. In some ways he brought the pro-dibs and anti-dibs lobbies together.<br /><br />And this brings me to exactly why I struggle with dibs so vehemently. They're so divisive, truly separating people from one another, at exactly the time they should be coming together. Where's our collective spirit? Where's our collaborative verve?<br /><br />One of my friends made the point that if everyone simply worked together to dig out the street (I'd add the need to dig out the sidewalk to make it a truly egalitarian enterprise), there would be no need for dibs. But if everyone *doesn't* work together, all bets are off. Hence the argument for dibs.<br /><br />I have to say, if people turned this practice into something artful (go Pittsburgh!), I'd probably feel a bit differently. I'm interested to hear if my friend Adriane weighs in, as she's lived in Pittsburgh for almost the last 10 years.<br /><br />One thing is true: I feel like we Chicagoans owe the rest of the country an apology. As I understand it, this tradition started here, then was adopted in cities across the country. I feel like we're capable of far nobler cultural contagions :-).Christyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14762814181349108405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344981180035127840.post-42454693634323853212011-02-13T14:57:07.223-08:002011-02-13T14:57:07.223-08:00I have such mixed feelings about this. On the one...I have such mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I stopped going to the 4th of July parade in Greeley altogether after people started setting up blankets on the parade route to mark out their viewing spot the night before...then the day before...and then a couple days before. <br /><br />To me, the whole point of a parade was (as in Bexley growing up) to wander down about half an hour beforehand, visit with neighbors, and *then* catch the parade. It really pissed me off that people were claiming their "right" to public space so far in advance. For years I harbored secret fantasies about setting the blankets alight.<br /><br />But the parking chair has kind of become near and dear to my heart, at least as the tradition is practiced in <a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10041/1034666-51.stm" rel="nofollow">Pittsburgh</a>. <br /><br />In part I admire the PGH tradition because it does seem to be universally honored, which suggests a kind of collective folk civility that I like. But Pittsburghers also have embraced the parking chair as a fact of local culture--last winter, the Children's Museum had an exhibit of <a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10051/1037246-51.stm" rel="nofollow">art-ified parking chairs</a>, and in fact the last time I was in the Strip I saw a t-shirt with the image of a folding chair and the phrase "Respect the Chair" on it. <br /><br />Still, I agree that given the way blizzards tend to wear down even the most courteous, it's a tradition that could easily turn ugly. (I saw that video of the guy in Chicago who snow-blowed his neighbor's car after she "borrowed" his snow shovel.)<br /><br />I'm glad that some folks in your neighborhood have been able to maintain their sense of humor about it--go, Skittles-wrapper guy!Rosemaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10223441754197927551noreply@blogger.com