When we moved into our new home, we quickly discovered that our neighbor had very strong opinions about parking. There were no neighborhood rules limiting the number of vehicles a household could own or park, and both of our cars were legally parked in front of our house. Still, our neighbor insisted that we should have only one car. At first, we ignored her complaints, assuming she would eventually lose interest. But then a handwritten note appeared beneath our windshield wiper. It demanded that we move our “extra” car immediately and warned that there would be consequences if we refused.

We laughed it off because neither vehicle was breaking any rules. Three days later, however, we were suddenly awakened by the unmistakable sound of engines and metal chains outside. We rushed to the window and froze. Two tow trucks were parked beside our home, and both of our cars were already being hooked up. Standing beside them was our neighbor, arms folded, wearing an unmistakably satisfied smile. She looked directly at me and said, “Maybe now you’ll listen when someone tells you the rules.” I started laughing, which immediately wiped the smile from her face. “What’s so funny?” she demanded. I pointed toward our cars and told her she had just made a very expensive mistake…