A co-worker double-parked (and blocked people in) while going out of town for the weekend. How should we remind him to never do this again?

You could in theory try publicly shaming him on the internet. Or maybe use Saran Wrap to enclose his car. **Staff Edit to this Answer** (but it's okay, because @jammons is a staffer, too ;-) INTERESTED IN SEEING WHAT HAPPENED?

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That's a small car. I'd probably block it literally. However, it might be a bit dangerous.

We used to do this when we were teenagers. We would pick up a car and sit it on blocks. Another one that works well, if it's a man's car.

Buy the largest panties you can find. Spread them over the windshield. Attach a note that says: I had a wonderful time last night.

Can't wait to see you again. XOXO Smooches! We used to hook up an electric fence charger to cars, but I am afraid that might be a bit overboard and dangerous.

What is perfect, putting a dead fish or some tuna (something really stinky)-- in the blower motor or vents of the car. You'd have to get to it from the underneath part of the engine. It could be done.

Okay, it might be too far.

Patiently wait till next weekend and then while he is inside at work on Friday pop the hood of the VW, remove the distributor cap, remove the rotor beneath the cap, and carefully replace the distributor cap. S car will not be damaged at all but will not start at all either. Everyone you work with will be able to leave on a Friday while he waits for a tow truck, AAA, or whatever and then once they get there he and his new "Help me!" team will most likely spend the next few hours trying to figure out how to start the car.

No damage will become the car... it simply will not start. Or maybe even better remove the rotor before lunch so he will have to waste his lunch time trying to figure out why his VW will not start. The part can be replaced with no fear of damaging anything about the car at any free moment after the prank is considered over.

Or... once the prank is considered over the missing rotor could be anonymously left on his desk while he is not looking.. sneaky sneaky sneaky.

Strategically plan with all other employees to keep his car parked in for an entire week following his return. Nothing said , just always parked in.

Here's a couple more pictures of the fun times we had yesterday.

Jack up the car, put it on jack stands and put the wheels/tires in a "safe" place. Also, depending on the owners' taste, you could replace his wheels/tires with some "dubs" or pink powder coated rims.

You and all of your co-workers could forward all of your spam email to him until he gets back. Or maybe use some plywood and some 2 by 4's and build an outhouse around his car.

Keep your mouth shut until the next time he does it. When he parks like that again (this is a matter of "when" not "if") have the car towed. It's a shame that your boss didn't have it towed the first time.

Doing those 17 point turns to get out of a spot like that was a weak way to handle the situation. The problem might solve itself. If I were his boss and he parked me in like that (or two of my employees) the jerk would not have a job when he came back from his weekend out of town.

Now, to answer your real question: "What's a good prank? " Three words: "Valve Core Remover. " Remove the core from each fill valve on all four tires, put them in an envelope (I'd use a company letterhead envelope) then put that envelope under one of his windshield wipers.

Put a "traffic ticket" on his windshield, but instead of paying a fine he has to pay in "services" to the people he blocked in. Off the top of my head: services could include; getting food & coffee (everything from running to SBux to the vending machine), picking up dry cleaning, cleaning the cubes of those effected, etc. Oh... and (if applicable) he has to find any bugs in code -regardless of whose it is... For a week.

I would have had it towed out of the way, that is unbelievably inconsiderate. Put a potato in the tail pipe. When he gets back, it will start, begin to move and then keep stalling.

The next day place a bowl of mach potatoes on his desk.

I would personally just have the car towed. Getting into a debate or pranking him back may just escalate the situation. The best and quickest way to be sure he understands that he can not do that again is to simply have the car towed.

He will have to pay to get it out and perhaps the inconvenience of having to get it AND paying the bill will ensure he never does it again.

If that was my car blocked in like that, I'd just break the driver's window and push the car out into the street (if it was a straight shot). He could pick it up from the impound lot.

Put baby powder in the air vents. This way when he fires up the AC next he gets a face full of white stuff.

Get the guys that work there and pick up the front and put it out in the street. Call their wife/husband and have them come to move the car, tell them if their not there in one hour you will have it towed. If you know where they went call them up every half hour at night to remind them where they left their car.

Call them up and tell them their car was stolen and they need to come back immediately to talk to the Police. But in the end there is no car that I cannot get into. I have the wedges and the inflate bag.

I also have the shim to pull the doorlock.

Using washable paint, paint in large letters "DON'T DOUBLE PARK" on side, hood and back of car. Then place Jersey barricades around the car so it cannot move. (FYI, those are the movable concrete barricades they use on highways to make new lanes, etc.).

While this might violate Rule #1 - What you can do is to pour some sort of sticky substance (glue, honey, etc. ) over the windshield and then use some kind of candy (i.e. , M&Ms, Skittles, etc) to write "DO NOT PARK HERE" in that sticky substance. I have seen it done.

It was epic. AND it took the driver forever to get the windshield clean. :) Sadly I do not have photographic proof of said epic stunt.

Feature the car on each "This week in" show for a week, as a Public Service Announcement for how not to park. Identify the owner by name!

Re a crane and leave hanging in the air over the parking lot.

Jack it up and then moov it on wheel based jaces slowly to a totaly difrent location then take a can of insulation foam and fill the tail pipe no dameig done just a frustrating set of surcumstancees he will have to work ou that the foam is stoping it from starting and then sit down and remoav it or phone him and tell him it got nicked or shit on it or all of the above.

I was the co-owner of a retail store for a few years. It was not very big, on a busy street, and we had SIX parking spaces behind our building, on an alley, plus three spaces we rented in the parking lot next to the building, near our front door, from our next-door neighbors--even though the lot touched our building, it wasn't ours. There was a barbershop next door that kept using all of the spaces, and there were times that if I came in during the afternoon or had to run to a bank, I couldn't find a spot when I returned and I'd have to walk into the barbershop and get someone out of the place into their car and moving it so I could park.

Well, it took me only a few weeks to get P.O. 'd. It was hot, and I was in and out of the hospital that summer--I wasn't even working but occasionally had to go in to pay bills, etc.--and I didn't want to have to deal with a crowd of 40 people on the rare occasions I did have to go in. Never mind that one of those spots was the handicap accessible spot, which, if I was there I'd sometimes park in if I was going in and coming right back (I'm legit), but all of our spots--front and back--were being used by the barbershop's customers.

So I did a little research and came up with this: "10.40.240 - Parking on private lots or streets without consent.It is unlawful for any person to park a motor vehicle on a private parking lot, or on any private way or street without the consent of the owner of such lot, way, or street or the operator of such lot. " The back 6 spots were ours and we rented the front 3. Rent the spots.

We operated all of them. And there it was...On the spot ticket-worthy, fully legally, by municipal code. All I had to do was call.So I took that and put it on thirds of pink paper and I literally laid down the law.

At top: YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED T PARK IN THIS SPACE... At the bottom: THE OWNER OF THIS VEHICLE MAY BE SUBJECT TO FINES. PER UNIVERSITY CITY MUNICIPAL CODE 10.40.240. The City Prosecutor prosecutes all cases in City Court.

I began to place them face down under the windshield of every car that didn't belong there. Cconsidering it was a family biz with only two other employees besides the 3 of us, I knew right away which ones were supposed to be there. I did actually call the police department and have a few ticketed--the ones who didn't get the message.

One time I had to print out the law and hand it to a police officer so he knew to put "10.40.240 " as the violation on the ticket--he'd never written one for it before then. But it's on the books. Our 9 spaces were very accessible after about three tickets.

I first asked nicely Check municode. Com for your town. There may be something.

You might get the car towed for illegal parking--something you may or may not want to do. When I was in commercial property management in DC, our building used to have couriers park outside the back all the time and block trucks from pulling up to the loading dock. We shared an alley with a few buildings, including two huge labor unions and National Geographic.

We were one of the largest buildings on that alley, and blocking our fire exit was a huge ticket-worthy no-no. A quick call to the Third District station and the parking officer who was roaming the streets already had the ticket book in hand as they walked up to the building. THEY did not run plates, they just ticketed.

But if one of the DC police officers was close-by--in that area, 3 blocks from The White House, it was never hard to find a cop of some kind--tey would write the ticket, and if it was in a fire zone and they wanted to, they'd have it towed. And once it's on the hook it doesn't come off until it gets to the impond lot.

Evil grin* Place a nice sign on the windshield.

Talk about FRUSTRATION! How about covering his vehicle in toilet paper and on each window (in washable makers) write: "Thou Shall Not Piss Off Parkers.

The most that you could do is to write him a not so friendly letter, any other thing you do could be called damage and could cost people their jobs and in some cases arrest could be made. However, the whole office could make a big board that says "We All Want to Thank You for being Inconsiderate" and sign everyone in the offices name on it, with a note about how they feel about this inconvenience.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.