WATCH: A Duncan man with a big truck is gaining a bigger reputation as a bad parker. Monica Martinez speaks to the driver who says he’s sorry.
As a big rig truck pulls up into the parking lot at McKenzie and Quadra Street, people can’t help but stare.
Driver Matt Kwiatkowski is used to the attention but the comments he’s had lately have been anything but positive.
“Everybody keeps saying I’m a douchebag for what I drive and what I do,” he said.
On Tuesday, his bad parking job took up a disability spot, blocking the on ramp.
“The whole parking lot was full, I snuck in when I could. I was unaware of the handicapped parking there,” the independent contractor said.
It would have ended there, but Amanda Cook noticed the blunder, took a photo, and posted it to the Facebook group called Shit Parkers of Victoria.
“It made me a little upset. I was in a wheelchair for two months and it was hard to get around. When the parking lot is full, it’s even harder, so when somebody does that, it’s not acceptable in my mind,” Cook said.
The post got a lot of shares and comments, people calling the driver names, and posting negative reviews on his Facebook business page.
His home and work address are the same, causing him even more harm.
“We’ve had a couple of drive-bys at the house, people have been yelling and swearing at us,” Kwiatkowski said.
Social media expert Dr. Janni Aragon said the harassment has gone too far.
“It’s mobbing, it’s definitely mobbing. It’s one thing to be publicly called out, it’s another to be mobbed by the court of social media,” she said.
The excavator admits he is a regular offender who has popped up about 10 times on the Facebook page.
“It started out as a joke, parking randomly to try to drum out some excitement about it.”
But he knows the joke has gone too far.
“Oh I’ve learned my lesson ya. I’m really sorry about my parking around town, I will not be doing it anymore,” he said.
He knows he not only has a big truck but a monster reputation, that might take a lot of good parking jobs to turn around.
“I’m never shit parking again.”
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