The latest viral internet duel may have happened on April 1 but the standoff between two cars vying for the same parking spot was no joke.
Finding parking in Los Angeles can be quite a task, so when two anonymous drivers thought they had found the perfect spot in Koreatown, neither one would concede and instead blocked each other for over an hour-and-a-half.
Mariah Flores watched the scene unfold right outside her apartment window and decided to document the prolonged parking chronicle on her Instagram stories and Twitter with time stamps entitled "Parking in Koreatown, Los Angeles. A thread."
"I was just laughing the whole time really," Flores told ABC News Los Angeles station KABC after the incident went viral. "[I was] kind of nervous, like I can't leave this window for a while."
The scene: A two-way street with curbside parking. A black sedan hovers at an angle in an apparent attempt to properly back into the street spot. A silver sedan waits directly behind it, closing in on the space and blocking car one.
Flores gave a play-by-play over the course of three hours. Here's a look at it unfolded, according to Flores.
6:20 p.m.
"This car is blocking this other car from grabbing this prime spot."
Parking in Koreatown, Los Angeles. A thread: pic.twitter.com/GaZrHJ6WeL
— chicken tikka mariah (@Mrhflrs) April 2, 2019
6:40 p.m.
"Still here but now they have turned on their flashers."
— chicken tikka mariah (@Mrhflrs) April 2, 2019
Six minutes later: "Petty level 6,000 unlocked."
6:48 p.m.
At this point Flores said "this standoff is creating drama outside of the duel" adding that passing vehicles were "forced to go head-to-head with oncoming traffic" in order to bypass the two competing cars.
6:53 p.m.
"If this were a sport I'd imagine we're nearing halftime. The sun goes down in less than 30 [minutes], also a parking spot had opened up across the street but seems like this is more about the principle."
— chicken tikka mariah (@Mrhflrs) April 2, 2019
Flores even posted a poll to see what side people were on. "Are you team black car or sliver car?"
"Sadly I too have been sitting idle for almost an hour," she wrote at 7:16 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
Flores included confetti emojis and the caption "we did it" when the cars officially played their petty game for over an hour.
PLOT TWIST pic.twitter.com/zN2cGtsIa5
— chicken tikka mariah (@Mrhflrs) April 2, 2019
Shortly after, there was a plot twist when a parked vehicle in front of the black car pulled away, creating enough space for both cars to park.
7:51 p.m.
To Flores' shock, and everyone following on Twitter, neither driver would exit their vehicles.
— chicken tikka mariah (@Mrhflrs) April 2, 2019
Eventually the driver of the silver car opened the door to exit first.
When the drama was over, Flores shared a handwritten thank-you note to her newfound neighborhood entertainers and created a Gmail account so they could weigh in on what went down.
— chicken tikka mariah (@Mrhflrs) April 2, 2019
From Yanny and Laurel to the black and blue or white and gold dress, viral social media stories have a way of captivating and dividing audiences.
Even model and celebrity Twitter queen Chrissy Teigen weighed in, siding with #teamblackcar.
This is a DREAM thread. #TEAMBLACKCAR https://t.co/HVLE9GcgMk
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) April 3, 2019
black car wasn’t just driving then saw in his rear view mirror there was a spot behind him. He passed it on purpose. TO PARALLEL PARK. anyone saying silver car - U ARE A MEAN AND BAD DRIVER!
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) April 3, 2019
