Boston officials have tapped into the latest social media craze to remind residents that space-savers are not to be used to claim shoveled-out parking spots unless a snow emergency has been declared.
Following the mildly snowy weekend, which left 4 to 8 inches of snow on Boston, officials said any space savers left outside would be removed as trash.
To get the point across, the city made its own version of the wildly popular "Be Like Bill" Facebook meme, which swept the Internet this week and depicts a stick-figure person sitting at a desk — sometimes he's standing up, while wearing a winter hat — to criticize people's social media habits.
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The city's meme features a picture of a frowning chair, commonly used to reserve a parking space that has been cleared of snow, rather than a stick figure drawing of a person named "Bill."
The message reads: "This is Sebastian. Sebastian is a space saver. Sebastian is only used during a declared snow emergency in Boston. Sebastian goes away 48 hours after a snow emergency is over. Be like Sebastian."
City officials posted the image to both Twitter and Facebook. In less than an hour, Facebook users had shared the image more than 200 times.
In a stark example of how tempers can flare over parking spaces, at around the time of the posting Monday afternoon, a 27-year-old suspect shot another man in Dorchester in a parking dispute, police said. Police said the victim's injuries were not life-threatening.
Reminder for residents: No snow emergency was declared in Boston. Space savers will be removed as trash.
Posted by City of Boston on Monday, January 25, 2016
Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.