Don’t park on the sidewalk. Like peeing in the swimming pool or stealing the neighbor’s paper, it’s just not something an adult should have to be told not to do.

Yet time and again, the ass end of someone’s car interrupts my run through the neighborhood, re-routing me and anyone else who comes along into the street. It’s the kind of illegal, inconsiderate and generally obnoxious behavior that gives the city a bad name.

Like many of Houston’s parking woes (crowded side streets, tiny lots, the profusion of sleazy valets …) the sidewalk-as-garage phenomenon stems partly from our famously loose planning regulations. Foreseeing this problem long ago, most other cities required new houses to have enough room out front to park a car. Houston didn’t, and many inner-loop homes skip the driveway altogether, leaving their owners with the annoying task of finding street parking when the garage is full.

Anyone who bought one of those houses knew that was going to be an issue before they moved in though.

Perhaps those who feel entitled to leave their Ford F150 sitting half way into the street think the only people using the sidewalk are Spandex-clad newcomers driving up property values and generally ruining the neighborhood. Fine. Screw the joggers. We’ll get over it.

But you’ll have a hard time convincing your neighbors why your convenience is more important than their kids’ safety. Children have a right to cruise down the block without a pointless detour into traffic. Same goes for the elderly, who often have a harder time stepping on and off curbs and around obstacles.

Most people have the decency to forgo that sweet handicapped space in front of the store if they don’t need it. Leaving the sidewalk clear for people using wheelchairs isn’t much different.

It’s hard enough being a pedestrian in Houston. Lately I’ve found myself staring death in the face three or four times a week while sprinting across five lanes of traffic on Main. I use a clearly marked crosswalk between a park and a college campus, which in most towns would oblige traffic to stop for pedestrians. Not here.

In that case, I suppose I can get over my indignation and wait for a break in traffic. People have places to be, after all.

But parking on the sidewalk? That’s just lazy.