"Respect the chair:" After Pittsburgh's record-setting snowfall, residents break out the parking chairs

"Respect the chair or else." 

That warning is echoing across Pittsburgh as the city enters its fifth day of snow-covered streets and a full-on battle for parking in some neighborhoods. With curbside spaces buried and hard won, the iconic Pittsburgh parking chair is officially back and in action across the city.

It's the law of the land, or at least city streets.

For some residents, the practice is tradition. For others, it's a power move. Either way, locals strongly advise against ignoring it.

One resident summed up the frustration many feel after hours of digging out.

"You spend so much time digging out for someone to just come and steal it," said Chris Bishop. "It feels like the biggest insult you could give."

For many, saving a space is about survival after stepping out into feet of snow.

"Tables and chairs, it's all we have to be able to come back home," said Chris Bishop, a Morningside resident.

The markers are everywhere, and they're no longer limited to chairs. Cones, tables, and just about anything have joined the mix.

"I feel like it counts," said Tia Churchfield, another Morningside resident who put out a table. "My chairs are too big to go on the street, and the only thing I could pick up was the table. People have been respectful of the table so far."

But if you missed the memo, things might not end well.

Laura Nolen, who moved to Pittsburgh from Philadelphia six years ago, learned the lesson during this storm.

"When it snowed, I thought I was being neighborly and doing some Fred Rogers work and shoveled out some spots," said Nolen. "Now, there are chairs on all of them."

Now, she's parking several blocks away.

"I have the moral quandary of, do I go put a chair in something someone else shoveled?" said Nolen. "I don't think that's the etiquette, so I might have to."

For now, Nolen is choosing kindness and shoveling out another space.

Others, however, warn that breaking the "Yinzer law" can come with consequences. Online payback stories circulating on social media serve as cautionary tales.

"I've actually thought about that," said Churchfield. "I guess if I knew their car, I'd be knocking on your door."

Even Pittsburgh's mayor understands the message.

"Obviously, in Pittsburgh, there's a lot of chairs popping up on your street," said Mayor Corey O'Connor. "So please respect the chair law in the neighborhoods or whatever you want to call it."

In the end, the rule is simple: If you didn't shovel it, don't steal it. Respect the chair and be a good neighbor.