II Ani Hamehapech Becharara: Tortious Interference
1. Once A extends a significant effort into pursuing a piece of real-state, purchase, job opportunity, it is evil for a B to interfere with the A's pursued opportunity.
2. Instead, B is required to permit A to choose to consummate the pursuit and rather bother him/herself with attempting to pursue an alternative opportunity.
3. Significant effort includes (1) reaching a verbal agreement to carry through with the deal (2) the opportunity is "already in the first one's net."
4. According to the strict letter of the law, B may attempt to overtake A's pursuit if the opportunity is one of a kind the likes of which B cannot find an alternative.
5.
Nonetheless, it is virtuous for one aspiring for holiness to permit the
A
to consummate the pursuit even when no alternative exits for B to pursue for him/herself [Choshen Mishpat 237 ,Shulchan Aruch HaRav Ani Mehapech 13].
III Kibbud Av: Honoring Parents
1. Honor your father and mother [Shemos 20:12]
2. One must be very careful regarding the honor and awe of one's parents [Y.D. 240: 1].
3. A child is required to find a quality within his/her parent(s) in which the parent is unique, focus on it and develop an internal respect for the parent as a result of that attribute [R. Chaim Shmulevitz zt"l].
4. Kibbud Av is rooted in gratitude to them for providing you with life and its opportunities [Sefer HaChinuch 33].
5. When given a tablecloth, the recipient shows the benefactor how he/she uses it well and expresses his/her gratitude. The recipient does not return it to the benefactor. That's ingratitude!
6. Similarly, gratitude requires that a child must use the life that his/her parents gave him/her and make the best of him/herself and revere his parents, care for them even at an inconvenience, show them respect and not disrespect them. Gratitude for giving him/her life does not include giving up the life parents gave him/her in order to serve them.
This concept can be seen through the following Halachos amongst more [Rav Yitzchak Berkovits].
7. Honoring one's parents includes serving them and helping them with their physical and emotional needs. It is imperative to serve them gracefully and in a kind and respectful manner [Y.D. 240: 4].
8. A child is required to bother and inconvenience himself/herself and forfeit potential financial gains and opportunities in order to involve himself/herself in caring for his father provided that he has enough for himself for that day. If by serving the father, the child will not be able to feed him/herself, or the child will be forced to accept charity to support himself, the child is henceforth exempt from busying himself with caring for his father [Y.D. 240: 4].
9. The Poskim explain that this concept is not limited to finances. A child is not required to jeopardize his physical or emotional well-being, spiritual development, marriage etc. to care for his parents [Maharik shoresh 166: 3, Y.D. 240: 25].
10. Similarly, if the father can afford it, the son is not required to spend money on his father's feed. Instead, the father pays for the food, the child bother's himself and forfeits opportunities in order to care for father as well as paying for the means of getting to his father.
Applications
Let's return to the dilemmas:
We emailed these "ethical" questions to the CEO of SpotPog. (BTW surprise! little did we know, but the CEO Davens in Fifth Avenue Synagogue!) The details he provided in his response below have Halachic ramifications.
"As a practical matter we ask users to understand that all swaps will not be completed and the app provides for failed transactions.
The most common incident will be where another comes to the parked car and demands that he was there first and entitled to the spot irrespective of the anticipated swap. We ask that users not get into fights over spots and just assume that most, not all, swaps will be successful."
II
So it seems that even Mr. SpotPog agrees that SpotPog swaps are merely anticipated. We would argue therefore that the guy who pulled up first would be considered the mehapech and potential SpotPogger should yield to him/her even if he/she does not "demand" it like Mr. SpotPogger insinuated. (It could be that this could change in a few years if most people begin using SpotPog.)
III
Now for your father:
It seems clear that you must give the spot to your father and fail the transaction even at the expense of losing a point which could result in you having to trouble yourself a little more at some later point to find a spot. A child is required to trouble themselves to give his/her parents their needs. Moreover, not giving it to your father is not only a lack of respect, but it's disgraceful. We would not assume under general circumstances that risking having to circle for a spot at a later time (because you forfeited an opportunity to earn a Pog) is a sufficient enough loss to be considered like someone who does not have food to eat that day or whose involvement in serving the father would jeopardize his/her well-being.