Random story time

"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch) 03/07/2015 at 22:04 • Filed to: None

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Me the wife and my girls were in the cruiser headed out to dinner tonight when something weird happened. The first intersection from our house is a 4 way stop. We approach from the North (heading south) and to the West (right of us) there is a light about 100 yards away. We pull up to the intersection and stop, then because we were the only people at the intersection moved off turning right (heading east towards the light). about 3/4 the way through the turn a pilot headed west coming from the light lays on there horn for 2-3 good long blasts and as we look over there is some middle aged woman giving us the scorn finger and "no no no" face with words...I mean...they were genuinely pissed at me for some reason. The only thing we could work out is that they thought we rolled through the stop sign, but from where she was coming from there is no way she could have even seen us stop.

The thought occurred to my wife and I to stop, and turn around and find out what bug was up her craw and what she was so upset about. But seeing as how this is obviously not the first time this has happened in my life I know better than to think like that. You can't pursue someone in your car, not unless you want to be involved in a conversation with the police "No officer, I had no intention to harm her, I just wanted to know what she was so upset about." Thats what made me the most upset. I mean, what does she think? That she can just scold a random driver for no reason and then...and then be immune from her actions? I mean, If i was just walking down the street and someone shouted "hey you! yeah you in the grey shirt! What they hell are you doing?!" would they be even a little surprised that I would come over and talk to them about it?"

It pisses me off to no end that there is no suitable course of action for resolving disputes like this once you are in a car. It figuratively kills me that people are immune in the repercussions of their actions in their cars.

What can you do?

XJDano > HammerheadFistpunch 03/07/2015 at 22:10

1

wave hello, like you know them and keep driving. Smile while doing it.

HammerheadFistpunch > XJDano 03/07/2015 at 22:11

1

That's what I usually do actually, this one caught us so much by surprise though...mostly by the exaggerations of her actions and partly because it interrupted a conversation...that we just looked at her like "the hell?"

Baeromez > HammerheadFistpunch 03/07/2015 at 22:15

0

I get how that could bug you, but I usually let those kinds of things go as soon as they happen so they don't have time to stick in my brain. Otherwise you'll find yourself staring at the ceiling at 3 am worrying about why some random stranger you'll never see again was momentarily upset with you. You'll never figure it out, and even if you had legitimately done something wrong in her eyes, who cares? It pays to be a little callous sometimes.

jariten1781 > HammerheadFistpunch 03/07/2015 at 22:18

7

Last week I quick flashed a lady because her hood wasn't latched. She u-turned and followed me to the grocery store all missed off. She got out all huffy and began a little 'what's your problem' rant. Then, when I pointed out her hood she swapped to full on embarrassed/apologetic mode.

My wife and I discussed it in the store and decided the best course of action would be to get those little suction cup children's bows and arrows, attach little scrolls of paper, write down whatever we are trying to communicate, then fire them so the stick to the windshield and the little banner would unfurl displaying our intentions.

It's a flawless plan.

HammerheadFistpunch > Baeromez 03/07/2015 at 22:18

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I'm actually very much like this, you heave to be with young kids, but as a driver who genuinely tries to...you know...drive everytime they get in the car, this kind of crap just throws error codes all up in my brain. Its like my wife said, if that happened to her, it would have distracted here enough that if someone had walked into the road she then...instead of seeing them because you were paying attention, she might have hit them. Target fixation and all that. I mean, what does this women hope to accomplish in her moment of vehicular shaming?

HammerheadFistpunch > jariten1781 03/07/2015 at 22:20

1

Flawless. I wish:

a. there was a better car to car comm method.

b. people didn't have to automatically assume the worst when in a car.

Baeromez > HammerheadFistpunch 03/07/2015 at 22:22

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Wouldn't be the worst case of irony if you were so worried about hitting someone because you were distracted by a minor incident like this that that worry in and of itself distracted you and caused you to do just that? That's why you just gotta go zen on the whole thing and let karma sort that old bitch out.

desertdog5051 > HammerheadFistpunch 03/07/2015 at 22:23

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Drivers can become weird when behind the wheel. I usually just blow them off for fear of some kind of maniac that could turn to a deviant/killer for no apparent reason. Out of the city, things seem to be different. Welcome to our current culture.

SonorousSpeedJoe > HammerheadFistpunch 03/07/2015 at 22:28

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If you review what you did and don't see anything wrong, you may as well let it go.

As far as letting others know something's wrong, I'm still puzzling over a way to alert a driver behind me that their high-beams are on - turning my rearview mirror so that the light shines in their face is the only solution I've come up with. It's not something I've ever done, though, as it strikes me as being unnecessarily aggressive and potentially dangerous.

HammerheadFistpunch > Baeromez 03/07/2015 at 22:32

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I oh hear you on the zen thing I really do. Its less worry and more just taking the time to process what it is that's happening. I mean, without clear information your brain naturally goes into processing mode, it may only be a second or two...but that could be all it takes. It's like if you are headed for a cliff and someone shouts "hey hey hey!" over and over...you are going to be off that cliff by the time you process what they hell they are trying to say. now "stop! your headed for a cliff" is information you don't need to process.

HammerheadFistpunch > desertdog5051 03/07/2015 at 22:34

1

Thats the true story that makes this most frustrating: its the world we live in that you have need to live in fear of that kind of stuff, bad news on both sides of the coin.

HammerheadFistpunch > SonorousSpeedJoe 03/07/2015 at 22:35

0

I do that one all the time but only at a stop. Its pretty common out west with big trucks. I mean its even happened in my cruiser.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > HammerheadFistpunch 03/07/2015 at 22:39

3

My knee-jerk response to situations like this is a big shit-eating grin and prom queen wave. It's the best way to deal with a stranger's absurd reaction, and goofy & non-threatening so it won't come back to bite you.

Baeromez > HammerheadFistpunch 03/07/2015 at 22:40

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Hmm, yeah. I was thinking along the lines of your mind wandering well after she had rebuked you, not her distracting you in the moment. That could cause a problem. I tell ya what, self driving-cars are looking better every day. I don't think it will be so bad as long as we've still got tracks where we can get the lead out.

HammerheadFistpunch > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 03/07/2015 at 22:41

0

That's mine too...normally.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > HammerheadFistpunch 03/07/2015 at 22:45

2

Programmable message board.

Or the Russian way.

SonorousSpeedJoe > HammerheadFistpunch 03/07/2015 at 22:47

0

Yeah, I may just do that. Even with my car's rearview mirror turned up via the tab, the light that reflects off of the sideview mirrors is still aggravating; it's especially annoying when the other car is behind me for a long period of time.

scoob > HammerheadFistpunch 03/07/2015 at 22:48

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I too was in some random scenario that kinda pissed me off. (This happened during a driving "lesson" with my mom, which is really me just driving her around to do things. No, I don't mind!)

Once, I arrived at an intersection of 2 one-way streets with stop signs. I arrived first. Someone in another car arrived at the other stop sign, so I proceeded. But then that driver proceeded too, so I stopped and honked. Then he stopped and honked. So I went and then HE WENT AGAIN. So I stopped, honked, and raised my arm with my hand pointed up like this . Then that other driver... did the same. Exact. Thing. Like he was 5 years old and copying me and my movements. Then he moved forwards again, blocked me by stopping in the middle of the intersection, looked at me, gave me a peace sign, and then gunned it.

It was so weird. I can't even explain it. Maybe he was being racist. Or he's just some idiot who thinks like he's actually 5 years old. Now it's pissing me off again.

HammerheadFistpunch > scoob 03/07/2015 at 22:51

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its just like "wha...but the rules of being a human....I don't even"

scoob > HammerheadFistpunch 03/07/2015 at 22:52

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HOW CAN INTO HUMANING

PEOPLE ARE STUPID

RallyWrench > HammerheadFistpunch 03/07/2015 at 23:08

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I'm pretty sure this is how the internet works, too.

HammerheadFistpunch > RallyWrench 03/07/2015 at 23:10

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So true.

SPNKiX > HammerheadFistpunch 03/08/2015 at 01:01

3

couple things:

1. I honked at a woman for crossing over into my lane a good three feet (she was texting) and she followed me for 10 minutes, honking the whole way.

2. I changed lanes about 50 yards in front of a person on a scooter and he honked at me for the next couple of blocks, gesturing all the way.

3. I said a couple of things, stop reading.

People are actually crazy.

AdverseMartyr > scoob 03/08/2015 at 06:46

1

Maybe you were in a twilight zone where a weird mirror image passed through where you were at with time flowing just a little bit out of sync, so it was really a case of you intersecting yourself...or maybe the guy was 5.

Two Drink Minimum > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 03/08/2015 at 08:34

1

That GIF never gets old.

Two Drink Minimum > HammerheadFistpunch 03/08/2015 at 08:40

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My wife got this. Some hag barked at her for not stopping fully at a stop light. My wife thinks the troll went off because she didn't see brake lights come on. But that's because my wife drives a manual Mazda6 and the approach was on a slight incline. So she's nudge it to the line in first gear, stepped on the clutch to come to a stop, then came off the clutch again to get underway.

My wife was exasperated. But end of the day, there's not much you can do but just write 'em off.

WiscoProud > HammerheadFistpunch 03/10/2015 at 13:35

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I do my best to brush those things off, but I do reciprocate the gestures and words at times.

WiscoProud > HammerheadFistpunch 03/10/2015 at 13:37

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I like the car comm idea, but honestly at least one of the first three messages ever sent would be about the sexual history of the other driver's mother.