courtesy for the uncorteous

[cantdog]

People park straddling the lines. That way, the other fellows can open their doors and never be able to scratch the paint on their cars. Of course, they have taken two people's parking spaces.

People park in fire lanes. Fire lanes are closer even to the store than the handicapped slots are. Of course, that's why they're set off as fire lanes.

People will park illegally, then take a nearby parking ticket off the window of some car, and place it on their own window. This, they figure, will surely make them ticket-proof. They throw it away later. Of course, the fellow whose ticket it was is now a scofflaw and will one day be booted for non-appearance on his summons.

There are thousands for whom the laws are for other people. They live their lives in smug egoism.

 

[BlackShanglan]

This is true. In England a quiet clearing of the throat would make the point very clearly, always providing the offender was also British, or had lived there long enough to be fully attuned to the cultural norms
Waiting in line, after all, is something we're very good at...

x
V

Generally, you really are. And when someone isn't, from time to time you see something amusingly lovely. I was standing in the queue for the train ticket machine one day - quite a long queue - when a large, muscular young man shoved into the front of it. Most of us sighed and accepted it; honestly, you never know what people are like, and it wasn't a very nice part of town. Who wants to die over a ticket-line cut? But one woman near the back of the line, a tiny little thing, marched up to him and jabbed him in the back with her finger with a sharpness that seemed likely to embed her nail in his shoulder blade and said, in a "How DARE you?" tone of voice, "EXCUSE ME! The end of the line is BACK THERE." And pointed, as if ordering a young child sharply back to his room without supper.

And he took it. Sheepishly, and with an embarassed shame that was a wonder to see. Lord, I wish we'd been in a pub. I would have stood her any number of rounds of drink. What a marvellous woman.

People park straddling the lines. That way, the other fellows can open their doors and never be able to scratch the paint on their cars. Of course, they have taken two people's parking spaces.

...

There are thousands for whom the laws are for other people. They live their lives in smug egoism.

Yes. That presumption riles me no end. Still, I remain decently ashamed of confessing that I recently took the opportunity to squeeze into the remainder of a space someone had partially blocked in the above fashion. I just fit my car in. Admittedly, it was quite impossible for the other person to open his driver's side door, or indeed for anything much larger than a hamster to fit between the vehicles on that side, but sometimes I find that the best way for people to learn is for them to experience the consequences of their actions.

It's the little burst of petty glee that I'm ashamed for. But there you have it. *sigh*

 

[cantdog]

Made me laugh, though, o Horse. Cheers.

 

[sr71plt]

But bet you didn't do it with your new car.

 

[cantdog]

Ha! I was standing in line at the bank to make a deposit. Some mexican guy comes in with his cell phone suffed in his ear and start nudging me from behind. Like I could hurry the tellers or something. All the time he's yaking away on his cell phone. After a minute or so of being pushed from behind I noticed he was talking to another mexican in the next line!!

So, the teller finished and waves at me. The guy pushs ahead of me. Now, I'm 6 feet tall. It's not like he didn't see me. The teller (who I know well) just looked at the guy. I gently tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and glared at me. I grabbed his cell phone, dropped it on the floor and give it a good stomp. He turned bright red. His friend came running screaming at me. I held my ground.

Meanwhile, the assistant manager (who I also know well) called the police. They arrived just in time to see one of the mexican's slap me. He was immediatly thrown to the floor and handcuffed. The other tried to escape into the parking lot but was caught too.

As it turns out, both of them had robbed a 711 store about a mile away and were trying to ditch the cash in the bank. They would have been smarter to not be assholes or pick on me.

Oh, the first mexican tried to sue me over the smashed cell phone. It didn't work. It turns out it was also stolen.

God Jenny. Big brass balls, m'girl. You do rock, but I'm glad I don't live in your range. I get in enough trouble as it is.

 

[starrkers]

Generally, you really are. And when someone isn't, from time to time you see something amusingly lovely. I was standing in the queue for the train ticket machine one day - quite a long queue - when a large, muscular young man shoved into the front of it. Most of us sighed and accepted it; honestly, you never know what people are like, and it wasn't a very nice part of town. Who wants to die over a ticket-line cut? But one woman near the back of the line, a tiny little thing, marched up to him and jabbed him in the back with her finger with a sharpness that seemed likely to embed her nail in his shoulder blade and said, in a "How DARE you?" tone of voice, "EXCUSE ME! The end of the line is BACK THERE." And pointed, as if ordering a young child sharply back to his room without supper.

And he took it. Sheepishly, and with an embarassed shame that was a wonder to see. Lord, I wish we'd been in a pub. I would have stood her any number of rounds of drink. What a marvellous woman.



Yes. That presumption riles me no end. Still, I remain decently ashamed of confessing that I recently took the opportunity to squeeze into the remainder of a space someone had partially blocked in the above fashion. I just fit my car in. Admittedly, it was quite impossible for the other person to open his driver's side door, or indeed for anything much larger than a hamster to fit between the vehicles on that side, but sometimes I find that the best way for people to learn is for them to experience the consequences of their actions.

It's the little burst of petty glee that I'm ashamed for. But there you have it. *sigh*

I have done something similar. It's a petty victory, but so satisfying. And if they do manage to get into their vehicle hey won't even have the joy of denting my car - it's a ratty looking beast at the best of times

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

JJ

Good for you!

 

[lisa123414]

Starrkers! I’ll meet your beastly car and raise you two teenage drivers!

Getting back to the thread, or at least where it has evolved for me.

It’s a matter of how big the crowd, how long the wait, how likely are you to ever run into that person again, yes? In a less densely populated area, people tend to get to know the others around them. An acquaintance in college once said that 99% of the people in the world are as#$oles. I asked him if this might be because he considered this of people he did not know.

There are all sorts of psychology experiments based on overcrowding, we become saturated, cannot take in everyone as part of our inner circle. We become mean. So how do we treat the people who we feel will always be strangers? This is a deep challenge to humanity. Rob states it well – Humans!

We see in the newspaper every day stories of people displaced by storms, bombs, any number of horrors, and most of us do nothing. If your neighbor, or someone in your family or church, a person who resides inside your circle, is hit by tragedy, most of us do act. Where does one draw the line?

 

[rgraham666]

I'm remembering a little saying of Heinlein's.

"You can drive any animal crazy by sticking too many of them in the same cage. Humans appear to be the only animal who do this voluntarily."

 

[sr71plt]

It’s a matter of how big the crowd, how long the wait, how likely are you to ever run into that person again, yes?

So right. I live in a much smaller city than ever before now, and I do find myself thinking, "Now if I flip this woman the bird for cutting me off am I going to find her sitting in the pew next to me on Sunday morning?" It tends to have a calming effect.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Loved the quote, Rob.

But bet you didn't do it with your new car.

Well, it's the newest car we own, and I'm very fond of it. It looks rather nice. I'm just not very attached to paint jobs, I think. Possibly it's the same gene that sends me out of the house looking as if I'd dressed in a haystack during a thunderstorm.

So right. I live in a much smaller city than ever before now, and I do find myself thinking, "Now if I flip this woman the bird for cutting me off am I going to find her sitting in the pew next to me on Sunday morning?" It tends to have a calming effect.

*laugh* Oh, how true. I once began to snarl and rant at another driver (in the privacy of my own vehicle, of course - not actually *to* the driver), only to suddenly realize that it was one of my higher-ups from my place of employment. Fortunately by the time she glanced in my direction I was smiling. She really is a nice sort.