I just did something out of character and I feel awful. :/

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Ferb, Aug 27, 2009.

  1. CDRW

    CDRW Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2008
    Messages:
    1,531
    Likes Received:
    29
    Awesome! You have just become my idol. :D
     
  2. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2009
    Messages:
    12,140
    Likes Received:
    257
    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Cog, you're my new hero. :D
     
  3. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    May 19, 2007
    Messages:
    36,161
    Likes Received:
    2,827
    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    I was un hombre muy loco back then. I don't recommend such an action. It could have gone very badly.
     
  4. Gallowglass

    Gallowglass Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    May 2, 2009
    Messages:
    1,615
    Likes Received:
    92
    Location:
    Loch na Seilg, Alba
    Wars of the Roses :D
     
  5. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2006
    Messages:
    19,150
    Likes Received:
    1,034
    Location:
    Coquille, Oregon
    blocking the crosswalk is putting all who have to cross in mortal danger of being maimed or killed!... getting your hood thumped by a weak old man doesn't harm you or the car...
     
  6. bluebell80

    bluebell80 New Member

    Joined:
    May 20, 2009
    Messages:
    636
    Likes Received:
    21
    Location:
    Vermont
    First off, unless you were at a light which had a crosswalk signal, crossing while there is traffic in the street is done at the crossers own risk. If you were already pulled a little forward over the cross walk waiting for traffic to make a right turn, and he crossed from the left of where you were, then he is at fault for crossing into traffic.

    I can't stand people who think parking lots and cross walks automatically give them the right to act like A**Holes. I don't know if anyone else was raised to "look both ways" but I do and I also yield to traffic as a pedestrian whether I am in a crosswalk or a parking lot. I don't just go taking off into a space and then get angry at the cars that are already there...that's just freaking stupid.

    The man was obviously looking for an outlet to his anger issues and your car was in his way.

    I can't tell you the amount of foul language that comes out of my mouth when dealing with stupid people. I have a whole slue of words that I normally wouldn't say, but do say when faced with jerks. It's not like we are in NYC where pedestrians rule. We're in the rest of America where they don't.


    And Cog, Really? That's where the middle finger expression comes from? I thought it was because that was the finger most used in said act which the finger represents. :)
     
  7. Snap

    Snap New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2007
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    NYS
    Psh. Mortal danger? Seriously. First of all, it doesn't sound like she was IN the intersection, just pulled up a little too far. In addition, you usually have 2-3 feet of give in intersections, for that reason. I doubt he almost got "maimed." It was an immature reaction to pound on the top of the car. I would never do that, mainly because 1. I don't really want anyone to do that to me, and 2. you never know who's hood you're pounding on.

    I mean, seriously, who does that kind of thing?
     
  8. Ferb

    Ferb New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2009
    Messages:
    38
    Likes Received:
    0
    This is how I felt, thanks for expressing that for me. If he just shook his head at me, called me stupid, mocked my driving, or flipped me off (all of which he already did), I would've freely pleaded guilty. That pound on my car was the one thing that made me snap.

    Btw... that "crosswalk" wasn't really a crosswalk and I wasn't really in an intersection, I just have no idea how to describe the location properly. I'd go back to take a picture of it, but I don't think I really care enough to do that. Thanks for reassuring me that what I did wasn't (too) out of line, though! :)
     
  9. hiddennovelist

    hiddennovelist Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2009
    Messages:
    10,256
    Likes Received:
    163
    Location:
    Arizona
    I agree. From what Ferb has said, it doesn't sound like there was anything going on that put the guy in mortal peril. Sounds like he was just a crotchety old man looking for someone to vent his anger on. Not cool.
     
  10. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    May 19, 2007
    Messages:
    36,161
    Likes Received:
    2,827
    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    Incorrect. Stopping on a crosswalk is illegal, but poorly enforced. Also, the person in a crosswalk has the right of way in nearly all jurisdictions.

    Most intersections with crosswalks have three lines. The two closest to the intersection extend all the way across, and mark the edges of the crosswalk. Another line before the crosswalk extands across the lanes entering the intersection. Thios is tje stop line, and your front bumper is required to be behind that line when you stop.

    The drivers who ignore these markings ARE endangering pedestrians. An increase in the number of crosswalk injuries and fatalities is leading to a crackdown in my area.
     
  11. k.little90

    k.little90 Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2009
    Messages:
    239
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    Smalltown, USA
    Ferb, I think that the fact that you feel bad about getting upset with the old man just goes to show what kind of person you are. There aren't many people, myself included, who would feel bad about doing something like that, especially on a day that was already going rotten. It goes a long way to buoy up your character.

    Honestly, the old man sounds like a crank that just wanted someone to pick on. I mean, I could maybe understand his reaction if you had been entirely blocking the crosswalk, but it doesn't sound like you were. What you did was probably out of line as well... but I can't blame you. I probably would have done the same thing in your situation :rolleyes: I have a "touch my car and die policy," so I probably would have done you one better and run him over lol
     
  12. bluebell80

    bluebell80 New Member

    Joined:
    May 20, 2009
    Messages:
    636
    Likes Received:
    21
    Location:
    Vermont
    Cog, if a pedestrian is crossing at a crosswalk on a "No crossing" sign, then the traffic has the right of way, and the pedestrian is in the wrong. Pedestrians don't always have the right of way. If you're at a 4 way stop with a light and crosswalks, the light doesn't change green until the crosswalk sign is on "do not cross." So if (though we know now Ferb was not at one of these types of intersections) he had been going north bound turning right onto the east bound, after the crosswalk sign was already off then the pedestrian didn't have the right of way, thus can't be angry at the driver for being on the crosswalk. If the crosswalk was lit go, then yes he would have been in the wrong. If at a 4 way stop sign, where there are no crosswalk lights, then the pedestrian always has the right of way. But then 4 way stops you wouldn't be waiting for traffic to slow down so that you could turn, so the incident wouldn't happen. It really all depends on where the incident took place and how it is situated to know who was wrong or right.
     
  13. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    May 19, 2007
    Messages:
    36,161
    Likes Received:
    2,827
    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    The driver is never permitted to stop with the car blocking the crosswalk. I'm assuming the pedestrian was not pounding on a car that was not partially or comletely blocking the crosswalk. That mauy be an unfounded assumption, because some people ARE just nucking futs.

    I have seen MANY drivers stopping centered over the crosswalk, front bumper inches from the cross traffic, just so they can squeeze in that "right turn on red" into any gap in the traffic they can possibly fit their car.

    If the light changes while the pedestrian is still in the crosswalk, the pedestrian has the right of way. Period. If the pedestrian is deliberately remaining in the crosswalk to interfere with traffic, or enters the crosswalk against the light, he or she can be cited, but it is NEVER permissible to endanger a pedestrian.

    Outside a crosswalk, you still cannot endanger a pedestrian, but the driver is more likely to be judged not at fault in the event of a collision, if the driver may not have been able to see the pedestrian entering the street or road. The pedestrian doesn't have the right of way in that case, but drivers are still required to exercise due caution.

    There is no open season for pedestrians.
     
  14. Speedy

    Speedy Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2008
    Messages:
    4,866
    Likes Received:
    81
    Location:
    Australia
    I remember the day clearly, when i was 14 this happened, and this bloke about a foot taller than me got out and said he was going to kill me and my girlfriend. I stood my ground and e hit me and i got up and kicked him in the knee (I was alwys wanting to kick someones knee inwards back then, the way it doesnt bend) didnt happen but he dropped and i ran.

    I could have had him charged easy, but i was 14, i didnt know crap all, and everyone who saw it never gave a crap either sadly.
     
  15. hiddennovelist

    hiddennovelist Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2009
    Messages:
    10,256
    Likes Received:
    163
    Location:
    Arizona
    Not yet, anyway...but a girl can dream. :p
     
  16. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    May 19, 2007
    Messages:
    36,161
    Likes Received:
    2,827
    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    And just now on the news, another fatality as a city worker is struck in a marked construction site by a careless driver.
     
  17. garmar69

    garmar69 Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2008
    Messages:
    1,550
    Likes Received:
    26
    I don't think the teaching of respecting your elders is commonplace anymore.
     
  18. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2009
    Messages:
    12,140
    Likes Received:
    257
    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Usually my golden rule is respect and be nice to everybody unless they don't deserve it.
     
  19. hiddennovelist

    hiddennovelist Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2009
    Messages:
    10,256
    Likes Received:
    163
    Location:
    Arizona
    I don't think that being old immediately qualifies someone for respect.

    But that's a topic for another thread...:rolleyes:
     
  20. Snap

    Snap New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2007
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    NYS
    Correct. Depending on where you are, of course. In fact, at my college, there is a cop that habitually sits at the top of the hill in his comfy little cruiser, waiting for students to cross against the light, even when there is no traffic coming (crossing the street is the only way to get to the student parking lot). Then he promptly hands out $70 tickets. Not cool. Not cool at all.
     
  21. madhoca

    madhoca Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2008
    Messages:
    2,604
    Likes Received:
    151
    Location:
    the shadow of the velvet fortress
    Except that in England we don't 'give the finger'. We show the first 2 fingers ;)
     
  22. Gallowglass

    Gallowglass Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    May 2, 2009
    Messages:
    1,615
    Likes Received:
    92
    Location:
    Loch na Seilg, Alba
    That must have happened after the invention of gunpowder weapons ;)
     
  23. garmar69

    garmar69 Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2008
    Messages:
    1,550
    Likes Received:
    26
    Thanks for confirming my suspicions. I've found that if you wait around for someone to show you respect before you reciprocate you will always have experiences like the one the OP described.

    What if the OP would have shown the respect of keeping her car out of the crosswalk? Perhaps the fellow wouldn't have shown disrespect in turn?

    Crazy idea, I know.
     
  24. Ferb

    Ferb New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2009
    Messages:
    38
    Likes Received:
    0
    Ah, but then I'm a Gen Y kid. I was raised by people who believed respecting your elders takes a back seat to minding your own business. What's that old man's excuse? His parents never taught him to keep his hands to himself? Or that, maybe--just maybe--as an elderly he is to set a good example for us kids who obviously don't know any better that God forbid we expect the elderly to show us any respect unless we show them some respect first?
     
  25. garmar69

    garmar69 Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2008
    Messages:
    1,550
    Likes Received:
    26
    He shouldn't have banged on your car; I agree 100%. We are only getting your side of the story here, though. For all I know he could have been crossing the street already when you pulled up to make a right hand turn. This makes more sense to me given the reaction you got. Your statement that you were trying to "clear your head" by driving around makes this even more likely.

    Driving around for no other reason than you're mad/tired/upset or need to blow off some steam is always a bad idea.

    Most likely if you'd shown the man the respect of minding your surroundings, by stopping short and allowing him to cross safely, the incident would have never happened.
     

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice