Old man on Bike

"Pat" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Claire Petersky" : So, while I was waiting for my green light and a

chance

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to turn left, I see
: this old guy coming the opposite way turn right, on to the road I'm

headed

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: for. He's wearing an ancient helmet and a white t-shirt. He's got
snow-white
: hair, and a snow white beard, sorta like Santa Claus and he's maybe even
as
: old as Denver Fox, or Leo L., or one of those guys.

Claire, what do you consider old? I remember when my son was 16 and

thought

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that 25 was "old". Now that he's 28, he thinks 40 is "old". I have a
Schwinn I bought in 1984 and he told me today that it was "old timey".

Me?

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I think 70+ is "older", and 80+ is "old".

Pat in TX

To calculate "old" is really quite simple - you take your current age in
years, and add 10.

--
~_-*
....G/ \G
http://www.CycliStats.com
CycliStats - Software for Cyclists

"Mike Latondresse" <mikelat@no_spam_shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

So, while I was waiting for my green light and a chance to turn
left, I see this old guy coming the opposite way turn right, on to
the road I'm headed for.

Gee Claire was that you following me?

I'm just wondering if there was some young 15 year old whipper-snapper
following Claire thinking: 'She really rides fast for an old lady'.

🙂

--
'You don't have to look good,
you just have to look good enough.'
-red green

Leo Lichtman wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

"Claire Petersky" wrote: I'm just razzing Denver and Leo, especially
Denver because he gets so worked up when anyone uses the term "elderly" to
refer to someone his age. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I'm not crazy about the term "elderly" either. Somehow, that term carries
the connotation of being bent over, slightly addled and unattractive. I am
the opposite of all of those. I don't know about Denver.

He's bent over probably only when he gets down in the drops.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referr­al/Cpetersky

Mike Beauchamp said:

seeing some young guy showin' me respect would make me think the world isn't
in fact filled with [censored].

Mike

Don't count on it. ;-)

Maggie.

Quoted message said:

Had the gentleman exhibited the same manners as yourself, he would have pointed
out, "You are quite fast yourself, for such a fat broad".

I don't know if Claire is fat or not, but I was thinking the same thing.

Mike Beauchamp said:

Great story..
I always try to give the old people on bicycles a friendly wave or smile.

To splice threads: I try to give the young women on bicycles a
friendly wave or smile, too.

And pretty much everyone else on bikes, too. That includes the guy
with the wire basket full of scavenged aluminum cans.

- Frank Krygowski

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
: Had the gentleman exhibited the same manners as yourself, he would have
pointed
: out, "You are quite fast yourself, for such a fat broad".

Let's see, she used the word "guy" when speaking to the man and she did not
address his body weight. So, you are saying the equivalent female usage of
"guy" would be "broad"? I don't think so. IIRC, it would be "gal" and that
is a lot less inflamatory than what Claire used. You are showing some
misogynistic tendencies there, Jobst. Your sentence is derogatory and
intended to insult. Her sentence wasn't.

Pat in TX
:
:

Pat said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
: Had the gentleman exhibited the same manners as yourself, he would have
pointed
: out, "You are quite fast yourself, for such a fat broad".

Let's see, she used the word "guy" when speaking to the man and she did not
address his body weight. So, you are saying the equivalent female usage of
"guy" would be "broad"?

You conveniently forgot about the "old" part. She referred to him not
as "guy", but as "old guy", which some might have taken as an insult,
given old seems to be in the eye of the beholder.

Rich

Pat said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
: Had the gentleman exhibited the same manners as yourself, he would have
pointed
: out, "You are quite fast yourself, for such a fat broad".

Let's see, she used the word "guy" when speaking to the man and she did not
address his body weight. So, you are saying the equivalent female usage of
"guy" would be "broad"? I don't think so. IIRC, it would be "gal" and that
is a lot less inflamatory than what Claire used. You are showing some
misogynistic tendencies there, Jobst. Your sentence is derogatory and
intended to insult.

Of course, that was the whole point.

Quoted message said:

Her sentence wasn't.

Of course it was. If she doesn't realize that, she's both rude and
insensitive. Jobst was just demonstrating equivalent rudeness -- as was
his stated objective.

What's the difference between sex-ism and age-ism?

Jim Smith said:

<[email hidden]> writes:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Had the gentleman exhibited the same manners as yourself, he would
have pointed out, "You are quite fast yourself, for such a fat
broad".

Quoted message said:

I don't know if Claire is fat or not, but I was thinking the same thing.

If you'll review that source of the above statement that appears as
attributed to me, you'll find it was offered by an anonymous sniper
who had nothing good to say, not even a phony name or address.

[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Jim Smith said:

<[email hidden]> writes:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Had the gentleman exhibited the same manners as yourself, he would
have pointed out, "You are quite fast yourself, for such a fat
broad".

Quoted message said:

I don't know if Claire is fat or not, but I was thinking the same thing.

If you'll review that source of the above statement that appears as
attributed to me, you'll find it was offered by an anonymous sniper
who had nothing good to say, not even a phony name or address.

Weird. Anyways, my first imipression was that the "pretty fast for an
old guy" remark was a bit rude.

Peter Cole said:

Of course it was. If she doesn't realize that, she's both rude and
insensitive. Jobst was just demonstrating equivalent rudeness -- as was
his stated objective.

What's the difference between sex-ism and age-ism?

Rude and insensitive, hmm, who does that remind me of???

Anyway, seeing as none of us were there, how do we know how she said,
what she said? We don't! I know people who can say some rather
provocative things, but they do it in such a way, that it isn't
insulting. Usually, because it wasn't meant to be insulting.

Actually, I'm not sure this even happened, I think it was just a
fictional account, inspired by Maggie's "young woman" post.

In the year and half, or so, that I have been reading this newsgroup,
I have never found Claire to be rude and/or insensitive.

Jobst recently posted, pointing out that he did not write the "fat
broad" post.

Finally, you really see no difference in "old guy" and "fat broad"?
They aren't equivalent rudeness' in my opinion. I get called old once
in a while, it doesn't bother me. But call me fat, when I was fat, and
you would have hurt my feelings.

Life is Good!
Jeff

Jeff Starr said:

Actually, I'm not sure this even happened, I think it was just a
fictional account, inspired by Maggie's "young woman" post.

Claire posted the original account, so I'm pretty sure it happened.
Clarie seems to be an all around good honest person.

Quoted message said:

In the year and half, or so, that I have been reading this newsgroup,
I have never found Claire to be rude and/or insensitive.

Agreed.

Rich

"Rich" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Jeff Starr said:

Actually, I'm not sure this even happened, I think it was just a
fictional account, inspired by Maggie's "young woman" post.

Claire posted the original account, so I'm pretty sure it happened. Clarie
seems to be an all around good honest person.

Quoted message said:

In the year and half, or so, that I have been reading this newsgroup,
I have never found Claire to be rude and/or insensitive.

Agreed.

I'd say it would depend on how it was said. I can see it being said with
snotty, callous tone or in a very friendly and inoffensive manner.

And I agree, 'rude' and 'Claire' don't seem to coincide.

Arentcha sorry ya brought it up, Claire?

🙂

--
'The exodus is here
The happy ones are near
Let's get together
Before we get much older' -the who

Context and tone can certainly de-edge an "insult." I called Maggie a sexy
broad recently, and it led to a long, whimsical two-way flirtation.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Jeff Starr said:

Rude and insensitive, hmm, who does that remind me of???

Don Rickles?

Quoted message said:

Anyway, seeing as none of us were there, how do we know how she said,
what she said? We don't!

From Claire's post:
'While we're waiting for the truck to finish backing, I say to him, "You're
really fast for an old guy! I've been trying to catch up to you -- and for
quite a while. If it hadn't been for this truck, I never would have been
able to do so!" He seems to regard this comment as amusing. I make a
flattering remark about his legs. The road clears, and we both take off.'

The fast, old far... erm ... /guy/ apparently didn't take any
offense, so I'm not gonna either. Heck, he even got a nice
compliment and some friendly conversation out of the deal.
And if his gams warrant flattery I almost envy him -- I've
got these ugly vein or sinew thingies on my calves, that bulge
enormously when I flex them. So if the encounter didn't leave
him with a positive social & sociable feeling -- maybe it shoulda.

I bet it did.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"Tom Keats" wrote: (clip) So if the encounter didn't leave him with a
positive social & sociable feeling -- maybe it shoulda.I bet it did.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I went to Claire's website and saw her picture. If she, or anyone who looks
that good wants to ride up beside me and say nice things, I know it will
leave me with a warm feeling.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Leo Lichtman said:

"Tom Keats" wrote: (clip) So if the encounter didn't leave him with a
positive social & sociable feeling -- maybe it shoulda.I bet it did.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I went to Claire's website and saw her picture. If she, or anyone who looks
that good wants to ride up beside me and say nice things, I know it will
leave me with a warm feeling.

I get lots of that -- gorgeous women on bikes, small-talkin'
with me at stop lines.

I also get guys zooming past me, saying: "Hi. Nice day, eh?"
at me. That's their way of letting me know they're passing
me, since they don't have bells on their bikes. But I like it.
It makes traffic kind of a friendly, mobile community.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Jeff Starr said:

Peter Cole said:

Of course it was. If she doesn't realize that, she's both rude and
insensitive. Jobst was just demonstrating equivalent rudeness -- as was
his stated objective.

What's the difference between sex-ism and age-ism?

Rude and insensitive, hmm, who does that remind me of???

Hey, don't be such a coward. If you have something to say, say it.
Perhaps you're implying I'm rude for pointing out rudeness?

Quoted message said:

Anyway, seeing as none of us were there, how do we know how she said,
what she said? We don't! I know people who can say some rather
provocative things, but they do it in such a way, that it isn't
insulting. Usually, because it wasn't meant to be insulting.

News flash -- saying rude things isn't OK if you smile. News flash II --
often, the rudest things are precisely those that are unintentionally rude.

Quoted message said:

Actually, I'm not sure this even happened, I think it was just a
fictional account, inspired by Maggie's "young woman" post.

That would make them both trolls.

Quoted message said:

In the year and half, or so, that I have been reading this newsgroup,
I have never found Claire to be rude and/or insensitive.

Neither have I in the past seven or so years. So what? My guess is she
had a brain fart. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt, but that's
being generous.

Quoted message said:

Jobst recently posted, pointing out that he did not write the "fat
broad" post.

So what? I still agree with the sentiments. It's cowardly to fake
someone's ID like that, so I can't say I have any respect for the poster.

Quoted message said:

Finally, you really see no difference in "old guy" and "fat broad"?
They aren't equivalent rudeness' in my opinion. I get called old once
in a while, it doesn't bother me. But call me fat, when I was fat, and
you would have hurt my feelings.

Think about it. I was being charitable. Comments like "fast for an old
guy" are worse than rude. They're demeaning. They're arrogant. They
offend human dignity. I expect better, especially from those who offer
spiritual advice.

I might think "Gee, that guy's pretty fast for being fat", but that's
based on physics, understanding the penalty extra weight causes when
climbing. I certainly wouldn't think I was flattering someone by
qualifying praise with a comment on weight. Ditto for age.

How do you know someone's age just by looking? Is there any basis for
assuming a certain degree of infirmity or reduction of capacity?
Attitudes like this are stereotypes, nothing more. "Fat" and "old" are
just labels -- labels on the whole person. Rude is just a description of
behavior.