<[email hidden]> wrote...
Quoted message said:Jim Flom said:For a second I thought you said you got hit with a scone and I was
wondering how you knew he was a redneck. I had a hoagie (sub)
thrown at me once, as well as other sundry items, words, blared
horns and squeezes. If I catch up to them I'll often get in their
face. I admire guys who can keep their digits on the brake hoods.
I just started carrying pepper spray too, but that's supposed to be
for beasts.
With that attitude, we can begin to get into the minds of the big
three in Iraq who don't want to forget past injustices and need to get
even. You can't get even, you can just lower the standard for all in
that pursuit. Retribution is a mental state in a downward spiral.
This calls for diplomacy and education on both sides.
I would love to go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what
peace there may be in silence. I just don't do that in the moment. I had a
teammate once that chased down a real d-head to a stop sign, and
continuously called him an a-hole straight to his face, while the guy tried
to tell us he had a son who is a pro and lives in Austin, TX. This
teammate... sorry, you'd have to know him. It was just hilarious. Sure,
things can escalate. Heck, even a pro who lives in Austin flipped off a
guy. I should hasten to qualify my original post to say I should have added
a winky smiley to my pepper spray comment. I did just start carrying it,
not for people but for critters.
However, appeals for diplomacy and education are well and good, but
education seems so often the educator's mantra for correcting the world's
ills. Education won't change hearts though, and IMHO it's more a heart
issue than a lack of facts issue. I did say I admire the guys who can keep
their digits on their brake hoods. Mine just pops up when someone pops off.
I try to put it down but it just pops up! I wish it were different, and
_sometimes_ I grit my teeth and cuss the guy under my breath, fingers
securely wrapped, white-knuckled, upon the bar. Once I gave a two handed
salute to a carload of guys (and why are they so often young male drivers,
and white ones I might add?), who pulled over at the skatepark just up the
road. We then waved to each other.
Another time I caught up to a d-head who had blared his horn at me, with his
girlfriend riding shotgun and his side-kick in the back. They'd pulled over
to get some beer. I pulled over to hydrate. I could've avoided them, but I
decided to drink my whatever-it-was right next to their car. They did their
nudge-nudge, wink-wink, look over snicker giggle comment to each other thing
and I just started talking to them. That was "getting in their face." I
wasn't terribly diplomatic either. I simply educated (;-)) them about the
law and my right to the road and finished with some lame "share the road"
platitude. Maybe I called him a putz.
Quoted message said:On my New Idria spring bicycle ride I was greatly impressed by the
courtesy of the off-road M/C riders, whether on their bikes or in
their trucks, when we we met them while climbing steep dirt roads.
They waited to pass downhill until we had cleared tight spots or where
the road got wider going up.
This is the practice of most drivers where I live, and I usually wave to
them whenever courtesy is extended.
Quoted message said:I am also certain that some "truckers" are incorrigible. I am
concerned with the plethora of American flags on these trucks and
their fresh Bush - Cheney stickers that seem to get replaced often.
I know two truckers. They're cool. They're Canadian, but they are cool.
J "WASP" F
