On my way home from work on Friday. I'm tootling down a stretch of single-track road with passing places a few miles outside Basingstoke. Interactions with drivers are usually fine, but I'll often err on the side of caution and get into a passing place and wait if there's any potential for silliness as the road is too narrow in many places for car and bike to pass comfortably.
And that's what I was doing when this van passed. Waiting nicely. A little thanks would've been nice but wasn't expected. Instead, the ratboy driver raised his head from texting on his mobile just long enough to scream "Faaag!" out of the window.
I really wasn't expecting it. A nice sunny day, the bluebells coming out, an unexpected opportunity to do the full ride home and generally pleasant interactions with other road users.
As usual when this kind of thing happens, my anger quickly gives way to disappointment. Why am I disappointed?
These days my skin is reasonably thick and the temper usually under control. I was enjoying the ride, and after counting ten I tried to get on with enjoying it some more. I haven't put anything on youtube in a while and I'm not going to bother with this one. My recorder's knackered after its trip through the ford a month back, there's no sound and ratboy's head is represented by a single beige pixel (a vast improvement). You can see the reg -FV06 OLB- on this screenshot but not the mobile. If the evidence were better I'd ring plod, but with what I've got I really can't be @rsed.
And that's what I was doing when this van passed. Waiting nicely. A little thanks would've been nice but wasn't expected. Instead, the ratboy driver raised his head from texting on his mobile just long enough to scream "Faaag!" out of the window.
I really wasn't expecting it. A nice sunny day, the bluebells coming out, an unexpected opportunity to do the full ride home and generally pleasant interactions with other road users.
As usual when this kind of thing happens, my anger quickly gives way to disappointment. Why am I disappointed?
- Using sexuality as an insult is so 1990s. D'ya think I'm bothered whether somebody is gay or straight?
- Fag? Why use an Americanism when there are perfectly good English terms. "Poooof" would've had a nice retro feel to it. And on St George's Day as well. Shame on you, ratboy!
- I was holding a pretty decent track-stand while I waited. Admittedly the commuter-bike almost stands up by itself, but he could have at least shouted "nice trackstand, poof!"
These days my skin is reasonably thick and the temper usually under control. I was enjoying the ride, and after counting ten I tried to get on with enjoying it some more. I haven't put anything on youtube in a while and I'm not going to bother with this one. My recorder's knackered after its trip through the ford a month back, there's no sound and ratboy's head is represented by a single beige pixel (a vast improvement). You can see the reg -FV06 OLB- on this screenshot but not the mobile. If the evidence were better I'd ring plod, but with what I've got I really can't be @rsed.