Screamer = Broken wing-mirror = face-kicking

[Twenty Inch]

Careful, you're not that different from Lee. You're both dirty rotten RLJers after all.

Not any more Mikey

...and Lee is a decent chap and a pretty good rider in real life.

Which makes his behaviour on these forums all the more unpleasant. If he were as objectionable in real life as he is here, at least he would have some integrity about it, but it seems that face-to-face he is capable of behaving politely, but changes when he can offend people through the anonymity of a forum. Anyway, that's what ignore lists are for.

Perhaps his comments were painfully harsh here, but he does have a fair point.

He has a point, but if you, like him, think that's it's a FAIR point to get a kicking after breaking a mirror, then you've both got some warped sense of moral equivalance. I don't think Garilla should have broken the mirror, (despite having done similar in the past, and I wouldn't do it again). But no-one deserves that sort of treatment.

 

[Twenty Inch]

OK, truce.

I think we're probably all getting up ourselves and seeing the worst of a forum's two-dimensionality, forgetting that in real life there are many more sides to a person's character, and that we have much more in common with each other, than we sometimes see here.

Hope to meet you on a ride, Lee. We can RLJ together.

TI

 

[XmisterIS]

I'm just re-reading this thread and it makes me think, Other people's behaviour is not my responsibility, but my reaction to their behaviour is my responsibility. That's something I try to keep in mind always when I'm on the road! (I am no saint though - occasionally I'll shout, but I never get physical. I shouldn't even shout though ... I'm working on it! ).

Consider the following situation: Car full of chavs deliberately close-passes, shout abuse as they do so. I can't do anything about that.

What I want to do is catch them up, smash the car up and punch the crap out of them if they get out of the car.

What I actually do is mutter "twats!" under my breath and just carry on riding. This isn't because I'm incapable of defending myself; quite the opposite! I just would rather not end up in prison for pummeling someone into a bloody heap. Nor would I like to spend a week layed up on the sofa having been pummelled into a bloody heap!

It's said that where road rage is concerned, the number one golden rule is absolutely do not react, no eye contact, nothing.

I'm thinking about the two possible outcomes.

1) If I react the way I want to; there can't be a good outcome. If they end up beating the crap out of me, then it will take me a while to recover. If I end up beating the crap out of them, then I will spend the next few weeks absolutely terrified of being convicted of GBH, sent to prison, loose my livelyhood, etc ...

2) When I react the way that I actually do (i.e. no reaction, or as little as I can help), then the whole incident is over and done with in a fraction of a second. The thing is, the people who drive like @rseholes round cyclists sometimes want a reaction. If you don't give them one, they get bored and leave you alone. Same rule applies when I'm in the car and being aggressively tailgated by someone - I don't react and ... they drop back and stop beeping/flashing/tailgating ... because they get bored because I won't react. It's "playground mentality". Gotta rise above it.

EDIT: I've only ever in my whole life been in one road rage situation where not reacting had no effect and the guy just kept on getting angrier with no provocation whatsoever. I think this guy was probably on drugs/a psychopath - hence totally out of the ordinary.

 

[al78]

2) When I react the way that I actually do (i.e. no reaction, or as little as I can help), then the whole incident is over and done with in a fraction of a second. The thing is, the people who drive like @rseholes round cyclists sometimes want a reaction. If you don't give them one, they get bored and leave you alone. Same rule applies when I'm in the car and being aggressively tailgated by someone - I don't react and ... they drop back and stop beeping/flashing/tailgating ... because they get bored because I won't react. It's "playground mentality". Gotta rise above it.

The annoying thing is though, ignoring them may just give them the idea that they can bully/abuse who the hell they like without consequence. It is this that I think is behind the anger fuelled retaliations.

As the saying goes: "All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing."

 

[Crankarm]

The annoying thing is though, ignoring them may just give them the idea that they can bully/abuse who the hell they like without consequence. It is this that I think is behind the anger fuelled retaliations.

As the saying goes: "All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing."

Actually the quote is,

‘When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one ...’
Edmund Burke, the 18th century British parliamentarian who championed the cause of American independence.

 

[chap]

Actually the quote is,

‘When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one ...’
Edmund Burke, the 18th century British parliamentarian who championed the cause of American independence.

I've heard both, therefore they most likely exist independently. Nobody is in the wrong here

 

[Crankarm]

I've heard both, therefore they most likely exist independently. Nobody is in the wrong here

Jimmy Cagney has been credited with saying "You dirty rat ......"
In fact he never said this in any of his films.



Marie Antionette "Let them eat cake".

In fact, she actually said "Let them eat bread".



"Play it again, Sam" - Julius J. Epstein, Casablanca

Probably the most famous mis-quote from a film, this statement is never actually made in the film. The closest is Bogart saying "If she can stand it, I can. Play it!", and Bergman saying "Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By".

So back to the Edmund Burke quote above he likely never said the words as posted by al78.

 

[slowmotion]

I'm thinking about the two possible outcomes.

1) If I react the way I want to; there can't be a good outcome. If they end up beating the crap out of me, then it will take me a while to recover. If I end up beating the crap out of them, then I will spend the next few weeks absolutely terrified of being convicted of GBH, sent to prison, loose my livelyhood, etc ...

2) When I react the way that I actually do (i.e. no reaction, or as little as I can help), then the whole incident is over and done with in a fraction of a second. The thing is, the people who drive like @rseholes round cyclists sometimes want a reaction. If you don't give them one, they get bored and leave you alone. Same rule applies when I'm in the car and being aggressively tailgated by someone - I don't react and ... they drop back and stop beeping/flashing/tailgating ... because they get bored because I won't react. It's "playground mentality". Gotta rise above it.

.

A brilliant post. Thank-you.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

So back to the Edmund Burke quote above he likely never said the words as posted by al78.

Ah, but that wasn't attributed to Burke here, simply "as the saying goes..". It's an oft repeated phrase, so it qualifies as a saying in its own right. Regardless of who said it first or if it was originally a misquote.

 

[MacB]

Ah, but that wasn't attributed to Burke here, simply "as the saying goes..". It's an oft repeated phrase, so it qualifies as a saying in its own right. Regardless of who said it first or if it was originally a misquote.

Is correct, I think Cranky, is his indecent haste to be a smartass, got a bit carried away

 

[Crankarm]

Is correct, I think Cranky, is his indecent haste to be a smartass, got a bit carried away

Nothing indecent about my haste it was IIRC wholly decent .

 

[garrilla]

My vision really degraded on Friday so I went for a checkup. A long wait later and I found out that my retina had detached and it required an emergency operation which happened am hour later.

I'm now convelescing at home with a two week lay off lying on my side while a gas bubble keeps the retina in place. it will be a couple of months before I can go back to work and before I know how much of my sight I will lose.

Having had a few more days to think about it and talk it through with people I still think I would have chased them down for a chance to admonish the innocents. Would I still have smashed the wing mirror? Who knows as I wasn't properly in control of my senses at the time.

 

[BentMikey]

Oh noes garilla!!! I'm really sorry to hear that. What a bunch of dirty rotten scum.

 

[Browser]

Sorry to hear that garilla

 

[Twenty Inch]

Really sorry to hear that Garilla.