Pissing people off by being nice

Sometimes people can be TOO nice, and that's probably as bad as not being nice enough. I've seen many incidents like that.

I don't let stuff like that piss me off any more, I have too many other real problems to worry about. But I still reserve the right to, if hit by some asshat texting while driving, to insert said electronic device where if it were solar powered it would quit working after a while.

But one incident: way back when I was coming down a two lane road in SC in the middle of the night driving a Pinto hatchback. I was going probably 70, plenty fast for the conditions, maybe a little too fast. I saw headlights coming up FAST behind me, they turned into quads on hi beam and then disappeared behind the rear panel of the Pinto. That sucker was CLOSE. I tolerated this for about 30 seconds, then slammed on the brakes (yeah dumb move, what if the following driver was drunk, getting a BJ or maybe both?) the lights turned out to be attached to a white Corvette which did a couple of 360's in the road behind me. I sped up as fast as I could and came to a 4 lane passing zone where this jagoff caught and passed me, I was going maybe 85 and he was doing probably 100-120. He or she disappeared out of sight.

Done similiar things. My old truck was an early 80"s K5 Blazer, not lifted but 31" tires, winch bumper (no winch) and scratched up from offroading. Had the 4-L inline-6 and A/T w/shift kit installed. I would drop down a gear whenever some a$$hat got so close that all I saw was roof. Several went off the road to my right. Always noted that most people would give way to me and stay out of my way when I drove that truck. Sure do miss it sometimes.

Once riding a motorcycle, had another a$$ pull up beside me at a stopsign and turned left with my and ended up beside me. Before I turned I noticed an MP (happened on-post when I was in the military) a couple cars behind me and resisted the urge to kick in his door, the MP obligingly pulled him over.

kpm wrote: In reply to confuZion3: Make sure when you kick that door in that before the cops arrive, you make that shoe print disappear. Just the voice of experience speaking.

Two things: 1.) Do tell us this story. 2.) I'd honestly only use my foot in self-defense. I get on the horn immediately when someone is coming over to hit me and I don't let up until they stop what they are doing. This has always corrected the problem. If it doesn't, I have noticed that my foot is always JUST about to instinctively move out and hit the door. Hard enough to make a lot of noise and get the driver's attention. Also, it would make a nice feeler gauge as I look around for an exit (which I always try to keep in mind anyway--but sometimes, there's nowhere to go). But honestly, it's going to be a reflex reaction, I think. If you still try to come over on me, then I'll break your berkeleying mirror. I'll tell the police why, too.

Not car related, but definately doing nice things to piss people off related. I mow my ex-fiance's mother's lawn every week for free (just like I have for the past 6 years.) even though we have to talk to each other through our lawyers... just because I know how pissed she gets when she comes home (she lives with her mom.) and sees that I've been there. best 30 minutes of my week. (am i that big a loser? damn.)

I had a guy rear end me when I pulled out of my workplace on a two lane road, right in front of a cop who had been running radar. The dumbass and I were the only two cars on the road, and he had considerable time to move over, as when he hit me I was already up to 9 mph over the 40 mph limit. I know it was 9 because the cop had me on radar, and gave me a berkeleying ticket. And the shiny happy person that hit me got like 5 tickets. still not enough for that dumbass.

slefain wrote:

confuZion3 wrote: Slefain, I hope you called the five-oh on that one. People like that need a good dose of Johnny Law from time to time. And the hilarity of knowing that their insurance company was going to triple their rates or, more likely, drop them altogether would have been worth the 10 minutes spent on the phone with the police.

Considering the punishment this guy was dealing out to his own dashboard and steering wheel, I really didn't care to stick around. I figured the damage alone to what was probably his mama's SUV would be punishment enough. And in this area you can't always count on someone having insurance anyway. No, him knowing that he did several thousands of dollars in damage to his own SUV was enough for me. I just brushed the paint chips off the window sills and popped the mirror back on. Unfortunately I also proved to myself that when driving a car I don't care about in traffic, I no longer drive defensively. This could be bad.....

slefain, there's a difference between being defensive at speed, and being defensive while stopped. Didn't you mention that it happened during a rush hour Creep-Fest? I really think you'll be OK..

Chebbie_SB wrote: In the car I try to go all "Zen" and just let the asshats go flying by so I can just wave as I eventually pass the flaming wreckage, unless somebody puts me in harms way- then I may go from Mr. Rogers to Alien life form in nano-seconds....

After you mentioned that, I realized that when I'm alone in the car I'm willing to let a lot of the stuff the morons do slide..but if my daughter or girlfriend (and her 5yr old) are riding with me, my Rogers/Alien quotient starts setting off the H.R. Giger counter. Berkeley with me? Fine, whatever. Berkely with people I love? Here comes the facehugger.

EastCoastMojo wrote:

benzbaron wrote: I like that Lesley, my dad has a rear washer and one of my uncles said he should get a remote reservoir and put soluble oil in it. Turn the window nozzle upside down and nobody will stay on your tail for long.

What you want to put in there is deer urine.

Dang! I've never seen a deer strike on a stationary car...

Keith wrote: So much for "pissing people off by being nice", now it's a litany of GRM people who are a little bit on the edge I was driving Basil the Land Rover in Telluride once. Now, Basil isn't the fastest truck on the road. When he was made in 1966, he only had about 70-odd horsepower and the aerodynamics of a barn. 40 years of use hasn't helped, and neither does driving at, what 8,000' above sea level? So when I'm hit with a big grade, I have to slow down.

Keith, you actually made me realize something about myself with this post. A weird thing...I'm much more tolerant with another enthusiast in front of me than I am with some "civilian". If I'd been behind a 1966 Land Rover, I'd be giving thumbs up every time you looked in the mirrors. But if I'd been behind some ratty old Buick, I'd be swearing up a storm. Thinking over it, I do seem to be safe about it (no passes on the shoulder or anything like that), but my emotional reaction to the situation changes.

This actually happened to me on Labor Day weekend, we live very close to a popular state park & resevoir. I had to slow for a guy in a Ford Model A, and didn't even realize that I didn't consider myself "stuck behind" him like I did when I was behind some poor guy taking his boat home.

friedgreencorrado wrote:

Chebbie_SB wrote: In the car I try to go all "Zen" and just let the asshats go flying by so I can just wave as I eventually pass the flaming wreckage, unless somebody puts me in harms way- then I may go from Mr. Rogers to Alien life form in nano-seconds....

After you mentioned that, I realized that when I'm alone in the car I'm willing to let a lot of the stuff the morons do slide..but if my daughter or girlfriend (and her 5yr old) are riding with me, my Rogers/Alien quotient starts setting off the H.R. Giger counter. Berkeley with me? Fine, whatever. Berkely with people I love? Here comes the facehugger.

+1 same here though since neither myself nor my girlfriend have any kids this extends to my nieces or friends kids that I claim honorary uncle status to.

I realize that this doesn't normally happen in the majority of cases, but I try to just let the folks who are behind me making a ruckus just get past me.........it might actually be important.

Summers in college were spent rigging and delivering boats between Cleveland and Sandusky. The shop was located in Medina, OH, so we took farm roads between the shop and the lake -- no interstate driving, all back country roads. One of the other folks I worked with (Dennis) was dropping off a boat in Port Clinton and had some guy behind him. Guy was trying to pass, flashing his lights, honking his horn -- everything he could do to get Dennis' attention and try to pass. Dennis thought the guy was being a garden variety asshat and did everything he could to NOT let the guy pass. After about 10-15 miles of this there is some open road and the guy actually passed Dennis and the boat. Dennis looks over to see what the asshat looks like -- in the passenger seat was a guy with a lot of blood all over his face/chest. Apparently they were in a hurry -- to the emergency room!

Not quite sure what kind of roads this guy was on, but I hauled a neighbor the hospital in an emergency once and believe me, no one could have kept me from making tracks except a police officer.

I did have a squeeze play on the Garden State Parkway at a toll booth about 10 years ago. A new white Exploder zipped past all sorts of cars and elected to sneak in front of my 8 year old Cavalier. I had tire marks on the paint; he had a creased fender and door. The cop agreed that the other guy was at fault, but was ready to ticket us both.(no fault state) but in the interest of keeping my record clean, I asked him to pretend it never happened and he and the other driver agreed, so we all went our separate ways.

Part of the reason I moved from NJ to WA was the adrenaline surge I got at least 3 times a week driving in NJ. Now I have to deal with overly nice folks that slow down, sometimes down to 40 in a highway 60 mph zone, to let the merging folks in.

Jack wrote: I did have a squeeze play on the Garden State Parkway at a toll booth about 10 years ago. A new white Exploder zipped past all sorts of cars and elected to sneak in front of my 8 year old Cavalier. I had tire marks on the paint; he had a creased fender and door. The cop agreed that the other guy was at fault, but was ready to ticket us both.(no fault state) but in the interest of keeping my record clean, I asked him to pretend it never happened and he and the other driver agreed, so we all went our separate ways.

So, if you're just sitting at a red light and some shiny happy person hits you in the rear at 50, and he's drunk, you're getting a ticket because it's not his fault?

No its his fault too, but its partially your fault for being there. great logic there right?

That is a simmilar logic to the middle east. I spent my childhood in Libya. If you are stopped at a stop sign and got rear ended it was your fault. If you hadnt been there you wouldnt have been hit. The standing order was to get to the US Embassy post haste. Same for a taxi, if you hadnt hired it bla bla bla.

Another reason to stay-the-hell-outa Jersey.

Man, if I had a nickel for every time someone got pissed because I was nice to truckers. These guys are at work people! They need to keep momentum up to get up that giant hill. Jeez, you're not escaping an atomic blast, a few more seconds aren't going to matter.

I understand the desire to be nice. On the other hand, if you're doing things that are unexpected, expect for people to be pissed. I nearly plowed over someone yesterday who decided to stop in the middle of a 45mph street to let someone make a left turn onto it. This was an unexpected move, and I'm right behind them hauling 11,000#. You bet your ass I was pissed, and they probably thought they were being nice. Follow the rules, and we will all get along just fine.

Michigan is a no fault state too, but only the shiny happy person that caused it gets a ticket. And sometimes not even then. Which is the reason why Michigan has the forth highest insurance rates in the country. I moved from Detroit back to Indiana and I could have full coverage for a bit over half of what I was paying in Michigan for state minimum coverage.

On a different note, today I again had an incident of someone pissing me off by being too nice. I was pulling out of the car wash waiting to make a left turn to bring me to a light. This lady pulling up to the light stops to let me go. The light was red. There was plenty of room for me to pull out behind her. She waited long enough for there to be a line behind her like 5 or 6 cars long because there was traffic turning onto the road from the light. Really you got the right of way then go, I can wait until it is properly and legally my turn.

confuZion3 wrote: Well, if you touch my bike with your car, I'll break your berkeleying mirror off,

I punched the mirror off a newer 5-series on the interstate earlier this summer. It didn't even scuff the carbon knuckles on my gloves, lol.

xci_ed6 wrote:

confuZion3 wrote: Well, if you touch my bike with your car, I'll break your berkeleying mirror off,

I punched the mirror off a newer 5-series on the interstate earlier this summer. It didn't even scuff the carbon knuckles on my gloves, lol.D

What happened? What did they do?

To clarify, she changed into my lane in heavy traffic, forcing my onto the narrow shoulder. She was on her phone, and didn't even look when I honked. So I knocked her mirror off, and she moved over. I would have had to pass multiple cars on the shoulder to get back into traffic. We were going about 70mph.

pinchvalve wrote: Man, if I had a nickel for every time someone got pissed because I was nice to truckers. These guys are at work people! They need to keep momentum up to get up that giant hill. Jeez, you're not escaping an atomic blast, a few more seconds aren't going to matter.

I agree and try to do the same if possible. I have friends that drive big rigs for a living. Also just think about them trying to stop all that weight because some shiny happy person cuts them off. All I ask is let me know what your intentions are and I'll be more than happy to get out of your way and let you in or by.

On a side note, I had a business trip to Germany a couple weeks ago and I drove over there. Took me a while to get used to the common courtesy that they always do. Sign says yield, they do. Refreshing but I'm used to the pushyness that occurs on the roads here.

I'm always amused when I talk with people in the Pacific Northwest that grew up in other (more aggressive states). Talking with a few guys from Michigan, Florida, etc. you'd think that nice drivers are ruining the world. I try to drive like a nice guy, the only time I really get peeved is when people ignore the "lane ends" signs to get 15 seconds further up in line. When I see them zooming past stopped traffic, I'll leave a big fat gap in front of me that they'll ALWAYS take the bait on. When they slow down to merge, I speed up just a bit so they're door to door with me. If I'm lucky I can have them door to door with me for a minute or two before they finally give up and step in line behind me with the rest of us; if I'm REALLY lucky, they step in line behind me and some other jerkhole has done the same thing and is waiting for them to merge, then I get a two-fer deal.

I let trucks merge all the time, I'm always shocked how pissy people get. In stop and go traffic, that truck can move just as slow as the rest of us! It's amazing how much merging is hated in some places...turning on your turn signal before merging in places like Miami or Chicago almost guarantees that the spot you were going for disappears. In reality, if people merged with fluidity instead of fighting it, traffic would move much better.

Bryce