emotionally satisfying in all the wrong ways

[topaz]

Riding home this evening, was passed in Lexington by a couple of slacker kids in an Oldsmobile Cutlass who hollered something incoherent but probably very rude in my ear.  Whatever, it happens sometimes.

But this time they made a mistake.  They made the mistake of passing me too close in Lexington Center.  Right around there, I can get up to about 18-22mph while they're slowing down for the traffic light.

I pulled up right behind them at the light.  My blinky headlight was on and was blinking up the entire interior of the car.  The kid in the passenger seat looked around, saw me and said something to the driver.

The light turned green.  They started up.  I stayed right behind them.

They accelerated to 15mph.  I stayed right behind them.

They accelerated to 20mph.  I stayed right behind them.  They were talking to each other now and seemed to be getting really unnerved.  ("What the fuck's he doing?')  The kid in the passenger seat looked back at me nervously.  I smiled and waved at him.

They put on their blinkers.  I stayed right behind them.

They slowed down to about 10mph.  I stayed right behind them.

Finally they apparently decided this was too weird for them, the driver floored it and they shot away from me.

This is not the approach that I usually try to take with antisocial drivers, but every cyclist fantasizes about catching up with the driver who just snarled at you and putting them in their place.  There is something very richly satisfying about actually getting to do it on occasion.

Comments

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

*snerk* As you say, not the kind of thing you should do very often, but damn, that made me laugh. Bwahahaha!

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Actually, you know the best part, for me? I'm totally imagining you chasing after them, yelling, "I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS!!! *gigglesnort*

[crouchback.livejournal.com]

What would have happened if they had slammed on the breaks?

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

I wasn't following so close that I couldn't stop if they had pulled a trick like that.

[donnad.livejournal.com]

What would have happened if one of them had pulled out a gun?

[keyne.livejournal.com]

In Lexington, Mass.? Not bloody likely :}

[donnad.livejournal.com]

You don't know they were from Lexington, they could have been out joy riding and looking for trouble.

But it didn't happen, and that's what important. I agree that one should not live their lives afraid that the next person you accidentally cut off in traffic is going to shoot you, but it does happen.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

That's a big question and I think there are several things I want to say about it.

First, that question sounds kind of like it implies that what I was doing was unwise because one of them might have pulled a gun. If that wasn't your implication, then I'm sorry -- but I want to address this anyway because I suspect that other folks would have interpreted it the same way.

I just don't accept that premise. It doesn't feel practical to live by. In theory that possibility lies everywhere. The guy who cut in the line at Au Bon Pain might have a gun. The guy who shoved his way into the subway this morning might have a gun. There's not much I can do about that. I could try to live my life as if every interaction might end up that way, but I'm not willing to do that. It feels like it would be like hiding from the world.

So while it's possible that someone could have pulled a gun on me, I don't consider it sufficiently likely to worry about.

That said, to answer the question directly: what would have happened? I don't think much. I think that the kind of person who pulls a gun during a minor traffic altercation or other routine daily incident does so as a show of power and intimidation, not with real intent to use it. If someone pulled a gun at me I expect I would throw up my hands and yell a lot of soothing words and probably pee my pants, which is most likely the kind of reaction they'd be looking for, and having established their dominance, would get back in the car and take off. (Hopefully I'd have the presence of mind to take down their plate number and report it, but history suggests the odds are against it.)

[donnad.livejournal.com]

Well, I do think what you did was unwise, but not specifically because someone might have pulled a gun on you. They could have stopped suddenly and gotten out with a baseball bat, they could have stopped, put the car in reverse and gunned it. But since that didn't happen, it's a moot point.

I do agree that one should not live their life afraid that the next person you accidentally cut off in traffic is going to shoot you, but it does happen. Incidents of road rage happen all the time. That sort of passive aggressive behavior might just be the thing to trigger some guy who's having a bad day and who knows what he would do.

I always try to treat other people on the road in the same manner I would want to be treated. If a cyclist did that to you, and it was obviously passive agggressive behavior and not just coincidence, wouldn't you get a little annoyed?

And as much as I applaud your cycling to work and saving energy and all, and I believe in sharing the road, it is still dangerous for cyclists. Automobiles are bigger and faster, thus deserve the same respect you expect from them. Nothing pisses me off more than seeing a cyclist not obeying traffic rules, coasting through red lights and stop signs as if they do not apply to them. If a cyclist wants to share the road that means the road rules too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying what you did was illegal or anything beyond antagonistic. Imagine it the other way around with a car doing it to you on your bike. How would you feel?

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

The thing is that I don't think I did anything wrong, either explicitly or implicitly.

I was passed by a car, and a few blocks later came up behind the car at a stop light. I proceeded behind the car at a reasonable speed and at a reasonable distance. I could have passed the car when they slowed down and put their blinkers on but I didn't consider it safe, so I stayed behind. (Largely because I didn't want to be in front of that car.)

This is essentially the same thing that I do with every car and at every intersection. The only thing that made this one different was that the occupants of this car had shouted some nonsense at me as they passed a few minutes before. If they had not done so, I do not believe they would have found my behavior either antagonistic or out of the ordinary. So if they were disturbed by the incident, I consider it a problem of their own making and hope that it discourages them from doing it again in the future.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

The best part of all is that you intimidated them without saying a single word. As a consummate blabbermouth, I am in awe of that.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

I am nothing if not well versed in the language of passive aggression.

[bethr.livejournal.com]

Ha ha. Thank you for the bikers'-revenge fantasy come true.