Why does being on a bike in London cause so much conflict? (this time, a jaywalker)

Where's that Hitler skidding photo when you need it?

"demagoguery"

Nice word.

I'll raise you a fecund.

Nice !

I'll see your fecund and raise you a 'epiphenominalism'.

Where's that Hitler skidding photo when you need it?

:) har-har !! I was looking for it too !!

i can't help but notice how demagogues tend to have advanced photoshop skilz.

Salute ?

but would you take the other hand off the bars and place a finger horizontally under your nose?

but would you take the other hand off the bars and place a finger horizontally under your nose?

Of course, the fuhrer would accept nothing less.

"demagoguery"

Nice word.

I'll raise you a fecund.

Ah, demagoguery and Hitlerian rhetoric. One of me all time favourites of all time...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFD01r6ersw"]YouTube
- A Bit of Fry and Laurie...Tricky Linguistics[/ame]

Where's that Hitler skidding photo when you need it?

This one?

Those pedestrians who walk into the road paying little or no attention to the safety of both themselves and others should be reminded that to do so is dangerous and unacceptable.

yes, by being knocked to the ground and covered in bruises, grazes and possibly broken bones!

however, your sophistic verisimilitude is impressive.

yes, by being knocked to the ground and covered in bruises, grazes and possibly broken bones!

My intention is to avoid getting to that stage.

however, your sophistic verisimilitude is impressive.

Great, well done.

This one?

Bingo ! :)

he's wearing eva braun's jeans, full house for hitler bingo.

hipster hitler bingo

he's wearing eva braun's jeans, full house for hitler bingo.

He's even got an ironic moustach.

My intention is to avoid getting to that stage.

Great, well done.

thanks ;)

sadly, no matter how many unthinking peds you yell at, there will always be another 20 to take their place.

now, people talking on phones while crossing the road without looking, that's a different story. those fuckers are asking for it!

now, people talking on phones while crossing the road without looking, that's a different story. those fuckers are asking for it!

I find calmly riding past them and taking the phone out of their hand usually gets their attention..

i am trying to be more zen about things these days. i have to remind myself that it really is just the adrenaline talking and take the polite but firm rebuke route.

weirdly (or maybe not) the only other place i occasionally get aggy is in the pool when i'm doing laps. it's the same thing, tons of adrenaline, high heart rate, you're focussed and in a rhythm and all you ask is that other people have enough enough self awareness and consideration to not unneccesarily inconvenience or endanger you. it's not a lot to ask is it really? personally it's my primary concern whether i'm cycling, swimming, driving... whatever. in fact that's my A1 golden rule of riding in town. traffic laws be danmed - as long as it doesn't inconvenience or endanger anyone else then it goes. that's it.

anyway back to the pool as handy analogy. more often then not a significant proportion of the pool users don't seem to have that basic common sense or courtesy. it's just the same as riding. if you expect it (as you must when riding in order to avoid constant accidents) and let it go people just carry on and on doing these selfish and potentially dangerous things. in the pool i find it niggles niggles niggles with me then when the same slow-ass macho twat cuts in front of me at the turn without looking for what might be the 20th time in an hour...yes i occasionally snap. i've been known to throw goggles and kick out at people. shame

i hate myself for it and i'm pretty sure that people think i'm a dick when i do eventually lose my rag. i can't really blame them...I think i'm a dick when i do it. i llose any moral advantage my theories of coutesy and awareness might have given me. plus when i get out, the adrenaline subsides (as it always does almost instantly) then i have to stand in the showers with the now furious macho guys i just yelled at. that's not fun. it happens to me man.

anyway - i think my point is that relatively harmless and cathartic (it IS a good release of stress) the odd shout and yell is - there is a more contructive and positive way to make these points. it just takes some self control. i'm pretty sure the quiet word in the offender's ear (letting them know how unacceptable their behaviour is) is always more effective than the insane rant.

i'm working on it anyway.

In 99 I was riding in to Twickenham with a mate in the bus lane it was around 8:50am. There was a cue of traffic at stand still and as we approached a junction to a side street, a car squeezed through the traffic to come move in to the street. The girl driving stopped dead as soon as she saw us which left us no choice but to take a big hand full of brake (luckily I was on a MTB with a set of Magura Hydraulics). I endo up to her bonnet and as my tyre touched hers I went over the bars and on to her bonnet all at very slow speed. She was screaming. I just saw red (I never loose my temper, really never) I picked my bike up and was just about to launch it through her window when my mate Chris grabbed one of my wheels and stopped me.
I have never felt like taht before. I have since been knocked off by peds and vehicles several times, but I have never reacted like that again as I remember that it wasnt me acting like that it was just the Adrenaline. Pure madness that really didnt help the situation and only served to scare the living shit out of an attractive young women... and make me look like a total tit (nothing new)...

Regardless of how the proposition is framed to make it appear ugly, basically yes. Those pedestrians who walk into the road paying little or no attention to the safety of both themselves and others should be reminded that to do so is dangerous and unacceptable.

It is ugly. I have no problems with having a word, and do so myself. Sometimes I swear when I'm startled. But I find it very difficult to countenance going 'FEAR UP HARSH' on every absent-minded ped who happens to make a mistake - it just doesn't seem like a constructive or pleasant way to treat fellow people.

We seemed to have drifted from shouting at idiots who wonder into the road to punishing the world !? And not just punishing the world but wanting it 'so badly' for not meeting my 'exacting standards'.

Marvelous recourse to demagoguery, I sound a lot like Adolf Hitler don't I :)

Godwin's Law:

• "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."*
  
  

Again, I just don't think it's very nice to advocate intimidation as a form of social engineering.

I find calmly riding past them and taking the phone out of their hand usually gets their attention..

yay! what i enjoy doing is riding along and as you pass bus stops, people are always standing out trying to wave downa taxi or bus with their hand up in the air, so i try to high-five them! :-)

you could also try the Tour de France-style "comfort break".

edit Not that i'm seriously advocating that /edit

or you could get your penis out and urinate on their faces..

It is ugly. I have no problems with having a word, and do so myself. Sometimes I swear when I'm startled. But I find it very difficult to countenance going 'FEAR UP HARSH' on every absent-minded ped who happens to make a mistake - it just doesn't seem like a constructive or pleasant way to treat fellow people.

I had no clue what 'Fear up harsh' might be so looked it up.

An interrogation technique originating in the current Iraqi conflict used by the American military and the CIA involving violent threats, yelling and screaming and hurling of objects in order to instill fear in the prisoner.

[insert rolling eyes smiley !]

:) Good grief !

Whilst that is obviously conversational hyperbole, no, I do not think shouting at people is pleasant, but my intention is not to make the act of risking someone else's safety pleasant in any way whatsoever.

Again, I just don't think it's very nice to advocate intimidation as a form of social engineering.

Fuck me ! Why stop at social engineering, why not accuse me of social Darwinism or even a touch of Eugenics ? ;P

So . . .

I come out of the pub pissed - whilst texting on my mobile I wonder thoughtlessly into the road without looking - some cyclist swerves to avoid me, hits the ground and does himself and his bike some damage. Picking himself up off the ground and gathering up the contents of his bag he calls me a 'stupid fucking idiot' and that 'I should fucking look where I am going'

What should my reaction be here ?

Should I feel embarrassed, a bit shocked by the whole incident, rudely reminded that I should really look out for both myself and others when around traffic, should I appologise and accept his (justified and entirely natural) anger at me ?

Or should I accuse him of using intimidation as a form of social engineering ? Should I go further and, as he picks bits of grit out of the palm of his hand, accuse him of employing US military interrogation techniques in an attempt to impose a form of social engineering on me ?

Fuck me ! Honestly ! What happened to people simply getting pissed off at others threatening their safety ? Social engineering ! Fucking hell ! :D :D

Anyhow, enough laughter, this conversation, for me at least, has hit saturation, and as the straw men (social engineering ! Punishing the world !!! Intimidation !!!! American military style interrogation !!!) are coming thick and fast it's best for me to bow out before I am tied in with the holocaust, Stalin and the Spanish Inquisition.

Stay safe.

or you could get your penis out and urinate on their faces..

Bernice ?

I disagree, for me it is irresponsible to attempt to smooth over or sanitize any situation where both parties could be killed or injured, to act as if it is all no big deal, on the contrary I think the situation should be amplified, exaggerated, the point should be driven home very clearly.

Stupidity on the roads should be met with abuse and ridicule.

Per your alter ego.