Pedestrian Rage

[TruthHurts]

My roommate drove me and the boyfriend to the supermarket for some grocery shopping. As he was pulling into a space an elderly couple walk in front of him without looking, he is polite and lets them pass. The couple passes by and the wife says in a loud, snide, voice "Well excuse us" This set my roomie off and he said some choice words towards the couple who ignored him.

The bf and I are in the soup aisle when we encounter the couple, the lady makes a point to stand in front of whatever section in the aisle I was looking at. The boyfriend and I ignore it and go about our shopping, but every aisle we go to that same couple followed. As a joke my bf quietly remarked that they were stalking us. Despite the fact that A.) This was said very quietly and B) The couple had already departed to the next aisle, lady somehow heard this and stomped back to our aisle to glare at us.

We then proceed to the meat section where the couple starts wheeling their cart directly at my bf. There's more than enough room for two carts but he proceeds to push that cart and does not stop or even slow down. My bf stepped out of the way and the couple did not even look at the meat section just continued wheeling their cart.

In the parking lot neither of us said a single thing to the couple my roomie was the one who had said anything, but the fact we were there made them want to harrass us every moment we were in there. Pretty creepy.

[Kiwi]

wow some people have so little power in their lives that they fill their days trying to intimidate strangers in the grocery store.....

and the award for "Ive wasted my life" goes to....

[One-Fang]

Good on you both. A perfect opportunity to be justifiably completely rude yourselves, and you both took the high road. It must have been very tempting to get into an argument with them.

It's probably another effect of the "I'm old so you owe me" mentality.

[Dips]

Somthing like that happened to us. We were trying to park and this SUV was blocking the entire row of spaces because the driver was waiting for a car to back out of THE space she wanted.

No big deal. That happens all the time and doesn't make much of a story by itself. However the person who was backing out of THE space couldn't do it because the SUV was in her way. So the SUV driver puts on her backup lights and waits for us to back up. So we did.

The woman in THE space managed to get out so we waited for the SUV to pull forward so we could park in one of six spaces it was blocking.

It turns out that the angle wasn't right for the SUV to pull into THE space, so she puts on the backup lights AGAIN expecting the three cars (ours included) stuck behind her to back up.

Mind you there are plenty of empty spaces all over this parking lot that are just about as close as THE space, including the six she was blocking us from getting to.

Backing up wasn't going to happen. My husband got irate and tooted the horn to tell her to get out of the way and let us park. We didn't want THE space, we just wanted to park. The SUV driver tooted her horn back. She wasn't moving; we think she was afraid we might take THE space.

So what did we do? At that point all the other folks in the line had given up and moved to other rows. My husband put the car in park right in the row. I got out and went into the store to start my shopping. I chose not to say anything as I walked past the SUV. Arguing with entitled idiots is tempting, but rarely productive. I just get frustrated and they don't get any smarter.

When I came out she was parked in THE space and my husband was parked as well. He told me he just stayed put, picked up a book and pointedly started reading it so the lady could see him. She realized he wasn't going anywhere and finally moved ahead so he could park, then she had room to maneuver into THE space.

Apparently she had just gone into the store as I was finishing my shopping. I'm kind of glad I didn't run into her.

[Ljt09863]

pedistrians do drive me nuts sometimes. yesterday, fiancee was backing out of a space, when a lady starts walking behind the car going to the store. we know she had to see us, cause we were halfway out of the parking spot! and she didn't cross on the other side of where we were, she had to walk directly behind us, so fiancee had to stop. i meanm what if he had chosen that exact moment to look in front to make the sure the front was clearing the cars? he might not have stopped.


and when we are driving in parking lots, i hate it when people have to cross in front of us, only to stay in the middle of the road to walk down two or three lanes to get to the right lane that there car is in. when i need to cross the road, i cross so i go straight across to where i need to go. i know pedistrians have the right of way, but be considerate.

maybe im just picky, but it drives me nuts when i have to wait five minutes for somebody to move out of the way so i get to where i need to go.

[Acolyte]

The one thing I hate about Whitehorse is the freaky disorder caused by...I dunno, living in the artic circle, is that anybody who's lived there for any amount of time feels the entitlement to walk right out into traffic. No looking, no stopping, not even at a crosswalk! They just run right out! If my car didn't have good brakes, I'd be serving jail time.

The worst are old people. Most people who run out in front of me speed up when they see two tons of angry motivated road yacht with a 19-year-old guy behind the wheel barreling down on them. However, on several occasions, they've slowed down and even stopped, causing me to leave a good stretch of rubber on the roads to keep me out of jail. Although many days, I think it'd be worth it, what with cleaning up the gene pool and all.

[sarahj]

Sorry if I'm getting a little off-topic here, but...

Once mum & I were waiting for a parking spot at the local shopping centre. It was packed so we were one of many cars just driving around, waiting for a spot. Anyway a lady comes out of the exit, we follow her to her car in hopes of grabbing her spot. She just hops in and sits in her car for a few minutes, with us waiting while she does nothing. Then another car comes along from the other direction and pops its indicator on, for the same spot.

So mum gives up and drives over to the next row of cars, on her way out because parking seems hopeless, when an exiting lady indicates for us to follow her to her car. And we get her spot! Meanwhile, the other people were still waiting for the other lady sitting in her car.

[XCashier]

The one thing I hate about Whitehorse is the freaky disorder caused by...I dunno, living in the artic circle, is that anybody who's lived there for any amount of time feels the entitlement to walk right out into traffic. No looking, no stopping, not even at a crosswalk! They just run right out!

We get those morons here in the desert, too, it has more to do with stupidity, senselessness and self-centeredness than geographical location.

Yeah, they're aggrivating. Then they get POed at you if you don't see them because they walked right into your blind spot. Buddy, you can see the car better than the driver can see you, and maneuver your feet* a lot easier than the driver can maneuver his/her car! Don't freaking walk out into traffic, jackass!

*and if you can't maneuver your feet easily, than it really is in your best interest to wait for traffic!

[protege]

Yeah, they're aggrivating. Then they get POed at you if you don't see them because they walked right into your blind spot. Buddy, you can see the car better than the driver can see you, and maneuver your feet* a lot easier than the driver can maneuver his/her car! Don't freaking walk out into traffic, jackass!

One night, I nearly hit some idiot who did that. This guy was running along the sidewalk, and suddenly made a left turn in front of me. Keep in mind that it was kinda dark, rainy, and I didn't see him step out from between two telephone poles. I tried to stop, but even at 25-30mph on a wet road, there was no way I could stop in time, and I would still have knocked him into next week. It was *that* quick folks! I so expected to see the guy bounce over my hood, or worse, coming through my windshield! Even though I didn't hit him, I'm sure he crapped his pants and thought twice about what could have happened...

All too often, pedestrians think they have the right of way. They think that every driver can see them, and can somehow stop on a dime. With attitudes like that, it's no wonder people get hit.

[phillippbo]

Pedestrians not following the rules of the road is one of my biggest pet peeves. What many people seem to not understand is this: Pedestrians have the right of way if they are already in the road and/or intersection. If they are not, traffic that's in the roadway has the right of way, no matter what that traffic happens to be.

As far as what to do with idiots that step out in front of you in a parking lot, I have the perfect answer, and it puts the fear of the automotive gods in them. (Warning: don't try this unless you are 1000000% SURE you won't mess up. Got that? Good.) What I usually do is leave my foot on the brake, drop the transmission into Neutral, and rev the engine. I've never had anybody ignore that (ESPECIALLY with a 4000+ lb Grand Cherokee sitting in front of them).

If you step out in front of a car/truck/SUV/whatever, the driver has a fraction of a second to decide what to do. That fraction of a second is even less than that, or non-existant, if said driver doesn't see you. Personally, I'd rather waste a few minutes on the sidewalk and be relatively sure that I'll cross safely than to step out there and end up at best in the hospital, and at worst the morgue.

[Kogarashi]

What many people seem to not understand is this: Pedestrians have the right of way if they are already in the road and/or intersection.

Personally, I'd rather waste a few minutes on the sidewalk and be relatively sure that I'll cross safely than to step out there and end up at best in the hospital, and at worst the morgue.

To the first: as my husband likes to say, "Pedestrians have the right of way, but cars have the right of inertia."

To the second: big, mondo DITTO. I can't guarantee that the car driving down the road has noticed me waiting to cross the street and will stop. I've seen enough drivers chatting on cell phones, putting on makeup, drinking coffee, reading newspapers or books or maps, etc. to really trust them to stop if I don't wait for a pedestrian signal (at lighted intersections) or give myself plenty of room to at least sprint across the street.

[Gurndigarn]

Pedestrians not following the rules of the road is one of my biggest pet peeves. What many people seem to not understand is this: Pedestrians have the right of way if they are already in the road and/or intersection. If they are not, traffic that's in the roadway has the right of way, no matter what that traffic happens to be.

Pedestrians have right of way.

Vehicles have rights of Newton's first and second laws.

[One-Fang]

Some people just want to go out there anyway, because they have the right of way.

Yup, you do. Fat lot of good it'll do you in the hospital.

I've always thought that it's nice if I get right of way when I'm entitled to it, but if it looks like the larger object is not going to give way, then I'm not really going to push that issue. It doesn't make them right (might makes right isn't 'right'), but it's not worth arguing with them. Because in a tussle between my flesh and bone body and the SUV bearing down on me, I'm not going to win.

[Binky]

One night, I nearly hit some idiot who did that. This guy was running along the sidewalk, and suddenly made a left turn in front of me. Keep in mind that it was kinda dark, rainy, and I didn't see him step out from between two telephone poles. I tried to stop, but even at 25-30mph on a wet road, there was no way I could stop in time, and I would still have knocked him into next week. It was *that* quick folks!

My boyfriend DID hit someone, like you it was at night, but we were coming around a blind corner and there were no lights (just the cars). THe guy was actually walking in the middle of the road, right in the middle of our lane, as we came round the corner the lights finnaly picked up the reflection of his white shoes, that was it, he was wearing BLACK! My boy had no time to stop becaue the blind corner meant we didn't see him till we were on top of him, the guy came through the windshield...only broke his leg and foot...guys damn lucky he didn't die! We were going 50-40 km/hr...people are just stupid!

[repsac]

partly off topic, part on here.

Talking of Right of Way, I had to chuckle some while remembering a story I heard years ago. Being a railfan, this amused me then, but now considering the story it amuses me more.

Ever see street trackage? you know what I mean. Not just crossings, but rails that run right down the middle of the streets? This isn't something you see every day here in the states. Most of our railroads, save for a few locations, have done away with this. You'd think, that fact alone would make people pay more attention to where they park.

Sadly, this is not the case.

I forget the exact location it happened, but some years ago I remember hearing of a rather curious "dispute" over right of way, and it's ultimate solution.

Imagine if you will:

The railroad had been there long before any businesses. Now, it was something of an oddity. This one little siding which diverted down the middle of main street, through a parking lot, and into a small sorting yard. Ninety percent of the time, this particular section of track was only operated at night. It's purpose, to service a plastics company just beyond the sorting/storage yard. Now, while most of the traffic came at night, there were still some movements done during the day. Enough, that your average person was smart enough to avoid the right of way. At least, one hoped.

Monday, (whatever month, whatever year) was not a normal day. The plastics company needed a new piece of equipment, and for some strange reason the only time it could get there was during the day. Noon in fact. Right in the height of the biggest sale of the year.

The day before, the owners of the parkinglot, in conjunction with the railroad had gone to the trouble of barricading off the path through their lot. Large orange road barrels, cones, and caution tape marked off the route. The idea was sound, that customers upon seeing this would avoid that section and allow the train to pass.

One lady, had other plans.

Upon finding the lot full, she opted to park her car smack dab across the tracks. After having gone to the trouble of moving one of the cones and visibly cutting the caution tape. This was not discovered until the train was ground to a halt with its poor crew trying to sort out what to do. After a few moments of debating, considering to tow it and a few other things, the conductor was sent inside to find the owner.

She refused to come out. Flatly refused.

The police were called. It was one of those new electric locked doors, meaning they couldn't slimjim it, put the car in neutral and move it. A tow truck was called, but he couldn't get there. He, had been dispatched to a bad wreck two counties away. The crew, had a problem.

So, what did they do? Well their solution was rather simple, if destructive. Since the lady wouldn't move her car, they just ran it over. The locomotive, though moving slowly, squashed that car much like a coke can when stepped on by an irate child. The car was pushed along for some time, making a loud squaking sound as the tires caught the ground; leaving long treads of rubber. Before long, it ended up being flipped up, knocked over to the side and left like a child's broken toy.

The lady tried to sue the railroad, claiming she had the right to park there. She lost her case when it was proven she had moved the cones and cut the tape warning her not to be there.

As if to add insult to injury, the police ticketed her for "Impeding the process of a train." A rather nice 500 dollar fine at that.