Re: [OT] "If you're not passing traffic...then you ARE traffic"

[Shawn C Meze <skerocdriver@juno.com>]

On Thu, 14 Jun 2001 21:22:10 -0400 Marc Getty <marc@getty.net> writes:

>I don't think that I am not "beyond driving" in any way. If you make an
ass out
>of yourself, do not take subtle hints, and later obvious hints, that you
are not
>welcome or your driving is not acceptable, back off, move on, or prepare
to face
>the consequences.


Sorry dude, you've lost me there. I wasn't at Cincy (although many
thought I was.) so I don't know what happened in regards to anything. Im
not sure i fully understand what "driving like an ass" is? Is it one
single type of action or is there a full category?


>Many, many a car has been an ass to me, unlike most people, I often
choose to
>try and teach them the error of their ways.


I find (or, over the years, I have found...) that although the concept of
teaching one a lesson, the lesson taught often goes unlearned and the
only thing that gets to the driver whom was being an ass, thinks your a
big fat jerk for no reason and remains clueless to their doings. So, now
I don't try to do any teaching I just get past them and go on. Even when
I was master of the red and blues and could stop people and face to face
tell them what a waste of my air they were , they often still did not and
could not learn from it. 
Pity. 


> If this involves e-braking in front
>of them, or smoking them to get them to change their way of driving
(around me
>or in general), so be it. 



This is dangerous. Not because the dope behind you could wreck, but as
you have already witnessed, he/she could easily cause an accident with
some poor sap who is now stuck behind them. That wouldn't be cool, would
it? 



>Once they move on, or off, or just plain away, I
>continue on with my life and my driving. Road rage this is not, my
actions are
>calculated and are 100% under my control. If I am not able to control my
actions
>I back off immediately.



Careful, it could be taken as road rage. It totally depends on the
situation. I understand where your comming from, as do im sure, anyone
who has ever driven on public roads. Although your actions are
conceivably 100% under your control, what happens behind you as a
reaction to your "under control actions" could lead to some reactions
that end up as "out of control people" doing some out of control crashing
and possibly injuries. I know you don't want that, do you?
As a racing instructor, I hear some people tell me how good of a driver
they are and I sit there and watch them do classically wrong things as a
driver. What's good for the track is really good for the street, the only
difference is speeds. Oddly enough, cooperation on the race track is 100
times higher than on the average street. How ironic! 



>Unfortunately I am never in the control of others actions, and am not
always
>able to predict the actions and reactions of others perfectly. A classic
example
>of this is when Jan noted "I'll cause the people that I'm caravaning
with to run
>into the woods at 90MPH". This is one example of an unfortunate downside
to one
>of my actions. If the Honda being an ass in Ohio drove off the road and
into an
>embankment I would not even bat an eye, but my actions caused two VWs to
swerve
>and this is the unfortunate result of one of my actions.



This is a great example of what I was saying above. Just know that if you
do something like this and somebody gets hurt, you could be held liable.
I don't want that to happen no more than you do. Just tone it down a
notch, use the finger alot more and go on with it, yes?



>Rules, laws, sins, and morals are all subjective and 
>I don't believe in any of them. 


Interesting comment.
Heres my take. Rules and laws are guidelines. 
Sins? We wont go there, doesn't apply here to this discussion. 
Morals, well, its subjective indeed. Might be a mixture of guidelines and
what you believe, blended over ice. 



>In this world there are just two things: actions and consequences. This
is
>the way I live my life and the way that I drive my car.


Ill ask you this.
Do you believe that everybody should follow the basic rules of the road?
Should everybody follow every rule written?
Should we be allowed to pick and choose rules as we see fit?




>No, I did not say that, nor did I infer that in any way. It was a
comparison
>between two ends of the spectrum, me and a hypothetical trailer queen.


I didn't mean that you did infer, just wanted to better understand what
you were saying. 


>I have
>run into "people/animals/unmovable objects" & other vehicles both on 
>purpose a
>number of times, and by accident a number of times. Each of these 
>incidents have
>a story, all of these stories build on the character of the driver and 
>of the
>car.


The only problems with that is, the car can only take so much of a
beating. ya know? Im not trying to tell you how to treat your car, its
YOUR CAR, drive it how you see fit. 




>Getting all bent out of shape or "pissed" over a dent is completely 
>wrong in my opinion. A dent is a dent, a dent is not the end of the
world. 


Its not the end of the world. Im not bent over it, just irritated
everytime I look at it. As someone who has spent ALOT of money on my car
to fix it up, make it better ect, it is taken personally when its only
been 6 months after its fresh paint job only to have a big honkin dent in
the fender. wouldn't YOU be pissed? Well, no, I know you wouldn't because
you take dents as war stories. That's you tho. 



>It's not even
>enough to call someone a "fuck" or get "pissed" at. Take a look at the 
>big dent
>on the drivers side front of my Jetta <http://getty.net/jetta/>. I hit 
>a tree
>and it made that dent. Am I a "fuck" for doing this?


I dunno, are ya? Again, its your car, do what ya like. if you came out of
work and found that dent, how would you feel about it then? 


>If you don't know *ALL* of the facts surrounding the situation, you 
>should not judge.  -snip- Now has your option
>changed knowing some more facts about the situation? I bet it has.


No. I had no opinion of it before. Just trying to understand peoples
comments is all. Im just collecting info. 



>I don't know, and just for a hypothetical I'm going to go out on a limb
and
>assume you don't know, *ALL* of the facts as to why that guy/gal
"couldn't back
>out from a parking spot". Would he still be a "fuck" if he was rushing
to the
>hospital for him/herself or their spouse, or their children? I would not
call
>him a fuck even if you told me that he/she eats children, because I
don't know
>anything about this person other then they hit your car and that they
eat
>children.


I know nothing of who damaged my car. This is where the irritation comes
from. No note, nothing. I had a $1400 paint job with a fresh dent and I
wasn't happy. Now that its chipped, flaking, peeling, I don't care much
about the paint but knowing i will have to fix the fender is a thorn in
my side. Im sure you don't care about the cosmetics of your car but I do
care about all of mine. They don't have to be perfect, just nice. Is that
too much to ask for? Is that unreasonable from anyone?




>That's your opinion, feel free to keep it. 


heh, if you don't know me by now, I post my opinions, like em or not. 



>I do not know anyone by name on the list who is a trailer queen. At no 
>point did I call anyone a trailer queen, especially not Jan!



OK. It looked as though this is what you were inferring. Clarification is
a good thing. 




>Very well put Shawn, this shows that you are clearly not interested in
starting
>a flame war (neither am I). Hope my comments clarify what I have noted
>previously.


Im a really busy person. I don't have MUCH spare time in between all the
cars, racing, family crap that I do. I definitely don't have any time for
a flame war. (although I will MAKE time to get TMB all hot and bothered!)
So, when I see something on the list that interests me, I reply. I am
very opinionated, ask anyone. :)
I am interested in (even heated ones are fine) having discussions on
things I don't understand or agree with. 



Shawn Méze
86' Jetta GLi 8V       84' Scirocco 8V           88' Corvette -SS 30-
82' Scirocco GTi -FSP 54-     79' "Project FSP Scirocco"
The Fastest, Quickest, Cleanest and best looking Scirocco in all of San
Diego!
http://www.Geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1308/index.htm

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