Road rager v. cyclist on camera

Strayhorn wrote:
A sad tale:

http://spacing.ca/wire/?p=491

Summary: Driver throws litter out window. Cyclist throws it back in.
Fight ensues which is caught on camera.

--
Strayhorn

³Excuse me, brother, who you jivin' with that cosmik debris?" - F.Z.

On 3 different occasions I have thrown litter back into someone's car.
Only once was I on my bike, the other times I was a pedestrian. I am
6'3" 220 pounds so most confrontations are just a matter of yelling and
puffy posturing. The guy who got a half filled McDonalds milkshake
tossed through his window was not a happy camper.

Joseph

In article .com,
wrote:

Strayhorn wrote:
A sad tale:

http://spacing.ca/wire/?p=491

Summary: Driver throws litter out window. Cyclist throws it back in.
Fight ensues which is caught on camera.

--
Strayhorn

³Excuse me, brother, who you jivin' with that cosmik debris?" - F.Z.

On 3 different occasions I have thrown litter back into someone's car.
Only once was I on my bike, the other times I was a pedestrian. I am
6'3" 220 pounds so most confrontations are just a matter of yelling and
puffy posturing. The guy who got a half filled McDonalds milkshake
tossed through his window was not a happy camper.



This echoes an episode between a litterer and myself - though in this
case the milkshake was from Burger King. A pair of youths DWE (driving
while eating), were disposing of their meal's packaging as they
polished off their fare. Hamburger wraps, French fry containers,
cutlery, I saw it all go out window by turns as we leap frogged each
other through congested city traffic.

After retrieving the half-full milkshake the fellow in the passenger
seat had ejected, I caught the offenders as they waited at a stoplight,
and tossed it into the lap of its rightful owner. His lap turned a
sloppy shade of chocolate as he turned the air blue with his
imprecations. Coward that I am, I avoided a confrontation by a quick
U-turn and a retreat down an alley.

Luke

Luke

"Luke" wrote: (clip) Coward that I am, I avoided a confrontation by a quick
U-turn and a retreat down an alley.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I wouldn't call you a coward. You are someone who knows when and how to end
a conversation. If we always had to endure the endless rantings of those
whom we "correct," it would have a chilling effect on our do-gooderness.

Yeah, moving on is the way to handle it. Many years ago, I had an RTD
driver nearly kill me as he blatently ran a light in Downtown Denver. I
turned right to follow him to his next stop. I parked my bike on the
curb, got on the bus, pulled the keys out, exited, and threw the keys
into some nearby shrubs. Then I got on my bike and went the other way
down the sidewalk.

-Mike

Leo Lichtman wrote:
"Luke" wrote: (clip) Coward that I am, I avoided a confrontation by a quick
U-turn and a retreat down an alley.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I wouldn't call you a coward. You are someone who knows when and how to end
a conversation. If we always had to endure the endless rantings of those
whom we "correct," it would have a chilling effect on our do-gooderness.

wrote:
Strayhorn wrote:
A sad tale:

http://spacing.ca/wire/?p=491

Summary: Driver throws litter out window. Cyclist throws it back in.
Fight ensues which is caught on camera.

--
Strayhorn

³Excuse me, brother, who you jivin' with that cosmik debris?" - F.Z.

On 3 different occasions I have thrown litter back into someone's car.
Only once was I on my bike, the other times I was a pedestrian. I am
6'3" 220 pounds so most confrontations are just a matter of yelling and
puffy posturing. The guy who got a half filled McDonalds milkshake
tossed through his window was not a happy camper.

Joseph

Seems like everyone's first response is to escalate the situation.

I've found that you can make a much greater impact AND not run the risk
of getting a beat-down if you just hand the trash back to the litterer
and say, "excuse me, I think you dropped this".

"Luke" wrote: (clip) Coward that I am, I avoided a confrontation by a quick
U-turn and a retreat down an alley.


Leo wrote:
I wouldn't call you a coward. You are someone who knows when and how
to end a conversation. If we always had to endure the endless
rantings of those whom we "correct," it would have a chilling effect
on our do-gooderness.

I can easily see this type of confrontation resulting in a cyclist who
quickly reached the ambient temperature because he was no longer living.

Seems like everyone's first response is to escalate the situation.

Escalation seems to be the norm in urban jungles. I once was in a road rage
duel while I was driving my car with another car. Speeds approached 80 mph,
honking and flashing lights, through city streets, before I finally called
it off when the other car made a high speed turn and almost lost it. But
the point was made.

Mike Reed wrote:
Yeah, moving on is the way to handle it. Many years ago, I had an RTD
driver nearly kill me as he blatently ran a light in Downtown Denver. I
turned right to follow him to his next stop. I parked my bike on the
curb, got on the bus, pulled the keys out, exited, and threw the keys
into some nearby shrubs. Then I got on my bike and went the other way
down the sidewalk.

I must say, I like it.

But, I think that's some sort of federal
offense now, stepping onto a bus to
confront the driver. I once served a
half eaten burrito through the driver's
window of an RTD. He deserved it,
believe me.

BTW, the proper way to address
issues with RTD drivers is to get the
number of the bus, take note of the
exact time and location of the incident
and report it to RTD. They have been
very responsive to cyclist complaints.

Also, people should note that the
messenger in question in this photo
series is a woman. Both escalated
the confrontation but then the dude
gets out and apparently starts inflicting
physical violence on this female, and
on her bicycle, at which point passers-
by come to her aid.

Don't hit girls.

Robert

On Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:50:29 +0000, Callistus Valerius wrote:

Seems like everyone's first response is to escalate the situation.

Escalation seems to be the norm in urban jungles. I once was in a road
rage duel while I was driving my car with another car. Speeds approached
80 mph, honking and flashing lights, through city streets, before I
finally called it off when the other car made a high speed turn and almost
lost it. But the point was made.

What point?

I don't think "urban" has much to do with it either. In my
experience, city dwellers know better how to get along with each other,
because it's a requirement of everyday life. Of course with more people
around the chances of running into a miscreant may be higher.

Some of us manage to go through our whole lives without conflict, while
others have a story of some scuffle they've been in nearly every week.
Gee, I wonder what the difference is.

You're right, the problem is some of us choose to act out like big
babies rather than keep our cool and move on.

Matt O.

I'm inferring a lot from a bunch of photos, but I'd guess one or both
of the following might have been at work in this guy's head:

First, for some men--maybe a lot of men--there's a lot of aggression
against women that's kept in check by society's notion that men should
protect women. But when women behave "out of bounds", as he might have
perceived the courier as doing, the checks fall away, and the rage
comes out. He was really out of control.

Also, many people, myself included, get angry when someone acts toward
them with a sense of smug moral superiority, even when the point
they're making is a good one. I was once walking my dog in Santa
Monica--PC capital of the western world--when a young woman came up to
me and smugly insisted that I pick up my dog's droppings, so as not to
mess up "her" city. I got really angry at her posturing, and rather
than show her the plastic bag I had in my pocket for just that purpose,
I told her what I thought of her, and people like her. I remember
using the word "****head" among others. She was taken aback; perhaps
like the courier, because she was in the right, she felt she could do
just about anything to express her rightness.

Not in my book. Tossing food through somebody's window is an uncool
thing to do, whether the litterer goes over the edge or not.