I was sitting in my house last night (S Atlantic Ave in Friendship) between 11:30-12 and heard a someone in a car yell at a cyclist.
The car approached, the yeller said something unintelligible followed by the classic, "Get a car, f@gg0t!" The cyclist responded with something about owning a BMW. The driver said something back, but he was too far away to understand.
I went upstairs and asked my wife if she heard the exchange, and we sat contemplating the driver's motivation. What's the point? How does that bring him pleasure? Does he also yell at pedestrians, because they aren't driving either? I just don't get it.
rzod - if the guy were self aware enough to understand what brought him pleasure, and why, perhaps he wouldn't be driving around Friendship late on a Monday night screaming obscenities at strangers.
For some people, the Autopilot firmly in charge includes lashing out at Others without discernable direction or meaning.
There is no point when you are an angry drunk driving at night.
He was doing it to impress his date.
I thought that stuff only happened in the boonies where I live. Although, now it's starting to change from, "get off the bike!" to "how can I get on a bike?" I suppose sticktoitiveness has its virtues.
Most of us know people who don't need a car, and can't afford one, yet make great sacrifices to own one. "You HAVE to have a car, man."
My impression is that a lot of harassment comes from some of these folks.
To them, owning a Beemer would not likely make bike use more acceptable.
@Mick, spot on. I get most flack from people in cheap cars that likely cost less than a nice entry level "race" bike and from those in cars/trucks of value exceeding $40k. The in-between people just exist and don't care to pass whatever troubles they have onto me.
yeah Mick, when your beliefs are being challenged, ("you need a car") might as well just dig in deeper to those beliefs.
Also a lot of people just really hate that bikes make them slow down. instant hate and frustration. I think it's kind of odd because there are many things that may make you slow down in the course of a drive, but slowing for bikes seems to be most offensive.
I try to keep a "live and let live" a outlook; as long as what you are doing doesn't involve hurting others, torturing animals, damaging the environment, or being evil or hurtful in some other way, I say let your freak flag fly. Chances are your lifestyle/activities will have zero effect on me, so why should I care? Even if I had some objection, it's really none of my business is it? So when I read about (or in this case, hear) events like this, I find it discouraging. Not as a cyclist, but as a human being. There is a lot of anger out there being directed at the wrong people.
Yeah, I think people live with a lot of stress and anger. Immature and/or cruel people just look for others to take it out on. If you've ever worked in retail or waited tables (and a lot of other jobs with "customers"), you see this kind of thing a lot.
Don't pass it on!!! Bike up a hill or take up boxing or something...
You're totally right, Tabby. From work I drive on Penn through Wilkensburg and East Liberty, and every day I see people walking in the middle of the street, not in a crosswalk, not caring that a traffic has stopped, or cars double parked with their hazards on. No one bats an eyelash. As soon as they have to slow down for a bike however, their blood begins to boil. Why is that?
Pseudacris, that is why I was glad to get a "real job" and leave the retail world behind. I couldn't stand the customers. People standing in a long line while Christmas shopping can quickly turn into an unruly mob of jackholes.
^ +1!!!!! I preferred dishwashing.(don't miss that job either, though...)
"I think it's kind of odd because there are many things that may make you slow down in the course of a drive, but slowing for bikes seems to be most offensive."...
When my little brother was like 3 or so, I remember seeing him run across the livingroom in a great hurry, trip and fall over a fold in the carpet, turn around, pick up the nearest object (hardback book), and proceed to bang on the carpet with it, to "teach it a lesson" as he shouted at the "stupid" carpet and flailed with the book. The episode lasted about 30 seconds, but he'd forgotten why he was running across the livingroom and wandered away. I probably did similar things in my youth, but it stuck in my head (it was MY book he wrecked banging on the floor). (He's a totally normal and incredibly cool-headed adult now, for the record)
So many people take time and energy to "bang on carpets" I wonder if we're all just crazy.
seems more like some people don't mature much past 3 in terms of impulse control and rationality, unfortunately.
In my experience, a vast number of people don't explore their feelings and never uncover why their upset or why they feel the way they do.
So rather than discovering why a cyclist on the road makes them really angry they just shout out which offers some temporary relief until the next time they see a cyclist on the road.
@rzord
"as long as what you are doing doesn't involve hurting others, torturing animals, damaging the environment,"
Rzord, with those beliefs, do you not use animals products?
Yes, I do. What I was trying to say is that as long as one's behavior isn't intentionally harmful to others, I really don't care what that person does with his/her life.
Yes, I do. What I was trying to say is that as long as one's behavior isn't intentionally harmful to others, I really don't care what that person does with his/her life.
Oh man. I was almost hit by a driver turning right on red from East Liberty Boulevard onto Penn Avenue (might be a no turn on red intersection... I'll make sure to check). She started accelerating just as I was crossing on a green light, but stopped and didn't hit me. She did race ahead and pulled into the parking lot by Trader Joe's. I followed her in to engage in a brief discussion, and she got out of her car and invited me to fight her if I wanted to say something.
That I declined, but she offered her opinion that cyclists have no right to use the road. I corrected her, but I don't think she understands the law any better. She ended the discussion by calling me a f*gg*t. After that, I went on my way, convinced she was not interested in having any kind of productive interchange.
My take on it is that Mick's analysis applied perfectly to her:
Most of us know people who don't need a car, and can't afford one, yet make great sacrifices to own one. "You HAVE to have a car, man."
My impression is that a lot of harassment comes from some of these folks.
That intersection is no turn on red. Both ELB onto Penn and Penn onto ELB.
People who act like that should have their licenses taken away, permanently.
I don't necessarily think what Mick said is behind it, I think it's much simpler than that - some people are just selfish, stubborn, a-holes. And you're IN THEIR WAY.
"I don't necessarily think what Mick said is behind it, I think it's much simpler than that - some people are just selfish, stubborn, a-holes. And you're IN THEIR WAY."
Based on my own experiences both on a bike, but also behind the wheel of a car, I agree with this completely. I think it comes down to this: when you are on a bicycle, you notice things that you wouldn't notice in a car whether it be a beautiful scene or selfish, stubborn, a-holes.
I almost got hit yesterday as well. I was cruising down Ft. Pitt Blvd in the right lane going ~28mph and some jagoff in a Civic turns right from the left lane. I almost hit him and he barely makes the turn after stopping and looking at me. I stopped so hard my left hood slid forward on the bars.
I should have followed the guy, or at the least kicked a mirror off, but I held back. As he drove off he never stopped his conversation, not even to give me the "shit dude, I am a moron and I'm sorry" look. Hell, I would have been content to have a negative reaction. Definitely should have kicked the car.
Bah! Double post. My shame is endless. (Can I not edit if someone posts after me?)
...some people are just selfish, stubborn, a-holes. And you're IN THEIR WAY."
I think that sums it up. People don't want to be inconvenienced by having consideration for someone else. "I need to make this turn RIGHT NOW and I can't wait 5 seconds for you even though you have the right of way."
Is our world becoming too convenient for our own good? Is there is so much instant gratification available to us that it is causing us to forget how to interact with other human beings? I realize these aren't new thoughts; I'm just wondering where this selfishness, indifference, and sense of entitlement comes from.
That said, I love my Netflix streaming, $0.99 iPhone apps, and Amazon Prime, thank you very much. I don't want them to go anywhere.
Since I'm in a good mood this morning, I will say that it's the small percentage of jackholes that get noticed, and not the larger percentage of perfectly fine people that just go about their business.
And cars give the jackholes a feeling of impenetrability from which to vent their jackholitude, away from contact with other people where their jackholishness would be immediately apparent.
I think most people would fail kintergarden if they had to attend it again. I think I'd struggle with it personally. It's part of recognizing that personal health is dependent on the health of the society one lives in, and recognizing that the people around you ARE that society. It's widening one's responsibility to include "strangers".
Most, not all, but most "advancements" in modern times I think have made kintergarden skills very difficult to learn and maintain. 'Course I am a bit of a luddite, so that may shape my perception a bit.
edited to add - I somehow also agree with Edmonds. I never claimed to make sense.
some guys in a car downtown screamed "'allo, faggot!" at me as they passed, in cockney as one would say "'allo, guv'na!" ... it was a little surreal...
Boy, that's sort of a mixed signal. If they were using a cockney accent then they were calling you a cigarette. Bastards!
unless they were speaking anglicanized *other european language*, in which case they could have been calling him a bundle of sticks, or a bassoon.
Noah, are you a bassoon?
+1 for your bassoon knowledge! A bassoonist friend of mine once told me a story about of a bassoonist friend of his; he was having an argument with his mother and left the room saying, "Excuse me, I'm going upstairs to blow my fagott!"
(I played for 8 years and went to school for performance but quit when I realized I preferred practicing to performing, but nobody would pay me to practice. I still think "bassoon" first when people say "faggot", just another reason I tend to giggle at inappropriate times.)
Whoa. I want to hear more about this at the next Flock. (I was a music major for a while, too. Saxophone. I couldn't handle a mighty double reed.)
September! Join the MegaFlock! Resistance is futile!
Ooh, Flock of Borg, October.
Collective of Cycles?
That would be amazing. And lost on 95% of Pittsburgh.
ASSIMILATE.
ASSIMILATE.
(see, if it were Critical Borg, they'd then pull people from their cars and put them on bikes, Flock of Borg would just have to put smiles on everybody's faces)
Daleks scared the piss out of me when I was little, like I'd hide screaming behind the couch. Borg, not as much.
"Faggot" seems to be the perjorative of choice for those hollering at cyclists. What's that about? What happened to "asshole," "douchebag" or "f*ckface?"
Maybe I'm just old-fashioned.
On a related note to homophobia:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11237/1169798-100.stm
If you can read past the part about cops arresting people, the rally was originally intended to raise awareness for a trend of gay bashing in Bloomfield
Regarding Pierce's post:
As usual, there's a lot more to the story than what was reported. It only got disorderly when a gay-basher called the cops, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 vehicles responded. Apparently few people know the difference between rally and riot. I'm not directly a member of the LBGT community, but considering what I do as a performer, about 55% of my friends are. I think a lot of them are tired of getting beat up and threatened at fist/gun/knife-point.
i rather liked that the article didn't focus on the arrests. at least, the version i read originally. it had about a paragraph about the arrests, never saying what they were for, then focused on what the rally was about.
THAT BORG COLLECTIVE IS EATING THAT BABY!
re: intolerance/article - the article linked to above had a few sentences on the reason for the rally. I wish it'd had more. Really sad that something like that took place in this city, but I wish I were more surprised.
I could find the original Facebook post that started it if I could only remember which of my friends passed it on to me. It had the whole breakdown of what happened the night before. My feeble memory is failing pretty hardcore right now though.
Editing as I find more stuff BTW:
Here's the videos:
http://youtu.be/ug2LLBG0tm8
http://youtu.be/x3rGP2v9VMA
The original Facebook Event blurb:
so i was walking down liberty from armands holding a girls hand and went past the pleasure bar where these dudes came out of. they were crossing the street infront of us and they were saying alot of homophobic shit like fucking dyke bitches. after is was saying stuff back to them they said 'you got something to say?' and stuck a gun in my face. they held it there while we continued to argue and when they put it away they kept threatening to pistol whip me. i got out ok but the next person might not. they didnt just put the gun in my face. they put it in all of our gay faces. this will happen again if we dont have an immediate response to let them know that this shit is never gonna be tolerated. there are way too many instances of gay bashings in bloomfield. come out tonight for the gay community. for our future safety. theres strength in numbers.
That's about it... From the source.
