People screaming from cars
- Thread starter wolfgang
- Start date
My personal experience suggests to me that the screamer (not ALWAYS male, btw) has self-esteem issues; so many people in America equate car ownership with the "I made it" status, so anyone riding hasn't 'made it'. It's all about the car -- a phallic symbol for some, a leveling of the playing field for those with the ethereal 'phallic envy'. In short, it's either a.) "I'm a MAN -- look at my car!" or b.)"I'm just as good as a man -- look at MY car!"
If you don't buy into that with all your being, you emasculate each and every one of them; they don't like that. They yell, they curse, they call you out of your sexuality (sometimes, anyway, so I've heard), because they are afraid of you and what you stand for. You're outside the norm, not one of the 'team' who 'gets it'....
There's also the immature 'me first' attitude that is so prevalent -- you're in their way, they can't get where they want to go as fast or as easily as they want to. You are an obstacle. So, from the safety of their steel steeds, they hurl invective at you, knowing they can escape before you hurt them.
It's the illusion of 'manhood', that even women fall victim to; they are all so desperate to be accepted, anything that they even THINK interferes with that is something to be attacked.
They yell at you because they know, deep down where they live and let no one else see, that you are more grown and mature than they are. You are exposing them for the trifling turds that they are.
If you don't buy into that with all your being, you emasculate each and every one of them; they don't like that. They yell, they curse, they call you out of your sexuality (sometimes, anyway, so I've heard), because they are afraid of you and what you stand for. You're outside the norm, not one of the 'team' who 'gets it'....
There's also the immature 'me first' attitude that is so prevalent -- you're in their way, they can't get where they want to go as fast or as easily as they want to. You are an obstacle. So, from the safety of their steel steeds, they hurl invective at you, knowing they can escape before you hurt them.
It's the illusion of 'manhood', that even women fall victim to; they are all so desperate to be accepted, anything that they even THINK interferes with that is something to be attacked.
They yell at you because they know, deep down where they live and let no one else see, that you are more grown and mature than they are. You are exposing them for the trifling turds that they are.
Strange, but I live an New Jersey and have never been screamed at (yet).I have had some cars pass rather close to me but noone screamed at me yet. Oddly (well maybe not so oddly) enough, the only real argument I ever had was with a morbidly obese woman at a local tavern. She was telling me that all we "bikers" do is get in her way. The best part was when a guy at the bar yelled over to her "Lady look at you....what that ass someone is always going to be in YOUR way!"
The place busted up and she sheepishly finished her drink and left. I was in hog heaven after that.
Cheers,
Brian
The place busted up and she sheepishly finished her drink and left. I was in hog heaven after that.
Cheers,
Brian
bigpedaler said:
Well put. That's basically what I've always thought too. That and also they're probably insecure wimps that love the opportunity to **** with someone bigger than them (I'm 6'4" and weigh over 250) and get away with it. I must say it does put me in a bad mood for a while when it happens. I just make sure I don't respond.
Great post, but for me the quote above especially rings true. I've never understood the incessant need of some individuals to be accepted, particularly at the expense of others. I'm just not wired that way, but I see it in others quite often.bigpedaler said:
I have to admire bigpedler's analysis. I think that he is correct in describing the motivation of many of these "non compus menti". Yet I suspect that in some cases there is a far more violent, and sociopathic motivation, that being the desire to see you fall and injure yourself. In those cases yelling probably substitutes for the lack of something at hand to throw at you.
Very well said.bigpedaler said:
I don't get that as much as I use to. Maybe it's because I don't ride as much, but it seems since Lance left the scene, there is less of it. Although a few weeks ago some kid walking with his buddy said "keep riding that bike" as if to jeer me. Teenagers in general just love to be antagonistic. I actually like when it happens now. I use the aggression from it for my workout.
I visited Dallas suburbs recently and noticed how polite drivers were to me. I didn't have one close call or anyone bothering me. Too bad the roads are boring for road biking there.
Have to say I'm surprised at so much agreement out there -- thought I was the only cynical a$$hole out there!
Pretty much, it's in the same category as racism -- people hate what they fear, and they fear everything that's different than them, mainly because of two things:
1.)that strange thing might hurt them;
2.)that strange thing means 'their way' isn't the ONLY way.
Yes, it's the manic need for acceptance, the pack animal syndrome; it's also the lack of self-esteem, the belief, deep down, where they barely admit it to themselves except under the bedcovers, that they aren't as superior as they claim to be. Insecure, they are driven to scoff/belittle/insult all that makes them shake.
May they all get publicly teabagged.
Pretty much, it's in the same category as racism -- people hate what they fear, and they fear everything that's different than them, mainly because of two things:
1.)that strange thing might hurt them;
2.)that strange thing means 'their way' isn't the ONLY way.
Yes, it's the manic need for acceptance, the pack animal syndrome; it's also the lack of self-esteem, the belief, deep down, where they barely admit it to themselves except under the bedcovers, that they aren't as superior as they claim to be. Insecure, they are driven to scoff/belittle/insult all that makes them shake.
May they all get publicly teabagged.
velomanct said:
Although I never really see the people doing this, I do believe they're always teenagers, and male. And seem to usually be in a pickup or SUV.
However, I was once followed by a car full of teenage girls one night in the dark in my suburban area. I kept losing them, but then they'd find me again until I just stopped and looked at them as they drove by. They then pretended they were looking for an address, saying "hmm I think it's around here some place." That was just funny, but kinda weird.
alienator said:
I forgot to mention this sometimes also happens when I'm running or walking on the sidewalk, usually at night. So, I guess if you're not on a bike, you're an even easier target. There's no way you could catch up to them.
I do try to remember the vehicle, but am never quick enough to get the license plate number.
Guys, the screaming and shouting I can put up with, but try touring in Cambodia, Laos or Vietnam. They will reach out of their vehicles and slap you on the back. It once happened to me 3 times in Cambodia in one day! I understand that the folks believe they are encouraging, but wtf I don't know.
The shouting is usually good natured in Southeast Asia, the slapping I could do without....
The shouting is usually good natured in Southeast Asia, the slapping I could do without....
After a while you get used to the screaming idiots. I don't know if they are insecure or if they just think that it is funny, but either way it is just something for you to ignore.wolfgang said:
Now a days the only thing that really bothers me that a driver may do is throw something out their window at me. But that has only happened once or twice.
BigUgly, your sig line reminds me of a full-page ad in an old bike magazine (lost the mag, kept that page, tho); it's a commuter/messenger/rider in San Francisco, sweating up a steep hill, with the T-shirt that says, "THIS IS WHAT I THINK ABOUT DURING SEX".BigUgly said:
Perfect.
Some thug told me to get a job one day while I was changing tires on my bike in my front yard; it was in-between him calling me a cracker m-f and a coward m-f -- funny, he wouldn't get out of his SUV, either...who's a coward? He tried to tell someone else later that he's 'taken people out' for less than what I did, which was tell him he needed to turn down his stereo cuz I could hear it inside my house. Wish he'd have tried, there'd be one less dead-end loser thug in the world....
The most aggravating epsiode THIS year was the cop on his way to church in his squad car, missing my bars with his mirror by less than a foot.
My friend and I almost always cycle together...we get a screamer once in a while. Yesterday we were yelled at incoherently by a guy in an SUV full of lowlives. Almost and hour later and over the other side of town we saw the same SUV in a carpark being given a full-on search by 2 carloads of Police....
karma, don't ya just love it!
karma, don't ya just love it!
It's always fun when the car driver's tack changes from yelling to more overt agression. Once, in Ohio, I was yelled at by 4 guys in a rusty, white Pinto, on a country road. For the feriners, here's a pinto (although not a rusty one):
Of course, given they car they were driving, I knew they were NASCAR fans (they even had a confederate flag in the window) and likely drunk from all the Red, White, and Blue they consumed. This is Red, White, and Blue:
Drinking Red, White, and Blue often results in poor decision making:
So, the Pinto drove away, but apparently they weren't satisfied with their accomplishments, so they came back, driving next to me, forcing me off the road. They did this again, and again, and again, over the course of a half hour. Cell phones weren't an option then, and there weren't any safe place to go in the middle of cornfields.
Of course, given they car they were driving, I knew they were NASCAR fans (they even had a confederate flag in the window) and likely drunk from all the Red, White, and Blue they consumed. This is Red, White, and Blue:
Drinking Red, White, and Blue often results in poor decision making:
So, the Pinto drove away, but apparently they weren't satisfied with their accomplishments, so they came back, driving next to me, forcing me off the road. They did this again, and again, and again, over the course of a half hour. Cell phones weren't an option then, and there weren't any safe place to go in the middle of cornfields.
Damn, Alien, I was getting more excited as I read, because I felt sure the punchline was going to be something along the lines of "so I pulled out the muon lasertron I'd cobbled together in the lab and vaporized them and their car."
You let me down.
By the way, here in Florida if you feel physically threatened by anyone anywhere, you can use lethal force against them and not break the law.
You let me down.
By the way, here in Florida if you feel physically threatened by anyone anywhere, you can use lethal force against them and not break the law.
