Random Expletive

[VeryGnawty]

Why are people complete morons?  I mean, seriously I have to know.  My sanity is at stake.

So I was driving in the middle of the night.  At the end of this street there is a stop sign.  Two-ways, and each street turns into each other (and yes, the stopsigns are completely pointless).

So I'm turning left and a guy coming the other way is turning right.  And as I pass him he yells "->-bleeped-<-er" out the window.  I was completely in my lane, so he couldn't have been upset at my driving.  I wasn't crossdressed or anything, so he wasn't commenting on my presentation.  And he didn't seem to have anyone else in the car, so he wasn't trying to impress friends.

What gives?  Are people really such smacktards that they randomly yell "->-bleeped-<-er" to anyone passing by?  Has the world really become such a terrible place, or am I just not seeing a motive that would actually give some random stranger a reason to hate me?

On a related note, I feel like kicking his ass and teaching him a few manners.  Mostly teaching him a few manners, but I have a feeling he wouldn't be willing to learn without the asskicking first.

[MarySue]

First, I gather you had a stop sign. Did you actually obey the stop sign, useless as it might seem? Or did you just breeze through it without even slowing down? If you ignored it, maybe he was yelling at you for that.

Second, do you have any bumper stickers that might have set him off? Old joke: A guy complains that lots of drivers honk at him. His friend replies, "Then scrape off your Honk if you love Jesus bumper sticker, you idiot!"

Third, it's possible he wasn't yelling at you at all. Maybe he was listening to some late-night talk show. Or maybe he just yells late at night for the hell of it, when he thinks he's alone on the road. Or maybe he was rehashing a conversation with his wife/boss/mother/father/whatever ... you know, the one-sided ones, where you rehearse what you should have said? Okay, maybe you're perfect and you never do that. But the rest of us mortals haven't achieved that state of enlightenment.

On a related note, I feel like kicking his ass and teaching him a few manners.  Mostly teaching him a few manners, but I have a feeling he wouldn't be willing to learn without the asskicking first.

Ah ... don't take this the wrong way ... but that sounds disturbingly similar to yelling "->-bleeped-<-er!" at a passing driver for no discernible reason.

[VeryGnawty]

First, I gather you had a stop sign. Did you actually obey the stop sign, useless as it might seem?

I came to a complete stop.  Then I turned.  Then I passed by his car.  Then he yelled at me.  Then he started to turn.

Second, do you have any bumper stickers that might have set him off?

The only decal I have on the car is a fish on the back end.  But it would have been impossible for him to see it until he had already passed me, so it couldn't have been that.

Third, it's possible he wasn't yelling at you at all. Maybe he was listening to some late-night talk show.

That is possible.  It was dark, so I couldn't tell whether or not he was looking at me.  I just assumed the comment was directed at me, since it was said as soon as I passed him by and nobody else was within line of sight.

[Hypatia]

I think I understand. This looks like a case of the least-understood, least-observed, and most-ignored traffic rule of all.

Driver A (northbound) and Driver B (southbound on the same road) stop at an intersection at the same time. Driver A makes a left turn (westbound), while Driver B makes a right turn (also westbound)-- so that they are now going the same direction, side by side.

The rule is that the one making a left turn has to turn into the left lane, while the one making a right turn has to turn into the right lane. Simple common sense. But NOOOOOO... The idiots on the road are too lazy to stay in the proper lane, and prefer to swing around in a wider arc, which will put them in the wrong lane. But if Driver A and Driver B only stayed in their proper lanes, they could make the turns simultaneously without getting in each other's way.

It sounds like you did it correctly, VG, while the other driver was trying to cheat, and cussed you because you didn't let him. I keep encountering jerks on the road who get mad because I'm obeying the turn lane rule; they blame me for their screwup. I mean, I paid attention during driver ed; they must have been goofing off or taking a nap during that lesson.

[VeryGnawty]

No the two roads actually dead end to each other.  We started out perpendicular to each other and ended up perpendicular.  We were not going the same way.

As far as what you're talking about, I live right next to an intersection where that particular problem is VERY bad.  I actually witness a wreck like that when I was out walking one night.  A guy was going to turn left to head northbound, but he ended up deciding to go straight when he was about halfway through the intersection.  He plowed right into a white car.  Fortunately, I don't think anyone was injured.  Except for the car.