I thought about this thread in two different situations today.
First, I went to the library to pick up some books I had requested. Two of them checked out through the automated terminals they have, but two would not because they are Interlibrary Loan items. So, I had to go to the desk, where I waited in line for 10 minutes behind two people. One was having trouble because there was a language barrier (based on her dress, I would guess eastern european?) and because the system stated she had some overdue things that she said she returned. The other, directly in front of me, was developmentally delayed. The desk clerk was very patient with these patrons, as she should be, and I did not get bent out of shape because hey, the desk is for those issues that the terminals can’t fix. No biggie.
BUT, on my way home, I turned onto my street, which is a normal width for residential areas around here. On one side, an large truck the size and configuration of a garbage truck had parked, not really out of the road but at the edge. Directly across from this truck had parked another truck, a large pickup.
No big deal, there was still enough space in between them to pass and no one was coming the other way (it’s a quiet neighborhood). EXCEPT - the passenger and driver of the garbage truck and the passenger and driver of the pickup truck had gotten out to have a group conversation with each other.
In the middle of the street. Directly in the only open driving space between the two trucks.
I stopped and waited for them to see me. All four of them turned around or looked over their shoulder, directly at me…
And then turned back to each other and resumed their conversation. Without moving.
I seriously was so flabbergasted, and this thread popped so immediately into my mind, that I decided to wait and see how long it would take them to move out of the street.
It ended up not being that long - 30 seconds. But sit at your desk right now and count out 30 seconds, all the while thinking that you’re knowingly standing in the middle of the street in front of a car who’s attempting to drive past where you’ve illegally stopped your truck.
Finally, all four of them moved - two to the left, and two to the right. And then, the garbage truck driver waved me through with an impatient, rude “oh, GO AHEAD!” and in my rearview mirror, I saw all four of them meet again in the middle of the road to continue their conversation.
Yes, yes, I know - 30 seconds is no time at all. And I agree. But I can’t imagine doing something similar - deliberately and consciously blocking a public road, knowing that someone’s waiting to drive by and having made EYE CONTACT with that person, when it would take 1 second for me and my friends to step over to the side where our trucks are already parked, and let people use the road for which it’s intended.
So, I guess, these are not clueless wonders, but fucking cocks.