Something happened this morning which has left me in need of a reality check.
This morning, I left for work a bit early so I could stop by an ATM a block from work and get some cash. The ATM’s at a bank which has a drive up one and one you can walk up to. I prefer the one you can walk up to. As I drove up to the bank, there was a car stopped at the curb in front of the machine, and, if it hadn’t pulled away, I would have used the other one. It did, so I pulled into the closest parking spot to the ATM and started walking up to it. As I did so, a fellow in a pickup truck pulled up to the curb in front of the ATM, got out of it, leaving the engine running, and started across the sidewalk to the ATM. I drew his attention to the fact that I was also on my way to use it. I don’t remember the exact details of the exchange, but it didn’t involve profanity. It did involve me implying I was in somewhat of a hurry (that’s not entirely true, but it was politer than the alternative) and him suggesting that I should have left adequate time to run errands before work. I pointed out that I had followed the rules by parking in a space and he asked why it bothered me. The upshot is he did let me go first.
Two things bother me. First, I did get there first, and it was my turn. Second, I don’t like the implication that I was being irresponsible and running late for work. For the record, I got in 20 minutes early (my usual standard is anywhere between 10 and 20 minutes early) and I wasn’t the one who stopped their vehicle in front of the ATM with the engine running. I mean, come on! If I’m running late, would I really take the trouble to park the car, turn the engine off, and go to the walk up ATM?
Anyway, I’m fairly sure the other guy was a twit, and, if I’d obeyed the rules of etiquette strictly, I wouldn’t have said anything to him, although I think quickening my pace and slipping in ahead of him would have been all right. My questions to a jury of my fellow Dopers are “How big a twit was he?”, “How big a twit was I?” and “Was I reasonable for being bothered by this?” I’ll try to eat my just desserts with a bit more grace than I managed to this morning. :rolleyes:
Nothing bothers me more than idiots who can’t figure out basic manners at an ATM. Take for example the red curb. Red means no parking, so with only the red paint, it should be obvious not to park there. But my bank has gone the extra mile, and put up a sign that says, clear as day “No parking on red curb” It drives me crazy when I see some dipshit totaly disregard the sign and the paint and park there anyway. How hard is it to READ A FUCKING SIGN, YOU DUMB SONUVABITCH!!! I actually mentioned this to one moron in particular and go no response. People suck. Oh and by the way, Seige, you weren’t the twit. The other dumbass was.
In all seriousness, without a diagram of the parking lot and curb, I can’t say how much of a twit the other guy was. Probably a minor twit at best, assuming he had a polite tone during your exchange. You were not a twit.
I think I am now going to go home and re-read The Twits by Roald Dahl.
It it were I in that situation I would have just let jackass go ahead of me, but my face would have been easily read as quite annoyed.
The whole “I’m in a hurry” argument is only understandable when it’s you that’s in a hurry. If some guys tailgating me because he’s obviously in a hurry, my first thought is that he’s being a dick and he should have left earlier. Not that you were being a dick at all, but it’s not that guys fault that you’re running late. It is certainly his fault that he failed to park appropriately.
If I’m not in danger of actually being late, I’d hesitate to exchange words with some dude that might like solving problems with intimidation. It’s nice to hear that someone stood up to that sort of cretinistic behavior though.
I just wanted to clarify a couple of points. First, the curb the guy parked next to is painted yellow, indicating parking’s not allowed there. Second, I said I was in a hurry because it seemed politer than the real reason I was a bit bothered, which was that he was getting in line ahead of me. Somehow saying in effect, “You’re cutting in line” after I’d already let him know I was there first seemed a bit too much like a whiny kid. Third, I’d say I would have been delayed two or three minutes, rather than 30 or 45 seconds, but I’ve never timed ATM transactions. As for speaking to the guy, I’ve been dealing with bullies since I was 5 or 6 years old, not that I’m calling this guy a bully. As a result, I’m rather in the habit of speaking out, although I will do so politely until the situation renders politeness useless.
If he’d been stopped at the curb when I pulled up and I’d still decided to use that ATM rather than the drive up one, I wouldn’t have been bothered. What bothered me is I was stopped and on my way up to the machine when he got in front of me and, as I said, his implication that I was less than professional and irrational for being bothered. I think that what bothered him was that I was bothered and objected to what to him was perfectly reasonable behaviour.
What you should’ve done was:
Let the guy go first. Wait until he’s just put his card and he’s pinned in the amount of money he wants out, then you run for the truck! Leave him making the choice, money and card, or his truck.
Unfortunately… if he does catch you…
Grrrr. I hate “curb parkers.” You were not the twit, he was.
This happened to me at the grocery store yesterday. As I was walking into the store, a car had parked at the curb right in front of the store, the driver put the hazard lights on and a woman and her young son got out and were walking into the store. The son asked his mother if it was okay to park there, and the mother replied, “It’s okay, we’re just running in for a few things.”
Yeah? I was just getting a few things, too, but I parked in a parking space and walked.
As it ended up, the woman and her son were actually behind me in line, and with more things than me, too. :rolleyes:
There’s absolutely no way to tell without timing the guy.
Some people are quick, but you can’t tell me you’ve never been stuck in line behind the glacially slow guy who presses… one… button… every… two… seconds in the process of making 47 separate transactions and apparently attempting to refinance the national debt.
Not to be difficult here, because I, personally, l would have been tempted to park ON the pickup guy…
Isn’t parking you know, parking? While stopping in the spot and leaving the engine running (frequently with emergency blinkers flashing) actually “Stopping”, as in entry number two in “No parking, stopping or standing between 8AM and 5PM”?
