One of the joys of being a big boy. I square my shoulders and walk through the bum rush. I don’t look back. People who are offended (who really shouldn’t be) have the choice of chasing me down to give me a piece of their mind (missing their conveyance and then finding out just how verbally rude I can be too) or taking it and grousing at their destination to their co-workers/family.
Granted, if the bum rusher is near my size (extremely rare), I’ll give a little way. I’m not suicidal.
Because it can cause fender-benders in parking lots. There have been several times I’ve been surprised and pissed at “pull-throughers” as I’m looking for a place to park, I see one up ahead, I commit to turning into it (often in between larger vehicles that I cannot see around until I’m upon them) and presto, suddenly, there you are, pulling through the spot that I am in the process of attempting to park in, and now I’m blocked, you’re blocked (unless you, uh, back up like you should have done) and I’m blocking the lot traffic because I’m almost perpendicular to all the other parked vehicles and now one of us has to move to let the other out.
Its completely unnecessary to pull through parking spots if you know how to drive. You just back out slowly, swiveling your head around to look out for other vehicles and pedestrians. Its really not hard.
If you park far enough away that no other cars are parked near you, then who cares?
This also goes for people that drive across empty parking spaces as a method of shortcutting instead of negotiating the lanes like everyone else. That’s dangerous in a crowded parking area too.
I must not get out a lot. I can’t remember this ever happening to me in ~3 decades of driving.
Oh, those people. I see a lot of people who will run for the train door with a crowd of other people, and once they cross that magic threshold, immediately stop and act like they’re going to stay there in the doorway – never mind that half a second ago they were in a crowd of six people running for the same door. They can’t grasp that they need to move completely past the entrance other people are rushing into.
I’m not saying it happens a lot. A handful of times in my 25 years of driving. The reason its a little dangerous is that its an unexpected occurence. I just don’t think people should park like that.
I have had someone pull through and steal my spot that I’d been waiting for from the adjacent lane too. That pisses me right off.
I can think of a handful of times that it’s happened to me. I can think of at least that many occasions on which I was backing out of a spot and had to hit the brakes or pull back in because there was a car approaching that I hadn’t seen due to some obstruction.
Pulling through can potentially cause a fender-bender. So can backing out. Whenever you’re in a parking lot, be cautious and aware of your surroundings no matter what.
Exactly. It’s not a “I’m in a hurry” issue at all. I may or may not be, that’s irrelevant. Whether I’m rushing or not, when I am standing in front of the pudding pops, slackjawed, trying to decide which flavor I want*, I am well aware that my body and my cart are taking up shared space that other people might want to use. So I move my cart out of the way and pay attention to the space around me in case someone wants to get by.
If I run into a friend at the store and we want to stop and have a chat, I am keenly aware that we are blocking the ingress/egress for other people and will step aside and pull my friend aside so we can catch up without causing a bottleneck and getting in people’s way.
It’s self-awareness. And a certain degree of humility involved because I don’t believe I am entitled to take up all of the public space available to me without sharing. I think, often, people are so damn self-involved and they think they deserve the right to stand wherever the fuck they want to without any consideration to anyone else needing to share the public space.
I will walk straight up to people who are having a catch up chat in the middle of an aisle and ask them, in a very mean tone, “Do you *really *think this is the best place to stop and have a conversation?” Without fail, they scatter away from me as if I just dropped dynamite at their feet. Which is fine by me. Whatever it takes. 
And rightfully so. I only do it when I can see no one is around to be surprised by my “pull through” and when, of course, no one is waiting for the space.
This entire pull-through discussion would be moo (:D) if y’all would just follow the Mustard Etiquette/Common-Ass Sense Handbook:
“It is perfectly acceptable (preferable, even) and safe to pull through providing you maintain an alert state for the possibility that another previously-unseen vehicle may desire your pull-through space; if such a situation presents itself, you must offer a wink and a thumbs-up gesture, then back up into the first space, allowing the other vehicle access to the pull-through.” (page 57)
mmm
Lynn Bodani…to answer your question I neither have nor have ever had children, but your story you provided as example proves my point. The parents couldn’t control their child and it was a nuisance to you and yours and granted they didn’t have their child on a leash but you as a parent need to learn to control your child. I understand that children are hyper and adventurous, especially some more so than others, but then it’s up to you as a parent to find a way to control your child. It’s not the child’s fault…it’s the parents.
Watch your step, sir.
From my experiences, there are people who believe that you should never need to put a leash on a child and those who had to to survive their children’s toddler years.
I am strongly on one side of the argument but will never tell which side because it can get scary.
Not public (thank goodness) but, dude, you’ve been in the single private bathroom on the floor for half an hour (no joke). Eat some bran already.
And if you’re in there wacking off, you’re either very, very good at it – or very, very bad.
Seconded.
You’d be amazed at what good actively engaging with your children just a little can do when in a restaurant situation. But you say you find that too hard, too bothersome to do when you go out to restaurants because it detracts from you interacting with the other adults/eating your own meal, and therefore takes away from your enjoyment of the experience as a whole? Fine, then either find a sitter for your kids when you do want to eat out, or do all of the rest of us a favor and please stay fucking home.
I really don’t understand the issue with the leash, at least under certain circumstances. A person only has two hands, and toddlers need restraining. If you think that you can ‘train’ a toddler to consistently stay by your side while you pay for the groceries or do anything that requires you to let go of his hand for a moment, it’s because you’ve never met one.
Of course you could put it in a stroller, but people don’t much like that either.
Totally agreed. I never used one for any of my kids until we went to Florida when the youngest was barely three. We were going to go to Sea World and Busch Gardens. She is a very good kid, and was even an exceptionally good toddler/young child. Even so, though, your back only has to be turned for a split second, and even the most angelic of children can be very easily distracted by all the sights and sounds at those places; and it’s so crowded, it would be very difficult to locate them again. A leash was the way to go!
OMG, this to the nth degree! On Monday afternoon, I was in the neighborhood grocery store. I noticed a mother in the soft drink aisle, holding up all kinds of traffic by debating with her two kids what kind of soda they wanted. Her kids were (I’m guessing) 8 and 10. Then, I encountered the same trio at the freezer case. I wasn’t in there to get anything from the freezer case, but I noticed a sale sign on something that the kid and I both like, so I wanted to look at it. The Mom was looking at the frozen pizzas that were on sale, blocking the entire section and holding the freezer door open. Ugh. So this is how the family encounter went (while the kids were ranging up and down the aisle):
Mom: Kayleigh, what kind of pizza do you want?
Kid: Sausage.
Mom: ::Look, look, look, look:: There is no sausage; there’s sausage and pepperoni, do you want that?
Kid: Is there any plain pepperoni?
Mom: ::Look, look, look, look:: Yeah.
Kid: I’ll take the sausage and pepperoni.
At this point, I decorously clear my throat, hoping she’ll realize she’s blocking traffic. But then she starts the process all over with kid number two! Finally, I said “Excuse me, can I get in there for just a minute?” She said “We’ll be done soon!” Uh, yeah. Actually, though, when they finally were done, and I could get in there, the older kid looked embarrassed and mumbled (to me) “Uh, excuse us”.
okay, so this is mildly irritating and not pit-worthy, but only because its family - and you forgive a lot for family who for the most part are otherwise okay…
which is to say, that if this wasn’t family, it would be totally pit-worthy.
i’m at a family gathering, a clambake and everything is good, touching base with cousins that i haven’t seen in a while and enjoying the camaraderie…until its time to eat.
and i’m sitting at a table in the backyard, chowing down on some delicious clams and chicken and more…when my cousin’s daughter (adult by the way!) who is sitting next to me, decides to invite her small dog up into her lap.
now, i like my cousin and i like her daughter (first cousin once removed? second cousin? not sure how that works…) and i also like dogs, but i have a bit of an issue with a dog in the lap of the person sitting next to me while i’m eating. especially when said dog is craning his little neck to sniff at my plate while i’m trying to enjoy my meal.
in fact, i’m a little appalled - who does that?!! who invites their dog into their lap when others at the table are still eating? who allows said dog to stretch his neck out and sniff at another person’s plate?!! :eek: i have a dog, not small enough to be a lap dog, but not big - and he would never be allowed to poke his nose into a person’s plate! he has manners! he can sit there and look pitiful and beseeching but he totally knows better than to poke his nose into someone’s plate!
but, of course, my dog has been taught these manners and obviously my cousin and her daughter did not do this for their little lap dog. and really, i can’t say anything because, these family functions are few and far between for me so i have to keep my priorities in order. pissing off my relatives is not a good idea…
but it still pissed me off…
I really think I’d have said something anyway. The way you do this and keep the peace is by taking all of the blame onto yourself. Something like “Hey, I know I’m going to sound like a germophobe or something, but I’ve got this. . .thing about animals sniffing my plate while I’m eating. I mean, the food’s great, so I can hardly blame him! But would you mind putting him down just while I finish?”
I am by no means expecting a toddler (or even a child for that matter) to be a perfect gentle(wo)men at all times, and I understand this point; but there is a happy median between having a superchild who is calm collected at all times (doesn’t exist) or a flying banshee of a kid who get’s everywhere (the one in the earlier story).
:: shudder ::
My aunt used to do this. At the dinner table. Fortunately, not until we were mostly done, but still…
I’ll add “purse dogs in inappropriate places”. I was once at an apartment party that was crowded with people: 19 people in a small one-betdroom apartment. And most of them were in the living room. You could barely see the floor.
Not one but two people decided to bring their purse dogs. The poor creatures were trapped in a confined space crowded with noisy strangers, with no food for them, no water, no fresh air, and nowhere to take a dump. Some people just don’t think.