I think this is the beginnings of an economy based on perpetual growth and fossil fuel energy running headlong into geological energy constraints. Basically I see an undulatory downward path for the rest of my life. From here out, I think any rallies in our economic condition are going to be met with spiking commodity prices that knock us right back down.
Joined: Jun 03, 2005 Posts: 217 Location: New Jersey
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 6:43 pm Post subject: Dealing with others' gas anger
There are a lot of angry drivers out there! A lot of them are in SUVs and pickups. They didn't see this coming, now people are looking at them as though they are the problem (which they are, for the most part). They are not pleased, because the "normal" order is being upended. Big doesn't mean smart, powerful, alpha. Big means loser. Big means lighting $20 bills and dropping them on the pavement.
But I digress! What I mean to say, is to remind all you who DO know what is happening to drive more peaceably than ever. Too many other people are going to be driving around infuriated after their latest fillup. Let them act it out on somebody else.
Adopt the motto: Easy Driver. Road rage is definitely increasing, why get caught up in it?
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 11:51 pm Post subject: Re: Dealing with others' gas anger
The other day on the way to work I found my exit rapidly approaching with only a small gap to work with to get over to the right lane. I put on my blinker to signal a lane change, so the driver behind me on the right speeds up so I can't get in. He's driving a red Chevy pickup, probably late 1980s - early 1990s model. I slid my fast Subaru WRX into the gap, cutting him off which is wrong but we all do what we have to do, and he brought it upon himself by speeding up. He's livid. It's almost comical to watch, but then he gets off at the same exit. He then followed me all the way into our company parking lot. It turns out he works in the same building!! I'm not sure what he does but thank goodness I don't have to work with his department.
Sure enough the back of his truck was covered with POW/MIA stickers and jingoisitic flag bumper-stickers. I have a feeling this was the first of many road rage incidents I'll see in the coming months.
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 1:14 pm Post subject: Re: Dealing with others' gas anger
I was at the filling station the other day and there was a man who filled up two tanks on his truck in addition to filling up two riding lawn mowers that he had on a trailer behind his truck. He didn't look very happy.
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 1:23 pm Post subject: Re: Dealing with others' gas anger
Waterthrush wrote:
There are a lot of angry drivers out there! A lot of them are in SUVs and pickups. They didn't see this coming, now people are looking at them as though they are the problem (which they are, for the most part). They are not pleased, because the "normal" order is being upended. Big doesn't mean smart, powerful, alpha. Big means loser. Big means lighting $20 bills and dropping them on the pavement.
But I digress! What I mean to say, is to remind all you who DO know what is happening to drive more peaceably than ever. Too many other people are going to be driving around infuriated after their latest fillup. Let them act it out on somebody else.
Adopt the motto: Easy Driver. Road rage is definitely increasing, why get caught up in it?
Buy a bunch of stock in COP and shout "Woohoo! Owning oil stock is great!" every time you fill at a Conoco or Phillips 66, knowing that the earnings from your COP stock covers twice the cost of your fillup.
Then start running as a throng of angry SUV owners grabs their pitchforks and tries to lynch you. If you get in your car and drive for ten miles, they'll realize they really can't afford to chase you in SUVs and hopefully switch to hybrids sooner.
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 3:43 pm Post subject: Re: Dealing with others' gas anger
The present increase in road-rage fueled (pun intended) by the ever-increasing costs at the gas pumps is only at the beginning of its inevitable spiral toward increasingly more violent behavior.
I fear the worst human behavior will flare to the surface when the very act of obtaining ANY fuel will become a difficult task for the average Joe Sixpack - rationing, long lines at fueling stations, limited quantities available, etc.
In the early 70's when rationing was implemented, everyone suffered in a similar fashion and we all bitched and moaned about our plight, but we still maintained our composure and there was little, if any, violence associated with the fuel shortage. But in this day and age I see a very different type of temperment and an almost boiling-under-the-surface hostility for anything that disrupts the everyday routine of the Mr and Mrs Sixpack. It most likely will be real ugly as things ratchet up.
I believe we POers will all have to draw on our inner-Gandhi to cope.
Besides road rage, be aware that the next "hostile" acts will be theft of fuel from private vehicles. As a precaution I would suggest that if you do not have a locking gas cap on your vehicle that you invest in one.
As for coping with road rage - I have found that the very act of driving along over-crowded US roadways filled with aggresive, obnoxious, arrogant dirvers elevates my blood pressure and I find myself becoming furious with the whole endeavor. I become what I see around me.
From a doomer perspective - I can't wait until the roadways are vacant of hostile fools racing down the pavement in their metal behemoths in pursuit of ever-faster consumptive behavior.
Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 9:55 pm Post subject: Re: Dealing with others' gas anger
jmacdaddio wrote:
The other day on the way to work I found my exit rapidly approaching with only a small gap to work with to get over to the right lane. I put on my blinker to signal a lane change, so the driver behind me on the right speeds up so I can't get in. He's driving a red Chevy pickup, probably late 1980s - early 1990s model. I slid my fast Subaru WRX into the gap, cutting him off which is wrong but we all do what we have to do, and he brought it upon himself by speeding up. He's livid. It's almost comical to watch, but then he gets off at the same exit. He then followed me all the way into our company parking lot. It turns out he works in the same building!! I'm not sure what he does but thank goodness I don't have to work with his department.
Sure enough the back of his truck was covered with POW/MIA stickers and jingoisitic flag bumper-stickers. I have a feeling this was the first of many road rage incidents I'll see in the coming months.
Why didnt you SLOW DOWN before taking the exit? And while we're stereotyping people by what they drive, why do so many wrx owners think they become Speed Racer once they spend 30k on a 4 cyl econobox? Obey the speed limit, problem solved
Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 10:36 pm Post subject: Re: Dealing with others' gas anger
jmacdaddio wrote:
Sure enough the back of his truck was covered with POW/MIA stickers and jingoisitic flag bumper-stickers. I have a feeling this was the first of many road rage incidents I'll see in the coming months.
For a time there probably will be an increase in road rage incidents, but it will probably peak and decline. It'll get to the point where we'll see traffic starts to seriously decline due to fuel costs, and there will be more room for the remaining drivers which should help the traffic situation considerably.
A couple of nights ago my girlfriend did a ride along with some police in Schenectady NY. They had to respond to a call of a car filling up at a station and driving off. The cop said it seems to be happening at that one particular station once a day, and he hears on average 4 or 5 suchs calls a night in the whole city.
I was a little surprised by that actually. It seemed like a large number of incidents for such a small city. I wonder if the same is happening across the nation, and it's just going unreported by the media? _________________ In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule. – Nietzsche
Time makes more converts than reason. – Thomas Paine
History is a set of lies agreed upon. – Napoleon Bonaparte
Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 10:45 pm Post subject: Re: Dealing with others' gas anger
some_guy282 wrote:
I was a little surprised by that actually. It seemed like a large number of incidents for such a small city. I wonder if the same is happening across the nation, and it's just going unreported by the media?
If you go to google news and search on "gas theft," you'll see that it is quite rampant across the nation.
Joined: May 24, 2004 Posts: 3429 Location: California, USA
Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 10:59 pm Post subject: Re: Dealing with others' gas anger
What do do with a pissed-off SUV owner, if you have a chance to talk to him (usually it's a him) for example at a gas station:
"You're a good Republican, right?"
"Yeah, so...?"
"You're not going to whine like the liberals, right?"
"Hell no."
"You're not going to scapegoat and blame others like the liberals, right?"
"What does that...?"
"And you don't believe in the welfare state or other attempts to steal others property, right?"
"Hell no!"
"You believe in personal responsibility, right?"
"Sure do!"
"Okay, so what's a responsible person, a person with morals and conservative values, going to do when they don't like a product or a price?"
"What?"
"Be a smart shopper in the free market! Buy the competition! Or sit it out until the price comes down! You've got the smarts and you've got the guts. You can exercise your choices as a free individual. You can think of something, and you can roll up your sleeves and do it!"
Something like the above just might get a few of 'em to try a more efficient lifestyle. And if the memes get into circulation, they might spread.
Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 11:33 pm Post subject: Re: Dealing with others' gas anger
Quote:
Why didnt you SLOW DOWN before taking the exit? And while we're stereotyping people by what they drive, why do so many wrx owners think they become Speed Racer once they spend 30k on a 4 cyl econobox? Obey the speed limit, problem solved
Do you really think I had a choice? Read my post, I was trying to get in to the exit lane but this other idiot in the right lane decided to SPEED UP once my blinker went on. If I slam on the brakes, I get drilled by the car behind me. If I speed up, I run into someone. If you've had to drive any amount, you've been in that situation at some point. I punched it and grabbed the space while I still could -- I would do the same tomorrow. Mr Hoplite, now is the time where I would mock your vehicle's performance, but I'm doing my best to move away from equating cars with status so I won't.
I don't speed since my car would attract attention from police. My car cost $25k, thank you very much. I don't have any fast and furious modifications. I fill up on gas once or twice a month. I don't care if gas hits $4 or $5 - it won't bother me much because I live close to work.
Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 11:44 pm Post subject: Re: Dealing with others' gas anger
Quote:
What do do with a pissed-off SUV owner, if you have a chance to talk to him (usually it's a him) for example at a gas station:
Personal responsibilty is out of fashion these days. I've yelled at people in a local paper's forum for choosing to live 40 miles from work in a big house, voting for politicians who haven't a clue about public transit, and who bought GMC Yukon's at GM's Going Out of Business Sale (oops, I meant Employee Discount sale). The replies back were "shut up, it's those greedy Arabs / oil companies / gas station owners who are gouging prices", and then local pols launch investigations then parade a few station owners in front of the cameras for gouging.
This won't end well and the angry exurbanites won't get it until their SUVs and F-150s cost north of $150 to fill up.
Joined: Jul 04, 2005 Posts: 136 Location: Madison, WI
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 11:01 pm Post subject: Re: Dealing with others' gas anger
hoplite wrote:
And while we're stereotyping people by what they drive, why do so many wrx owners think they become Speed Racer once they spend 30k on a 4 cyl econobox? Obey the speed limit, problem solved
Ahem. Not all of us WRX owners want to street race. I have never once in 18 years of driving gotten a speeding ticket, and don't plan to. If you have to drive and can afford it, you could do a lot worse than a car that is safe, reliable, and practical (well, the wagon is), and can be a high-performance vehicle *when needed* (in situations such as jmacdaddio described) AND an economy car the rest of the time. I'll certainly miss mine when circumstances allow me to become car-free.
Now, if you want to talk Paul Walker wanna-be's, look at some of the modded Civics out there... (JUST KIDDING! My wife has a Civic...)
I tend to agree that road-rage frequency will likely peak and decline with the overall number of drivers. I'd be more worried about being attacked by those who can no longer drive.
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 11:22 pm Post subject: Re: Dealing with others' gas anger
You Americans must be a mean and violent bunch. Here in my city in Canada I don't see an iota of difference in the politenss of drivers or driving habits.
You let a thing like gas prices control your temperments? More self esteem might help.
Perhaps Americans need to drink less coffee and smile more.
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 11:32 pm Post subject: Re: Dealing with others' gas anger
fossilnut2 wrote:
You Americans must be a mean and violent bunch. Here in my city in Canada I don't see an iota of difference in the politenss of drivers or driving habits.
You let a thing like gas prices control your temperments? More self esteem might help.
Perhaps Americans need to drink less coffee and smile more.
A day after a fight broke out after someone cut in line at a Toronto gas station, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said consumers need to calm down.
And he said fights such as the one at a Toronto gas station in which a man pulled out a tire iron and several people were beaten, are not acceptable. Two people were taken to hospital as a result of the fight.
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 11:44 pm Post subject: Re: Dealing with others' gas anger
No. According to Torontonians, Toronto is the center of the universe.
Why do you drive more recklessly because of gas prices? Do people really have this lack of self control in their lives? Many moons ago I learned that my actions are my own and only a fool lets other fools control those actions.
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(JUST KIDDING! My wife has a Civic...)
