Long, WAY off topic rant about an inconciderate moron.

[Kruzin]

OK...This just torqued me off enough to feel the need to rant about it. A LOT.

WTF is the matter with people? I speak in particular today about my fellow parents at my kids elementary school. It's a fairly large campus, with all grades up through high school. Several thousand students between 3 large buildings and countless "temps". The high school kids get out around 2:30, the elementary kids at 2:45. Needless to say, the traffic situation is NOT pretty.

And thus begins my rant...I have included a crude diagram of the situation just cause I got so fired up, I needed to study it to see if anything could be done.



The deal is that parents are supposed to enter the school drive from the North (right), and PARK in the lot to the southeast (bottom left), either by turning left near the faculty lot, or following the circle around and into the other side of the lot. Green arrows show the intended flow of traffic, red lines indicate no parking zones, which are clearly marked, and the curbs painted. In the circle to the left, is an area designated for daycare vans only. While hundreds of parents are filing through picking up their kids, hundreds of high school kids are exiting from the same parking lot. The drive is quite narrow, and barely fits the 2 lanes of traffic in. The only place it gets wide enough for 2 vehicles going the same direction is in the circle, where the daycare vans can park, and still leave room for traffic to get by.

So anyway, today I get there, and traffic is backed up a block farther north than my diagram shows, and out onto the street that connects to this long drive. It took me more than10 min just to get from the crosswalk on the right of the diagram to the left turn into the lot (about 5 car lengths). I finally got into the lot and parked, and got out to meet my kids. On the way I decided to make a plea to the other parents out there.

When I got to the crosswalk (shown on the left), I saw there was a number of cars parked in the daycare only lane, leaving several daycare vans with nowhere to park. That irks me, but what I saw next really got me going. There was a really butch, spike haired lesb...er...woman in a pickup truck who had parked in the only traffic lane right at the crosswalk, completely halting all traffic, and was the obvious reason for 3 blocks of bumper-bumper. There was a line of 7-8 cars behind her, parked, doing nothing, and blocks of cars behind that honking and beating their steering wheels.

So I walked to the middle of the street, where they could all hear me, and loudly said "Folks, can we please get traffic moving. There are cars lined up all the way out to Kipling street waiting for you to move.
Immediately the butch got very belligerent with me. Started hollering profanities at me in full earshot of the kids coming out of the school. She felt that because there where parents parking in the daycare zone that she was entitled to block the rest of the traffic. She refused to move, and continued swearing loudly at me as I walked away, with dozens of young kids right there, wide eyed and jaws hanging open. Other parents drove around her (crossing over into the oncoming traffic lane) and things started clearing up a little. That butch would not move until a teacher came out to act as crossing guard and told her to move. Of course that teacher did not come out till 30 seconds after the exchange was all over. I did go talk to the teacher and explain what was going on, but she told me there wasn't anything she could do, and that I should write a note to the school pricipal.

And, of course, during this several minutes of chaos, her kid came out and loaded up in the truck (in a no loading zone), so she never had to go to the parking lot. She just went around the circle and out. As she drove by me (I was sitting there, still waiting for my kids to show up), she flipped me off (with her kid right next to her), laughed and said "buh-by" in her butchiest voice.

Arrrrrgggggggggh
So I ask again....WTF is the matter with people?
Does common courtesy no longer exist?
Or restraining from vulgarity and anger in the presence of young children? No more?
I was not rude to her, I did not raise my voice in anger, use a single profanity, or belittle her in any way. I just asked her (and several other parents who didn't make a peep) to move her truck to where it was supposed to be so that dozens of other cars could get moving.
For that, I was verbally assaulted, and a number of children where exposed to her violent and vulgar attitude.

I will be speaking with the principal tomorrow about getting a cop out there to direct traffic, and chase away illegal parkers. This happens at the start of every new school year, till a cop shows up for a couple days and hands out a few tickets...then it straightens out for a couple months till the slackers start breaking the rules again.
But today was the worst I've ever seen it, and that blonde butch really really got to me. I SO wanted to punch her in the nose

And so ends my rant.

(phew )

[KvHagedorn]

I think if a woman wants so badly to be a man, and a discourteous one at that, she no longer deserves the courtesy and deference we civilized males normally confer upon females. She deserved a good ass whuppin.

[agallag]

You know, as awful as that performance was on her part, I'm not in the least bit surprised. It seems there is no common courtesy anymore, at least not on this continent. I don't understand how people think that their convenience is more important than that of n other people combined.

I see stuff similar to this every day on the street in front of my office. There are many many very clear "no stopping" signs on the main street in front of my building (Yonge St. at Sheppard Ave. in Toronto if anyone is familiar with the city). Without fail, every single morning, there is at least one car stopped there with its four-ways flashing. Some of them are sitting there waiting to pick someone up. Some have run into the courier office or the coffee shop and just left their car on the street. If they would just pull up about 20 yards and make a right turn, there's a nice isolated side street with plenty of room to stop and wait, and there are meters for those who need to get out. But noooooo, they have to sit there and block an entire lane of traffic (on the longest street in the world, no less), creating a massive traffic jam behind them. If you honk at them, or try to wave them around the corner, you get a very familiar gesture back. Damn people...

[agallag]

BTW, nice picture kruzin

[Kruzin]

Thanks. But like I said, it's pretty crude. I threw that together just to get an idea.
But I just had to find some satellite pics so I can see it how it really is

The red rectangle shows where Butch was parked, the red line shows the backed up traffic, wich went WELL beyond what this pic shows, the green lines show the outgoing flow of high school students.

[Reverend Maynard]

What I want to know is how you got a satelite picture like that? I must also say, you seem to have far more restraint than I do, I'd have let loose on the dyke.

[Jon P. Inghram]

http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/default.asp

Very cool website.

[KvHagedorn]

I would report her to child protective services as an endangering influence upon her own child. Nice investigation of her lifestyle and crude habits then.

[Kruzin]

Yup. Terraserver is where I got that pic.

KvH....I wouldn't want to get involved in any child services mess over something like this. I think that would be taking it too far. It's just a basic traffic argument (though heavily compounded by her behaviour in front of the kids).
But I won't have a problem talking to the school about it, and confronting Butch with the principal (and even a cop) there.

[The PIT]

Sounds like every day ignorance to me. Pity you aren't allowed too trash the vehicle involved.

[KvHagedorn]

Good idea, TP. Next time you pick up your kids, try using one of these:

[Dogbert]

No mean intentions but excuse me while I laugh my arse off.

Come to Israel for a week (and ofcourse drive during that week) and suddenly, all those problems will become child play to you.

That butch acted like 40% of the Israeli drivers. Yes, 40% (rough estimate, depends where and when in Israel).
Israeli drivers "own" the road.
Once you learn to deal with Israeli drivers, you can deal with anyone on the road. Ask Alice (I gave her a quick lesson about how and when to use your horns on the road to get even with lousy Portuguise drivers. it was very effective).

Anyway, back to topic, there is a very easy way to take care of such a person, all you need is a little free time on your hands and some patience.

The idea ? See where she goes and next time drive in front of her like an old lady, be patient, do 7-8 mph. Stop for every cat or squirrel that needs to cross the street and don't move before you've seen it arrived safely to the other side of the road (not just your lane.)

Now for the worst part, if that butch decides to cut to the other lane (incoming traffic), accelerate to make her stay there. That'll give her a really nasty heart attack and might drive her to physical violence.

Don't get mad, get even.

[Greebe]

Sure that sounds like a wonderful idea, but then she might opt to pull a gun. It happens here far to often.

...and most certainly would not comment on how I would handle this publically

[Dogbert]

Yes... Guns aren't as common here as in the states. That might pose a problem.
A stupid angry butch is quite different from a stupid angry butch with a gun

That would require a little more thinking and a bit of creativity.

[KvHagedorn]

Mikey, if this ever happens to you, I hope someone is filming.. I'd buy the tape.