The thousand yard stare .

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
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No not the militairy version though I think they are similar . Proabably a lot of you have had similar experiences and some world travelers much worse .

I will set the scene for you . A simple stop sign . We all of us or most of us do the old rolling stop . This is where it has started to differ for me . In the last few years the people rolling through the stop sign do not in any way acknowledge my presense They are rolling through looking through me to where they perceive the distance between a vehicle and they that would allow them to pass through unscathed . No eye contact , no even perceptible utilisation of peripheric vision .

Before I noticed this change I was at least acknowledged as an irritant or better yet a fellow motorist . There was some kind of recognition . Now it is as if they cannot conceive that the progress of such an important person could be blocked .

The feeling I get is similar of a change from a positive or neutral perspective to an oblivious or negative one . Positive in that the expect to see a car coming or neutral in that they will deal with the situation as is demanded of them . Now it is the oblivious thousand yard stare of one who cannot accept reality . Negative in that they cannot brook the irritation that someone of no importance could possibly be of consequence to them . A small percentage of these people will even start to accelerate from their rolling stop though I am plainly visible 15 yards away .
 
I hope you're not on a motorcycle! OUCH!!!

I know what you mean, today I drove NEXT to or in FRONT of my roommate for about 4 miles and followed her all the way into the driveway and walked under the garage door as it was shutting before she even realized anyone was following her. Talk about not knowing your surroundings. Geesh!
 
Negative?

You're not referring to my half-mile middle finger, are you? Because whenever I throw someone the bird, I mean it in the best way possible and with as much love as I can muster. (Which, admittedly, probably isn't much at that particular moment.)

Whenever I go to Walmart I get pissed off. I enjoy the conveniance and the prices but I have a hard time there. People cut in front of me and suddenly stop. Shoppers, while juggling multiple children and a cell phone, crash their shopping carts into me. (Invariably nailing my right knee, as it gets a better response out of me.) People refuse to get the hell out of the middle of the road in the parking lot. I don't understand it -- those who have met me know that I'm fairly easy to notice. I would go so far as to say that I'm often the center of attention. I am not subtle. Why don't they spot me? This level of complacency is astounding.

At the same time it makes me grateful. It forces me to realize just how safe of a society that we actually live in; in most other places, or times, the majority of these people would've never survived to adulthood. We have it so good here that they not only survive, but go on to thrive and smash shopping carts into my knee. The irony of the fact that they probably earn more than me on the whole is not lost upon me, either. We live in great times.

That doesn't help my right knee but it does help my spirit; it also helps my reflexes. You ought to see me whenever I cross an aisle intersection at Walmart -- Miyamoto Musashi was not this focused.
 
For all the guns and knives we toss around, the most dangerous instrument commonly found is the automobile, and as you noted, they are well-distributed in the hands of idiots.

Road rage not: treat every other driver as an emotionally unstable, armed, drunken, mental defective with poor vision, distracted by a cell phone.

Saw a thing on the autobahns on History channel; Germans were puzzled by our demand for cup holders in cars.

They just drive while driving, period. And have less deaths per mile on the no-speed-limit autobahn than we do on our (American) interstate system.


Mike
 
I got nailed, head-on, while riding a motorcycle. Changed my life.

Twenty-year old kid driving the equipment truck said he didn't see me.

Skid marks showed he was four feet over a double yellow coming around a blind curve.

Sigh

Accident re-construction pro said if I'd been waving FLARES, the kid wouldn't have seen me. Kid's head was zoned out; not by drugs or beer, just somewhere else.

We got too many people.


wacherass
 
Ad Astra very sagely wrote:
treat every other driver as an emotionally unstable, armed, drunken, mental defective with poor vision, distracted by a cell phone.
Click to expand...
Amen! - and in at least fifty per cent of the cases you encounter at any given time, you will be correct as to at least one of the above factors. After dark, the chances of being correct, with a much higher percentage of multiple offenders, increase exponentially.
A few years ago, I traded my family sedan in for a red SUV in hopes of increasing my visibility to other - what shall I call them? "drivers" [not really, see above about the Autobahn] - occupants of left front vehicle seats, more like it. I might as well have saved the payments, for all the good it did.:(
 
You know gents . I am a peaceful sort . My few victims are astonished when something incomprehensible happens to them .
(But thats not what you are like at all ) , protest they vehemently .
I just respond with a thousand yard stare .
It is much too late once it is too late .
Give what you get and above all ? Be generous .

Road rage is mostly a thing of the past with me . I have been there so I can somewhat see their perspective . I do not think I ever looked through other motorists as recognition of them is the best way to assure myself that they have acknowledged me .
 
To echo some of the thoughts already expressed, my golden rule of driving is:

If there is any possible stupid, bone-headed, idiotic, crazy, f----- up move that some driver in your vicinity could make which would in any way affect your ability to proceed safely in the direction of your destination, anticipate and expect that the driver in question will make it at the worst possible time - and do your best to avoid it.

Eric
 
At some time when I was out of the country or something, all the local traffic laws were changed or canceled. It is now perfectly OK to make a right turn from the left lane and vice-versa. "Stop" signs have been re-defined as "slow down a little, if you feel like it" signs. Red lights are now yellow lights and yellow lights are the same as green, except you are supposed to speed up a little. A double yellow line doesn't mean anything. Speed limits? We don't need no stinkin' speed limits. Try driving 55 around here on an expressway. You'll be sorry. It has taken me a while to get used to these new laws. :rolleyes:
 
I'm classified as legally blind and therefore cannot drive. As I increasingly notice the increasing deterioration of the average driver due to utter obliviousness, I find it harder and harder to belive that I couldn't do a better job of driving than most of the clueless class I see on the road today. :confused: :eek: :grumpy: I've had several conversations about this with my wife (a fantastic driver) and her older brother. We all agree that the best punishment for oblivious drivers would be to ship them to Germany and have them drive over there. :D But then the merciful side of me kicks in; I wouldn't wish a multi-car pile-up at 100+ mph on the people who gave beer and sausage. :D
 
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