Whose right-of-way is it, anyway?

[Maria]

Okay, so not as crazy as most, but this just made me laugh. On the way to school this morning, I had valentines to mail to my sisters (yeah, I'm weird like that) so I stopped by the post office, deciding to walk them inside because that mail gets sorted about 6 hours sooner than what goes in the drive-through boxes, and I'm already not sure the cards will make it in time.

Quick description, the entrance for this post office is located on a two lane dead-end side street. You turn down the side street, then on the left maybe 3 car-lengths away from the intersection, you have the driveway for the parking lot, 30 feet later the exit driveway for the drive-through mail drop, and a bit later, the entry driveway for the drive-through. A lot of cars were coming out of the drive-through and it's a right turn for them, so they had the right-of-way over my desired left into the parking lot. So instead of blocking the road trying to turn left, I continued to the dead end, turned around, and came back at it so it'd be on my right.

And as I was passing the exit driveway for the drive-through, the car attempting to exit went screeching to a halt into the bike lane, honking and flipping me off. For... failing to come to a full and complete stop and wait for him to pull out of a driveway onto the street I was already on, far as I can tell. He didn't seem to like that I giggled and went around him either, but good grief, I fly a teeny tiny airplane in military airspace on a regular basis; if you want to scare me you have to come at me with something other than a Corolla.

[Bronzebow]

Now I'm picturing someone launching a Corolla at an airplane.

I bet Bike Lane just wasn't paying attention/accustomed to paying attention from the direction you came. All of a sudden, someone's there and hell will freeze over before Bike Lane lets his ego admit a mistake was made.

There's sort of a similar deal in my town. A T intersection with a yield sign at the right/left turn. The right turn goes to an empty cul-de-sac for a seldom used paper storage office, and a left goes on back to town. I've seen maybe two cars coming from the right in ten years, and I've never seen anyone from the left going straight to go into that cul-de-sac. Most people don't even look that way anymore and assume all oncoming cars are making that right hand turn. It'll be an accident one day...

[PepperElf]

ya sounds like he wasn't paying attention and so he wants to blame you for his mistake

[wolfie]

He didn't seem to like that I giggled and went around him either, but good grief, I fly a teeny tiny airplane in military airspace on a regular basis; if you want to scare me you have to come at me with something other than a Corolla.

How about a Triumph Spitfire, Ford Mustang or Falcon, or AMC Eagle or Hornet?

[Chromatix]

Or one of these:



ETA: it's a Messerschmitt.

[Kazim]

that car looks way to happy...

[wolfie]

Or one of these:
ETA: it's a Messerschmitt.

The Isetta is too easy - if you take the manufacturer rather than the model name, any Mitsubishi would qualify. After all, they made the famous "Sucky Customer IQ" fighter.

[Chromatix]

Well, Messerschmitt 109 fighters tended to be known by their manufacturer's name rather than their model number - likewise the bubble car, rather like the original Volkswagen. It's actually not so well known that they also made a twin-engined heavy fighter, the 110, in reasonably large numbers.

By contrast, all the other aircraft mentioned so far are known by their model name, rather than their manufacturer. That includes the Zero. Some others are better-known by their reporting code.

[Aethian]

Okay, so not as crazy as most, but this just made me laugh. On the way to school this morning, I had valentines to mail to my sisters (yeah, I'm weird like that) so I stopped by the post office, deciding to walk them inside because that mail gets sorted about 6 hours sooner than what goes in the drive-through boxes, and I'm already not sure the cards will make it in time.

You know they all go out on the same truck...

[BeeMused]

ETA: it's a Messerschmitt.

Oooooh Schneewittchensarg! Snow white's coffin, that's what those were nicknamed in Germany.

[wolfie]

Well, Messerschmitt 109 fighters tended to be known by their manufacturer's name rather than their model number - likewise the bubble car, rather like the original Volkswagen. It's actually not so well known that they also made a twin-engined heavy fighter, the 110, in reasonably large numbers.

Not to mention the world's first production jet fighter (262), and a rocket plane that was almost as dangerous for the pilot as it was for the guy on the other end of the guns (163).

[Caractacus_Potts]

I had a similar incident. I was coming to stop at a stop sign on the leg of a T intersection. A car coming from the right part of the T turning left onto the road I was on decided to cut the corner at high speed. Because of a snowbank he didn't see my car until he almost hit me and he nearly drove into the snowbank on the opposite side of the road to avoid me.

As he is backing his car up to make the turn onto my road he's giving me the finger and obviously screaming obscenities at me. I gave him a big smile and a wave. I mean, really, what else do you do to some idiot who nearly hits you head on because he decided to drive on the wrong side of the road.

[Maria]

I mean, really, what else do you do to some idiot who nearly hits you head on because he decided to drive on the wrong side of the road.

I haven't figured out a better response either, but if I ever do, I'll be sure to share it.

I've come to the conclusion that my vehicle has stealth capabilities, and I can't figure out which switch turns it off. About every other day, I come upon someone who's turning to join traffic on a main road, and you know how that goes, creep up until oncoming traffic is visible, watch for an opening, then make the turn... and then just about wet themselves when I suddenly materialize directly in front of them right about the same time I swerve around them. So I guess in angry post office guy's defense, maybe I accidentally hit the stealth switch..?

[PepperElf]

Or one of these:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3311/...bfd80b91d9.jpg

ETA: it's a Messerschmitt.

That looks like it's just begging for a monocle and for the chrome on the front to be painted black so it looks like a mustache!

I can just hear it saying, "I say old chap, would you have any Grey Poupon?"