Victim of Bicycle Rage
I had a very disturbing incident in Georgetown yesterday involving a case of bicycle rage. It was so surreal and bizarre... I'm still sort of reeling from it.
Chad and I had parked his car on some side street, less than a block off Wisconsin. Chad had gotten out on his side of the car (DUH)... the street side and I was on the sidewalk side. Well, I walked over to join him in the street... and we were walking towards Wisconsin, planning to merge back into the sidewalk at some point.
Well, out of the corner of my eye, I see this biker coming down the road.... I sort of look back and see him coming... at full speed. I mention to Chad, who is in front of me, to "watch out" and sort of grab his coat. Well, he didn't hear me and this biker, who made no attempt to pass us with a reasonable distance, almost clips Chad. The biker yells, "Watch it" as he passes Chad. And Chad says back, "Why don't YOU watch it?"
For some reason, this set the biker off, who obviously had some sort of biker rage issues. Either he's been hit before or ran into a car door opening or something.... but he stopped his bike and came back to us. "What the f*ck?" he starts yelling at us. "Are you kidding me to tell me to watch it? Dude, I'm in the road. See the sidwalk over there? You're pedestrians-you should be on the sidewalk." We explained that we had just gotten out of car and were walking in that direction. He needed to chill out. And then we asked him why he didn't move out of the way.... He said, "I can't just swerve back into the road... what if a car was coming? You'd rather me get hit by a car?" And Chad and I both thought, "Well, you'd rather hit a pedestrian?" It was just so irrational and crazy.
So, Chad and I were basically like, "Whatever, dude" and continued walking... he started to bike away while mumbling under this breath. Chad and I crossed over to the sidewalk and were still saying stuff to ourselves. "That was ridiculous. What was his problem?" And I said, a little louder than I should have, "God, what an asshole!"
Well, the biker heard me, slammed on his brakes, did a 180-turn, threw his bike down on the sidewalk and starting charging towards me. "Oh... now you're gonna call me an asshole?!!!" and he grabbed my jacket by the collar and pushed me back. Chad stuck his arm in the way and told the guy to "chill out." And the asshole was like, "You can't call me an asshole and expect to get away with it?" And I was like, "Relax, dude... you need to chill out. It's not that big a deal." And he's all, "Why did you call me an asshole? I didn't do anything wrong... I'm coming down the road... I know you saw me... and you told him to watch out... why didn't you move? I had the right away." Chad was like, "I didn't hear his warning. You should have watched where you were going..."
My addrenaline was up at this point, but I also know I'm a rational, mature individual... who would rather "flight" than "fight." I mean, I've never had any sort of physical confrontation like this in my life.... even as a kid growing up. There were verbal bullys, but nothing every physical. So, I tried to talk rationally with this guy.... "I understand that you were on the road. We'd just exited our car. We were walking towards the sidewalk. We had to be the in road too since we'd just gotten out of the car. I tried to warn my friend. He didn't hear me."
"I called you an asshole for not taking any responsibility in what could have been a major accident. You could have slowed down and moved out of the way slightly... Obviously, there were pedestrians on the road and you're approaching an intersection..."
He was like, "I didn't take responsiblity? What did I do wrong? Huh? Huh?" And Chad finally jumped in and said, "What do we do wrong?!?" He finally backed down and walked off and we walked away as well......
It was just so surreal and scary. I honestly have not had anything like that happen. This guy almost caused a bike-ped accident and then was willing to get violent in order to make a point?!? It just was so irrational. I can understand his point about being in the road and not wanting to swerve into traffic. But there wasn't a car coming.... and so what? He'd rather risk injuring a pedestrian?!
I also think that if we'd been big tough frat boys, he wouldn't have made such a big deal of out it. But he had to go and try to be Mr. Tough Guy.
Luckily, Chad and I both had the where-with-all to disfuse the situation and not let it escalate. The two of us might have been able to take it (LOL), but I definitely didn't want to go in the direction.
I really wish something had happened to his bike after he threw it down. LOL! That would have been awesome.
Anyway... the whole thing was rather frightening... and definitely put some things in perspective. I often get road rage when I'm driving... and now I see it's not really worth it. I mean, in the big scheme of things, what does it matter? Just to make a point that you were right about something, when you might not have been? Get both sides of the story, don't judge and definitely don't sweat the small stuff.
YIKES!
Chad and I had parked his car on some side street, less than a block off Wisconsin. Chad had gotten out on his side of the car (DUH)... the street side and I was on the sidewalk side. Well, I walked over to join him in the street... and we were walking towards Wisconsin, planning to merge back into the sidewalk at some point.
Well, out of the corner of my eye, I see this biker coming down the road.... I sort of look back and see him coming... at full speed. I mention to Chad, who is in front of me, to "watch out" and sort of grab his coat. Well, he didn't hear me and this biker, who made no attempt to pass us with a reasonable distance, almost clips Chad. The biker yells, "Watch it" as he passes Chad. And Chad says back, "Why don't YOU watch it?"
For some reason, this set the biker off, who obviously had some sort of biker rage issues. Either he's been hit before or ran into a car door opening or something.... but he stopped his bike and came back to us. "What the f*ck?" he starts yelling at us. "Are you kidding me to tell me to watch it? Dude, I'm in the road. See the sidwalk over there? You're pedestrians-you should be on the sidewalk." We explained that we had just gotten out of car and were walking in that direction. He needed to chill out. And then we asked him why he didn't move out of the way.... He said, "I can't just swerve back into the road... what if a car was coming? You'd rather me get hit by a car?" And Chad and I both thought, "Well, you'd rather hit a pedestrian?" It was just so irrational and crazy.
So, Chad and I were basically like, "Whatever, dude" and continued walking... he started to bike away while mumbling under this breath. Chad and I crossed over to the sidewalk and were still saying stuff to ourselves. "That was ridiculous. What was his problem?" And I said, a little louder than I should have, "God, what an asshole!"
Well, the biker heard me, slammed on his brakes, did a 180-turn, threw his bike down on the sidewalk and starting charging towards me. "Oh... now you're gonna call me an asshole?!!!" and he grabbed my jacket by the collar and pushed me back. Chad stuck his arm in the way and told the guy to "chill out." And the asshole was like, "You can't call me an asshole and expect to get away with it?" And I was like, "Relax, dude... you need to chill out. It's not that big a deal." And he's all, "Why did you call me an asshole? I didn't do anything wrong... I'm coming down the road... I know you saw me... and you told him to watch out... why didn't you move? I had the right away." Chad was like, "I didn't hear his warning. You should have watched where you were going..."
My addrenaline was up at this point, but I also know I'm a rational, mature individual... who would rather "flight" than "fight." I mean, I've never had any sort of physical confrontation like this in my life.... even as a kid growing up. There were verbal bullys, but nothing every physical. So, I tried to talk rationally with this guy.... "I understand that you were on the road. We'd just exited our car. We were walking towards the sidewalk. We had to be the in road too since we'd just gotten out of the car. I tried to warn my friend. He didn't hear me."
"I called you an asshole for not taking any responsibility in what could have been a major accident. You could have slowed down and moved out of the way slightly... Obviously, there were pedestrians on the road and you're approaching an intersection..."
He was like, "I didn't take responsiblity? What did I do wrong? Huh? Huh?" And Chad finally jumped in and said, "What do we do wrong?!?" He finally backed down and walked off and we walked away as well......
It was just so surreal and scary. I honestly have not had anything like that happen. This guy almost caused a bike-ped accident and then was willing to get violent in order to make a point?!? It just was so irrational. I can understand his point about being in the road and not wanting to swerve into traffic. But there wasn't a car coming.... and so what? He'd rather risk injuring a pedestrian?!
I also think that if we'd been big tough frat boys, he wouldn't have made such a big deal of out it. But he had to go and try to be Mr. Tough Guy.
Luckily, Chad and I both had the where-with-all to disfuse the situation and not let it escalate. The two of us might have been able to take it (LOL), but I definitely didn't want to go in the direction.
I really wish something had happened to his bike after he threw it down. LOL! That would have been awesome.
Anyway... the whole thing was rather frightening... and definitely put some things in perspective. I often get road rage when I'm driving... and now I see it's not really worth it. I mean, in the big scheme of things, what does it matter? Just to make a point that you were right about something, when you might not have been? Get both sides of the story, don't judge and definitely don't sweat the small stuff.
YIKES!