I Was a Patient JLEDI Yesterday

In article >, Dave Head wrote:

> What some people get is, I think, an opportunity to not start something that
> they have no idea how it is going to end. For the price of 30 seconds, we get
> less hassle in our daily lives. Getting somewhere 30 seconds earlier isn't
> worth the price of the eventualities of attempting to use personal force to
> make something happen your own way, even if you're right.

And with it the quality of life continues to decay. All it takes is for
good people to stand down for things to go to crap.

In article >, Dave Head wrote:

> Personal force would be physically attempting to stop someone from doing
> something.

Is an LLB using physical force? Is the person parked in the road using
physical force?

In article >, brink wrote:

> The other problem is that you and I won't let those people in, but of course
> all it takes is one weak link in the chain. People know this and exploit
> it. Which can *really* worsen the jam...

Hence the problem with enablers.

On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 23:27:21 -0500, (Brent
P) wrote:

>In article >, Dave Head wrote:
>
>> What some people get is, I think, an opportunity to not start something that
>> they have no idea how it is going to end. For the price of 30 seconds, we get
>> less hassle in our daily lives. Getting somewhere 30 seconds earlier isn't
>> worth the price of the eventualities of attempting to use personal force to
>> make something happen your own way, even if you're right.
>
>And with it the quality of life continues to decay. All it takes is for
>good people to stand down for things to go to crap.

Yeah, but its a philosopy to apply to something really important - something
_worth_ risking your life for. That wouldn't be 30 seconds of time.

DPH
>

In article >, Dave Head wrote:
> On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 23:27:21 -0500, (Brent
> P) wrote:
>
>>In article >, Dave Head wrote:
>>
>>> What some people get is, I think, an opportunity to not start something that
>>> they have no idea how it is going to end. For the price of 30 seconds, we get
>>> less hassle in our daily lives. Getting somewhere 30 seconds earlier isn't
>>> worth the price of the eventualities of attempting to use personal force to
>>> make something happen your own way, even if you're right.
>>
>>And with it the quality of life continues to decay. All it takes is for
>>good people to stand down for things to go to crap.
>
> Yeah, but its a philosopy to apply to something really important - something
> _worth_ risking your life for. That wouldn't be 30 seconds of time.

The point is, it's not 30 seconds of time.

For instance, I blocked 3 shoulder passers the other day. As did a semi
driver once one got by me. Because of this resistance, the flood of
shoulder passers didn't occur. Because as soon as one gets through with
it, other people follow. 30 seconds as some enabler ahead allows each one
back on to the road... eventually that flood of shoulder passers becomes
many minutes.

But that's only one event. Now combine all the little things throughout
the day where we are told 'it's not worth the risk' to stand up.
Everytime we turn around it's another delay for some selfish prick.
seconds become minutes, minutes become hours, over the course of a year
we are losing days.

And that doesn't even account for quality of life decline all around.

And when the population is conditioned that it's not worth the risk, that
they should just let someone else be a selfish prick, why shouldn't we be
selfish pricks?

What reason is there then that I don't take to the shoulder myself and
pass? It's been declared acceptable by the fact that nobody is to block
it. Cops aren't around, I can get away with it, so why shouldn't I do it?

That become's the mentality. So the selfish behaviors that delay the rest
of us become more common as more people just become selfish pricks.

Just-let-them-do-it doesn't scale. If there are few people and only a
tiny percentage are selfish arses then it works. If there are many people
even a tiny percentage is a lot of people and the effect is magnified by
numbers of people one arsehole can effect. Not to mention the effect it
spreads. I've seen it spread. One arsehole escapes a backup by exiting
the interstate using an _on_ ramp, then dozens are, just like the
shoulder passing.

In article >,
Brent P > wrote:
>
>numbers of people one arsehole can effect. Not to mention the effect it
>spreads. I've seen it spread. One arsehole escapes a backup by exiting
>the interstate using an _on_ ramp, then dozens are, just like the
>shoulder passing.

Of course it does. It changes the rules -- not the laws on paper, but
the unwritten rules which actually govern road behavior. Most drivers
have the idea that you don't use an on-ramp to get off a highway. But
if they see a bunch of people doing it without ill consequence,
they'll probably decide that it is, in fact, acceptable to do so, at
least in this case.
--
There's no such thing as a free lunch, but certain accounting practices can
result in a fully-depreciated one.

Brent P wrote:
> In article >, Dave Head wrote:
> > On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 23:27:21 -0500, (Brent
> > P) wrote:
> >
> >>In article >, Dave Head wrote:
> >>
> >>> What some people get is, I think, an opportunity to not start something that
> >>> they have no idea how it is going to end. For the price of 30 seconds, we get
> >>> less hassle in our daily lives. Getting somewhere 30 seconds earlier isn't
> >>> worth the price of the eventualities of attempting to use personal force to
> >>> make something happen your own way, even if you're right.
> >>
> >>And with it the quality of life continues to decay. All it takes is for
> >>good people to stand down for things to go to crap.
> >
> > Yeah, but its a philosopy to apply to something really important - something
> > _worth_ risking your life for. That wouldn't be 30 seconds of time.
>
> The point is, it's not 30 seconds of time.
>
> For instance, I blocked 3 shoulder passers the other day. As did a semi
> driver once one got by me. Because of this resistance, the flood of
> shoulder passers didn't occur. Because as soon as one gets through with
> it, other people follow. 30 seconds as some enabler ahead allows each one
> back on to the road... eventually that flood of shoulder passers becomes
> many minutes.
>
> But that's only one event. Now combine all the little things throughout
> the day where we are told 'it's not worth the risk' to stand up.
> Everytime we turn around it's another delay for some selfish prick.
> seconds become minutes, minutes become hours, over the course of a year
> we are losing days.
>
> And that doesn't even account for quality of life decline all around.
>
> And when the population is conditioned that it's not worth the risk, that
> they should just let someone else be a selfish prick, why shouldn't we be
> selfish pricks?
>
> What reason is there then that I don't take to the shoulder myself and
> pass? It's been declared acceptable by the fact that nobody is to block
> it. Cops aren't around, I can get away with it, so why shouldn't I do it?
>
> That become's the mentality. So the selfish behaviors that delay the rest
> of us become more common as more people just become selfish pricks.
>
> Just-let-them-do-it doesn't scale. If there are few people and only a
> tiny percentage are selfish arses then it works. If there are many people
> even a tiny percentage is a lot of people and the effect is magnified by
> numbers of people one arsehole can effect. Not to mention the effect it
> spreads. I've seen it spread. One arsehole escapes a backup by exiting
> the interstate using an _on_ ramp, then dozens are, just like the
> shoulder passing.

You need to get the hell out of that huge population center so you
don't meet so many pricks. You're "pricks met per day" factor is
_waaaay_ too high. There's prolly about the same percentage of pricks
in that population as anywhere else, but because you meet about 20 -
100 times as many people as the rest of us, you meet about 20 - 100
times as many pricks.

Maybe U should pick the other end of the state, say, Carbondale....

Dave Head

Dave Head wrote:

<SNIP>

> You need to get the hell out of that huge population center so you
> don't meet so many pricks. You're "pricks met per day" factor is
> _waaaay_ too high. There's prolly about the same percentage of pricks
> in that population as anywhere else, but because you meet about 20 -
> 100 times as many people as the rest of us, you meet about 20 - 100
> times as many pricks.
>
> Maybe U should pick the other end of the state, say, Carbondale....
>
> Dave Head

You weren't up near Dulles Airport on Friday, were you? about
lunchtime, I ended up directly behind a car with a vanity plate with
your name on it...

nate

In article .com>, Dave Head wrote:

> You need to get the hell out of that huge population center so you
> don't meet so many pricks. You're "pricks met per day" factor is
> _waaaay_ too high. There's prolly about the same percentage of pricks
> in that population as anywhere else, but because you meet about 20 -
> 100 times as many people as the rest of us, you meet about 20 - 100
> times as many pricks.

Good, then I don't have to explain that again. Most people accuse me of
being the problem without realizing that there are that many more people
around me. Also note that the behavior breeds more of it, so the
percentage here will be somewhat higher.

> Maybe U should pick the other end of the state, say, Carbondale....

Temporary relief at best. With the senate allowing in 100,000,000
legal imigrants in the next 20 years plus another 30,000,000 illegal
aliens and guest workers on top of that, there's going to be no running
away from it unless you are very rich and don't need to work for a
living.

On 11 Sep 2006 14:49:46 -0700, "N8N" > wrote:

>
>Dave Head wrote:
>
><SNIP>
>
>> You need to get the hell out of that huge population center so you
>> don't meet so many pricks. You're "pricks met per day" factor is
>> _waaaay_ too high. There's prolly about the same percentage of pricks
>> in that population as anywhere else, but because you meet about 20 -
>> 100 times as many people as the rest of us, you meet about 20 - 100
>> times as many pricks.
>>
>> Maybe U should pick the other end of the state, say, Carbondale....
>>
>> Dave Head
>
>You weren't up near Dulles Airport on Friday, were you? about
>lunchtime, I ended up directly behind a car with a vanity plate with
>your name on it...
>
>nate

Nope. My vanity plates are "RALLY VA" and "K8DH".

Dave Head