What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

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531colin
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by 531colin »

whiskywheels wrote:Given that there are almost 3 times more people killed or seriously injured in cars, than riding bikes each year, I'm sure you can think of something! :D


3 times as many deaths/injuries in (shall we say) a hundred times as many person/miles travelled is not an argument winner to me.
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Vantage
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by Vantage »

TonyR wrote:
And neglect is not the problem although preventive measures and rapid response to problems can help..


Going on a back to front timeline...

3 years ago, it was discovered that I had diabetic retinopathy and this continues to worsen. Due to neglect when I was younger and stupider.
6 ish months ago, it was discovered that I had 3 severe blocks in my arteries, the worst of which was in the femoral artery and that was operated on today. Due to neglect when I was younger and stupider. Also a warning that I'm on the road to amputations in future years if I can't get it under control.
1 month ago, after a test to find out why my plumbing is acting up (diabetes related) it was discovered that my kidneys are also rapidly failing. Due to neglect when I was younger and stupider.

With this in mind, I would argue that neglect is very much a problem in most cases of amputation and other complications.
I'm not arguing for the sake of arguing or trying to offend anyone, but to suggest that diabetes itself leads to amputations is making mountains out of molehills.
Bill


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TonyR
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by TonyR »

IrishBill76 wrote:
TonyR wrote:
And neglect is not the problem although preventive measures and rapid response to problems can help..


Going on a back to front timeline...

3 years ago, it was discovered that I had diabetic retinopathy and this continues to worsen. Due to neglect when I was younger and stupider.
6 ish months ago, it was discovered that I had 3 severe blocks in my arteries, the worst of which was in the femoral artery and that was operated on today. Due to neglect when I was younger and stupider. Also a warning that I'm on the road to amputations in future years if I can't get it under control.
1 month ago, after a test to find out why my plumbing is acting up (diabetes related) it was discovered that my kidneys are also rapidly failing. Due to neglect when I was younger and stupider.

With this in mind, I would argue that neglect is very much a problem in most cases of amputation and other complications.
I'm not arguing for the sake of arguing or trying to offend anyone, but to suggest that diabetes itself leads to amputations is making mountains out of molehills.


Commiserations for your problems. Very simply though diabetics are many tens of times more likely to get the sorts of conditions that lead to amputation. Neglect certainly doesn't help but the underlying problem is strongly linked in the first place to the diabetes
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Cunobelin
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by Cunobelin »

We had one at work who was always on about cyclists.

Then in the staff room one morning he accused me of "blocking him" and "deliberately getting in his way" which was dangerous and I had nearly caused an accident.

Asked to be excused for a minute and came back with the 2 GoPros and connected to the PC.

Then took a couple of minutes to show that the "blocking" was actually riding in the cycle path and him trying to use it to cut inside the proper traffic queue.

Then showed him pulling out, into the outside lane, causing another car to brake then pulling a left hook as he went through a red light several seconds after it had changed.

Everyone in the staff room was appalled by his driving and he stormed off as several had a real go at him.


Funnily enough he has never ever challenged my cycling again, nor mentioned cyclists in my presence
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661-Pete
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by 661-Pete »

Irishbill76, sorry to hear about your health problems, hope you do manage to 'get things under control' and get the upper hand.

Cunobelin wrote:Everyone in the staff room was appalled by his driving and he stormed off as several had a real go at him.
Funnily enough he has never ever challenged my cycling again, nor mentioned cyclists in my presence

This appears to have been the only successful riposte, thus far. All the other posts on this thread including mine, are purely speculative. Hats off to Cunobelin for getting a result! Hopefully this person's contrition is also reflected in his driving...

But, as I did say before, hit him where it hurts. Cunobelin did just that. No-one likes to be branded a bad driver. On the other hand, challenging him on health issues doesn't work. It's a bit like tackling a hardline smoker with the approach, "you'll get cancer/heart disease/emphysema..." etc. etc. They just go deaf. But tell them, "your clothes stink .... you'll never get a date .... must be costing you a big chunk of your wages...." that sort of thing might just work...
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meic
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by meic »

It's a bit like tackling a hardline smoker with the approach, "you'll get cancer/heart disease/emphysema..." etc. etc. They just go deaf.


I am sure that is what our Mr BMW thinks when he tries to warn Martin about the dangers of cycling.
He cant be that far wrong, look at the death figures and all those cyclists who wear helmets. :wink:
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reohn2
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by reohn2 »

661-Pete wrote:
Cunobelin wrote:Everyone in the staff room was appalled by his driving and he stormed off as several had a real go at him.
Funnily enough he has never ever challenged my cycling again, nor mentioned cyclists in my presence

This appears to have been the only successful riposte, thus far. All the other posts on this thread including mine, are purely speculative. Hats off to Cunobelin for getting a result! Hopefully this person's contrition is also reflected in his driving.....

I disagree Cunobelin's riposte was in direct response to an accusation of his riding,which was challenged very successfully with photo evidence.



The OP's problem is that:-
I've a work colleague who whenever I see him takes great delight in always tells me about the latest cycling accident that he's heard about supposedly to encourage me to abandon my bike for the joys of a car

Which even getting into conversation about is useless,unless the person is sincere and honest in their concern for the OP's well being,something which I suspect isn't the case and so telling him to "go forth and multiply",in an Anglo Saxon fashion is a wholly justified and successful response IMO.
Others may feel that is a little too "robust" of a response but I see it as a direct affront to my freedom to ride.
What I find irritable in the extreme is that people feel the need to inform me of such "dangers" as if I had no experience of the road.
It's a bit like seeing someone working at the top of a ladder then going and shaking it whilst informing them of the danger they've put themselves in .
The whole problem is one of a lack of acceptance by these morons of cyclists as valid road users.
That is the heart of the problem.
Just as some whites didn't and sometimes still don't,accept black people as full members of the human race.
The problem is one of class and is a very unhealthy attitude of significant elements of UK society.
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JohnW
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by JohnW »

martin blain wrote:I've a work colleague who whenever I see him takes great delight in always tells me about the latest cycling accident that he's heard about supposedly to encourage me to abandon my bike for the joys of a car.

Needless to say he's got a 42 inch beer gut and drives his BMW the 4 miles to the office.

What's the best riposte or put down to say to this bigoted motorist the next time he tells me about the latest cyclist's mishap?


Tell him it's motorists, not cyclists, who need to change their ways.
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Si
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by Si »

Ah well, if it's proven successful ripostes that you want...mine was to become the boss of the moaner, he seemed to stop moaning about cyclists after that.
reohn2
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by reohn2 »

Si wrote:Ah well, if it's proven successful ripostes that you want...mine was to become the boss of the moaner, he seemed to stop moaning about cyclists after that.


Result!
The chap I mentioned in my first post on this thread was technically my boss,as he was someone who I occasionally did sub contract work for.
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JohnW
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by JohnW »

Si wrote:Ah well, if it's proven successful ripostes that you want...mine was to become the boss of the moaner, he seemed to stop moaning about cyclists after that.


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Binkyboy
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by Binkyboy »

Just point out that you don't have to pay "Road Tax", but he does.


(Yes, I know all about there being no such thing as "Road tax", this is just a riposte.)

At least he'll move onto a fresh subject.
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Redvee
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by Redvee »

I get enough 'Road Tax' comments on my YouTube videos and the standard reply is that I don't pay it on my Golf 1.6TDI Bluemotion either which is a Band A VED car. I don't own a car BTW
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by Geriatrix »

This isn't cycling related but it is one of the best riposte's I have witnessed.

I'm SA born so in the day's of apartheid I was obliged to do national service and subsequently "camps", which were the equivalent of territorial call-ups except that they weren't voluntary and almost impossible to avoid. The camps were less disciplined than the national service stints because the ranks were made up of civilians who had been removed from productive employment, which made it was a lot more difficult to send a squaddie to DB (detention barracks) for indiscipline. Industry never took kindly to the call-ups and even less so to the military keeping their employees for longer than intended.

Those who were called up for camps fell into two broad categories, those who didn't really want to be there, and those who really didn't want to be there. On one occasion we were troubled by a messianic officer devoted to the system, and who decided to target a squaddie who was a master of staying just inside the boundary of laziness, insolence and disobedience. The officer launched into an invective and when his tirade was finished the squaddie replied impassively "so fire me". It was a checkmate statement. I have never seen someone's delusion of authority deflate so rapidly or look so foolish.
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled - Richard Feynman
reohn2
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Re: What's the best riposte to somebody who..........

Post by reohn2 »

Binkyboy wrote:Just point out that you don't have to pay "Road Tax", but he does.
.

I've only ever had the "you don't pay road tax" accusation spat a me once(it was actually both of us on the tandem) and came completely out of the blue,without any incident,we both laughed and told the chap on the motorcycle at a TL that we paid far more than he did as we each had our own car and paid "road tax" on both of them.
He steamed for a while then when the lights changed his parting shot was "at least I don't wear Lycra" more peals of laughter from us :) .

I've got a reasonable riposte for the "you don't pay road tax" accusation,"you car drivers aren't paying enough then,going off the state of the roads"said in a jocular fashion can diffuse or infuriate :)
We are wasting our time trying to reason with some people,better to treat idiots for what they are :)
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