Cycling UK Forum

Please don't try to put words into my mouth.

As I said - manners.

stoobs wrote:Please don't try to put words into my mouth.

As I said - manners.

Eh? would you "step aside if someone requests it." in a queue? That is exactly what you seem to be suggesting I should have done.

Manners to you too.



With knobs on.

No, you're still trying to put words into my mouth, but as you ask:

I did, last week - someone said "Excuse me" in the checkout queue.

My answer was not "Are you more important than me?" (Manners)

Instead, I stepped aside, and they walked straight out. Had they queue-jumped, I would have had words (Dare I say, "Are you more important than me?"). As it happened, no problem - Manners.

As I said, I wasn't there to judge your individual circumstances, but I've been on platforms where the sheeple all crowd round one door of a train, and I'm more than happy to walk the full length of the platform, which the waddlers will never do. Is that queue-jumping? No, but it does require people to be polite - Manners - and accept that if someone says the magic words, then they are not trying to queue-jump, but actually trying to get somewhere else.

I can't judge you, other than what would seem to be an ill-mannered response, but I have seen many situations where people's assumptions about the motives of others are entirely misplaced. Could that person have been trying to walk the whole length of the train? Were they really trying to queue-jump? Is a mass of shuffling people necessarily a queue?

Remember that good manners are essential for keeping this message board a useful and pleasant place.

I encountered three perplexing car manoeuvres yesterday.
The first two on a single track country lane. in both cases the driver squeezed (safely) past me and then turned right, into driveways, within 30 metres. . . . not a problem, but why create a higher risk situation when the time gained was about two or three seconds ?

The 3rd was rather more vexing and caused me to loudly express my displeasure.
It was a straight country lane with a wide tractor approaching. Plenty of room for me to get by but clearly not enough for a car without it pulling onto the verge and stopping.
Yes, you can guess . . . . driver overtakes me and pulls to a halt within 20 metres.
Not enough time for me to re-overtake the stewpid barsteward : I had to stop behind the idiot. Grrrrrr

However, by way of balance, some drivers are very thoughtful and helpful.

hubgearfreak wrote:...maybe if he was a fatty, he'll be having a stroke this evening thinking about it

No please don't wish that on him. Strokes are terrible things.

I cycled 33 miles to raise money for the Stroke Association a few weeks ago and still have a sore butt as a result. I'd hate to think of an 4r$eh0le like that benefiting from my pain and fatigue!!!!

I got a revenge moment last week:

I was cycling up a single track hill with a blind bend at the top. About 20 yards from the bend a minibus overtakes me, forcing me off the road. Cue 'what a silly bloke' thoughts from me (in reality much darker, far too dark for this forum). Then I find out the berk has stopped to pick someone up barely 100 yards down the road!

Right thinks I, time to teach him a lesson. When he finally caught up with me again (still on a single track road) I moved towards the centre of the road (being assertive, officer) so he couldn't pass.

For two and a half miles.

This overtaking thing is a real problem though. Not just frustrating being continually passed by motorists who then cut in and immediately hit the brakes for an obstruction that a bike could easily pass but overtaking by cars who want to turn into a left junction that I'm just about to pass, racing me into blind corners, cutting in and stopping cos they want to turn right, overtaking in the face of oncoming traffic, when there isn't room etc etc and always failing to recognise that I am moving forward on the road.

In my view the greatest difficulty in cycling on the road comes from the need to not just deal with traffic in front but constantly manage overtaking vehicles as well by making sure that I have enough safety room and then dealing with their aggression if I get it wrong by delaying them momentarily without need and frequently when I get it right too.

OK: pedestrian related incident number two:
In the supermarket going down an ailse, two ladies in front of me not going particularly fast & nattering. As it was near the end of the aisle I didn't say 'excuse me' as reccomended by my friend stoobs, but just waited my turn.
Not so the lady behind me, who repeatedly bashed her trolley into me.
For some strange reason she seemed rather offronted when I asked her not to

The point I was trying to make before getting embroiled in a ridiculous argument about 'manners', is that I feel it shows that the 'I must overtake' attitude is not limited to the road. I think we all suffer from it to a degree. I'll own up to being annoyed at being held up by a freelander the other week (but then he was probably doing the 20mph speedlimit and my bike doesn't tell me ).

I used to walk flat out through towns until I realised that all it did was make me angry and stressed as I was continually trying to overtake people. Go at everyone else's pace and life is soo much more relaxed.

Why have we ended up like this? Maybe it's the end result of capitalism? - a symptom of everyone treading on everyone else to get ahead. (and no I'm not a raving commie before you ask)

No idea really.
thoughts, comrades........er I mean fellow cyclists?

I have a confession to make...Dare I say, sir, that despite my hypocritical turn the other day, the fifth time that someone did that to me, I said "Are you determined to queue up my a**e?" I then stepped aside and said, "Please, do go in front of me, but watch out for the front of my trolley!"

They declined.

Sorry, but I'm quite attached to my tendons, because they help me ride my bike. Could you offer me any words of advice on manners, WP

Yes the word @r$e can be seen as quite rude by some people. As in "Arsenal"

Willpower wrote:Not so the lady behind me, who repeatedly bashed her trolley into me.
For some strange reason she seemed rather offronted when I asked her not to

Which is why I shop in our local Waitrose, rather than Tesco's or Sainsbury's. Even at the height of Christmas food shopping mayhem the good folk in my town who support the John Lewis Partnership maintain decorum in the aisles and in the checkout queues alike.