the car that cuts you off...

A buddy and myself were cut of by a Yukon, even after the fat b.. woman looked at us. We slapped her quarter panel (of the car, you assholes), and she turned around into oncoming traffic. She followed us for 2 miles real slow.

She threatened to call the cops, and I offered to call them for her. I explained, while still running, that hitting us is against the law. She responded with "I'll run over whoever I want, I'm in the car, I'm fat bleh." She didn't actually say she was fat, but the rest is spot on. Our route cut off the road, and we didn't see her for the rest of the loop.

We were hoping a cop would pull us over and arrest us for "Wimpy Runners Arm VS Yukon" assault. I would have loved to tell a cop that she almost nailed us with a Yukon, then threatened to run us over.

THE EMPTY BOAT

from The Way of Chuang Tzu by Thomas Merton, ©1965

New Direction Publishing Corporation

If a man is crossing a river

And an empty boat collides with his own skiff,

Even though he be a bad-tempered man

He will not become very angry.

But if he sees a man in the boat,

He will shout at him to steer clear.

If the shout is not heard, he will shout again,

And yet again, and begin cursing.

And all because there is somebody in the boat.

Yet if the boat were empty,

He would not be shouting and not angry.

If you can empty your own boat

Crossing the river of the world,

No one will oppose you,

No one will seek to harm you....

When I am confronted by reckless drivers, speeding skaters or bikers, I simply avoid them and say to myself, "Empty boat."

Over the years, those two words have saved me from feeding anger, aggression and violence-both mine and theirs.

http://www.mindfulness.com/oa1.html

How can I empty my boat? I guess I don't get that part of the poem.

I was stupid enough to jump on and run across the hood of an old man's car one time. I was running on a narrrow street and a car was pulling out of a driveway. He stopped for no apparent reason with the front of his car stradling the sidewalk. I jumped up and landed on his hood and took another stride and jumped off the other side. Yeah, it was stupid, but my muddy footprints gave him a story to tell.

I can empty my boat, don't get me wrong. But that woman-beast was driving a Yukon, not an empty canoe. I can handle an empty canoe hitting me, but not a 2 ton vessel of death manned by a stinking pile of ignorance.

Every car I slap might pay a bit more attention in the future. If someone gets fussy and wants to scrap over it, so be it. I'll take them for a little run and then, I'll empty their effing canoe.

no, it's not BS. i personally don't care if you don't believe me, but i will explain a little further.

1. it was towards the end of the soccer game.

2. i said this in the beginning of the workout, running 70-72 pace with 90" recovery, so it's not like i was running too hard.

just reporting events that transpired. why did i choose to call hate crime? b/c you're right--it does sound obnoxious. obnoxious enough for people to look over and ask "what's that guy doing?" and enough to scare the dude that pushed me. also, to point out how idiotic liberalism is, b/c liberals typically think that any crime committed against a person who's not white is a hate crime.

No doubt. I don't think anyone is going out 'hitting' cars. It is more a defensive action, like another poster said: "let'em know you're there." And if I drive up on a runner and pin them against parked cars...I deserve to get smacked.

Upgrayedd wrote:

I have been whacking cars for almost 15 years and never had a motorist try to come after me.

One time during a fresh snowfall some lady in a Ford Probe took a corner way too fast and slid right into our group of about five guys. Most of us jumped into a snowbank on the shoulder, but one of us managed to smack the car real good. We dusted ourselves off and kept running, but the lady got out of the car and started yelling about calling the police. Another guy on our team who was not running with us got stopped by the police about a half hour later. He obviously knew nothing about what happened to us, so the police got no info.

what does some jerk standing in the track have to do with liberalism? good work tying together unrelated topics.

Nice post. Thomas Merton's always good stuff.

I do smack cars that almost hit me. But here is my criteria:

- The car can't be going too fast cause I don't want to break by hand/arm.

- It has to be close enough that I don't have to stretch out much. The thought here is that if I do slap it I want to doing low and close to my body to leave a reasonable doubt as to if I slapped it or if they actually hit me. I've gotten good enough at this that sometimes people I'm running with aren't even sure themselves.

- I slap it open hand so that it makes a good sound and catches their attention but doesn't damage (mark) the car.

I usually do my runs on a loop through neighborhoods in the early morning. For some reason in the early morning nobody is paying attention to what they are doing, especially in a neighborhood. They run stop signs, drive all over the road, etc. because they are either: not awake yet, are too familiar with the surroundings (some don't think the traffic rules apply until you get out on the main streets), think nobody else is up yet, are eating breakfast or checking their blackberry. My slap on the rear quarter-panel of the car doesn't hurt the car but it scares them enough to remind them they are not the only ones on the road and to wake up. I see the same people regularly and have never had to slap the same car twice. I've never had anyone get out and chase me (not that I'd run) or even really yell at me. Usually they realize what they have done (almost hit me). I did have one lady stop her car get out all upset and ask if I was alright (thinking she hit me). I played it off, stretching my leg out, and said, yeah I think I'll be ok but please try and watch where you are going." I've seen her several times since and she always gives me plenty of room and smile and waves.

Slapping a car can be very effective depending on when and how you do it.

Absolutely - people that don't respect my rights in the crosswalk. Unfortunately nobody has screamed at me or tailed me - probably because they know I'm right and they are wrong.

marathoner guy wrote:

For some reason in the early morning nobody is paying attention to what they are doing, especially in a neighborhood. They run stop signs, drive all over the road, etc. because they are either: not awake yet, are too familiar with the surroundings (some don't think the traffic rules apply until you get out on the main streets), think nobody else is up yet, are eating breakfast or checking their blackberry.

You must also live in Leaside!

My guess is you haven't been hit by a car. In high school, I was nailed by a car as I crossed the street via a crosswalk, with the walk sign lit. I spent two days in the hospital, another week at home, and missed Spring track due to the concussion and a hip injury. Empty boat, my ass.

I do give cars a tap when warranted. Most times, the driver is totally unawares of the pedestrian and will be very surprised by the sound.

One time though I was running in the summer (so I was shirtless) and towards the end of my run I ran by a jeep going the other way. An old guy in the jeep says - put a shirt on. Well, I'm no Mr. Chest, but I do enjoy weightlifting and as a result am not really distance runner skinny in the back, pecs and arm region. It was hot out and I was a little on edge so I turned and saw the jeep was stopped at a red light behind another car. I figured I could run to the jeep and talk to this guy about his comment and started to do so. The guy looks in his rearview, sees me running towards him, pulls out into the opposite lane, drives around the car in front of him and runs the red light. At this point I stood in the street and made a big show of saying come back here.

Absolutely. Here is the brief version of my favorite story. Guy cuts me off, I bang his trunk, he stops and chases me, I circle around a big tree and lock and shut his door. Now he is locked out and the car is running still.

Thank you everyone. Reading these is the therapy I needed. I am a runner and I thump cars that cut me off, turn right into me without looking, swerve into the breakdown lane where we're running (to be funny?!?!). I have been considering this to be my Pedestrian Education Program. I was feeling good about PEP but my 6'4" male running partner thought it sucked. He would invariably be running behind me when I would thump a car. Then he would be sworn at, screamed at, spit at as I trotted blissfully down the road. I'd say I'd stop doing it but it was almost a reflex. The crazy part was that these drivers defied stereotypes (60 year old woman in a VW flipped him off). Thanks to your stories, I've made a vow to stop even if it means running with my hands tied behind my back.

If you get cut off by a soccer mom, the thing to do is to hit the side of the car hard with an open hand and then jump around as if she ran over your foot, screaming in pain.

It will scar them for life.

do this everyone, please.

when you are coming to an intersection, always, and i repeat, always, look directly into the driver's eyes. if they do not make eye contact, never go in front of them because the driver is not paying attention.

with that being said, i have slapped my fair share of cars.

Here is my experience:

http://media.www.reflector-online.com/media/storage/paper938/news/2007/02/27/Opinion/Drivers.Mind.The.Runners-2744129.shtml