What Grinds Your Gears, Again

[Fragile Bird]

Hey, we need another thread!

I was at a stoplight today and a city bus pulled up beside me. City buses have the right of way here, you’re supposed to let them move ahead of you, so I slowly pulled away when the light turned green to let the bus pass. Then I saw the bus stop was on the other side of the intersection with people waiting, an indentation in the road for the stop, before the road narrowed to one lane. Because I didn’t launch my car like a rocket to beat the bus the guy behind went ballistic, honking his horn and then following on my bumper for a good two kilometers until we came to the intersection where I was turning right. He was turning left, and as he pulled up beside me I rolled down my window and gave him the two finger salute. He then crossed lanes and turned right to follow me.

That amused me because I was going to Costco and there would be dozens of cars in line with me and what exactly did he think he was doing. There was someone else in the car with him and I guess they told him not to be an idiot and he turned right at the first street to go back where we started from. 

What I wanted to say was what grinds my gears are idiots on the road who think they are punishing you by sitting on your bumper when they get angry. 

Of course he could have had a gun and killed me I guess. Some guys. Sheesh. 

[LongRider]

2 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

I rolled down my window and gave him the two finger salute.

I know what a one finger salute is, what is a two finger salute?   

[Phylum of Alexandria]

2 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

Of course he could have had a gun and killed me I guess. Some guys. Sheesh. 

Many years ago, when I was 18 or so, my brother was giving a ride to a guy we both worked with before heading home. At some point, another car cut us off, and this guy gives the people in the car the middle finger. And then the people in the car go absolutely ballistic, chasing us down, and at every red light, getting out and beating on my brother's car, telling us to get the fuck out so they can kick the shit out of us! Despite his terror, my brother pulled some impressive moves to evade them, and eventually he lost them, or maybe they lost interest. 

I guess that kind of violent hooliganism would be a lot harder to pull off with impunity in our current age of handheld phone cameras everywhere, but still, definitely use those fingers with caution. I totally agree that these jerk drivers deserve such rudeness, but safety is paramount.

[Fragile Bird]

2 hours ago, LongRider said:

I know what a one finger salute is, what is a two finger salute?   

First and fourth fingers up, usually means bull or you’re full of crap.

[kissdbyfire]

5 hours ago, Phylum of Alexandria said:

I guess that kind of violent hooliganism would be a lot harder to pull off with impunity in our current age of handheld phone cameras everywhere,

Forget phone cameras, nowadays I'd be more worried about getting shot in the face!

[polishgenius]

Wasn't there a whole Netflix show on this subject earlier this year? 

[Jace, Extat]

INSOMNIA

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Smoking in all its manifestations.  Both my step-brothers smoke.  I like them… hate their habit.

[kissdbyfire]

PEOPLE

[Deedles]

My sniffling head cold (and it is a head cold). I’m irritating myself with my own sniffling. Trace headache (could be the half bottle of wine yesterday) and cottony eyes means reading is ever so slightly hard. 

[Phylum of Alexandria]

4 hours ago, kissdbyfire said:

Forget phone cameras, nowadays I'd be more worried about getting shot in the face!

Also more likely in America, unfortunately.

[Phylum of Alexandria]

Two very small things that shouldn't bother me, and yet never fail to do so:

 

1) When taking clothes out from the washer or dryer, some small things immediately drop to the floor. My soul dies just a little bit.

2) When using bar soap in the shower, the inevitable slip of a new bar from the soap dish to BANG on the tub. Maybe this is only relevant for round bars of soap, but I need to use Dove, so I don't have much of a choice. Sure, liquid soap is a choice, but bar soap is cheaper/lasts longer. The downside is I get more BANG for my buck.

[LongRider]

8 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

First and fourth fingers up, usually means bull or you’re full of crap.

Ah, thank you!  I'm more familiar with the one finger salute.  

[BigFatCoward]

When we go to soft play I am the one that accompanies the kids 75% of the time while she sits on her phone. It's difficult to complain about spending time with your kids but the ceilings are always slightly too low for me and would be fine for my 5'4" wife. My back ends up fucked from hunching over constantly. 

For clarity it's that soft play is designed for short arse parents that grinds my gears. 

Edited December 31, 2023 by BigFatCoward

[Liffguard]

12 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

First and fourth fingers up, usually means bull or you’re full of crap.

I always find these little cultural variations fascinating. To me, first and fourth fingers means devil horns, and is generally used positively within the context of metal music, and indicates approval and enthusiasm. I assumed two-finger salute meant index and middle finger, which in the UK would be more or less equivalent to just middle finger.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

32 minutes ago, Liffguard said:

I always find these little cultural variations fascinating. To me, first and fourth fingers means devil horns, and is generally used positively within the context of metal music, and indicates approval and enthusiasm. I assumed two-finger salute meant index and middle finger, which in the UK would be more or less equivalent to just middle finger.

Here it's just double middle fingers. I heard as a kid giving someone the pinky was offensive in some Asian countries. 

I love the fist in elbow move while flipping the bird. It makes me laugh so hard. 

[polishgenius]

Do you bite your thumb at me, SIR!

 

 

 

(here the two finger salute would just be... you know, the v-sign with knuckles outwards, because that's swearing)

[Fragile Bird]

When I was a kid, the guys (because girls did not do such vulgar things!) would do the two finger salute while saying “speak into the microphone”, meaning, that’s a load of bull.

When I was a kid, because at that time we had massive immigration from Italy, and the two fingers were the horns of the bull used by Italians.

37 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Here it's just double middle fingers. I heard as a kid giving someone the pinky was offensive in some Asian countries. 

I love the fist in elbow move while flipping the bird. It makes me laugh so hard. 

Ah yes, we do that here as well!

[Phylum of Alexandria]

On 12/31/2023 at 1:20 PM, Fragile Bird said:

Ah yes, we do that here as well!

Not relevant for Toronto, but I always enjoyed people in Montreal using their highly Catholic French swear words when their gears were grinding.

"Tabarnak!"

[Teng Ai Hui]

As a teacher, I fully understand that there’s going to be a generation gap between my students and me.  But, recently, my coworkers have been grinding my gears because they too are making me feel old.

If we are in the lunch room talking about learning how to use chopsticks and I say, “Later, I’ll show you how to catch flies like in The Karate Kid,” don’t say “Jackie Chan didn’t do that in that movie.”

Also, please don’t say ridiculous things like, “Everything I know about Star Trek I learned while watching Sheldon on Big Bang Theory.”

And most importantly, after seeing the cool cartoon that I have in my cubicle of Wolverine (dressed in yellow, blue, and black) playing chess, never ever fucking ask me, “Why doesn’t he look like Huge Jackman?”