Was I WRONG????? (Your opinion, please)

[ChevLoRay]

On New Years Day, early afternoon, I decided to do a shakedown cruise on my truck. I drive an old truck, you know, like a lot of you do. It's true. I am on a fixed income and can't afford the payments on a new one, so I just keep driving the old one.

Anyway, my truck has had a problem in which it just dies when I let off on the gas. I had replaced the wiring harness, the module in the distributor, etc. So, I had made it about 5 miles from home, on one of our main drags and had to stop at a light. It died. I tried to restart it, and it almost did, but then it just kept cranking without any sign of hitting on anything.

Then, the light changed. A woman behind me in an Xterra started honking her horn and pointing at the light. It was green. I shrugged my shoulders. She kept honking. The light changed again. A policeman asked if I was having trouble, then went to get behind the string to help the others in traffic know that I had trouble.

The lady in the Nissan began honking again when the light turned green. I got out of my truck, walked to her window and she opened her door. She was about 30, and I believe her mother was in the passenger seat. Anyway, I told her that if she would go start my truck, I would be happy to sit and honk her horn.

She got mad. Said something about not caring and suggested that I buy a new truck. She really seemed to be upset with something I said, or whatever.

So, was I wrong? I mean, I had it towed to the house and ordered a new distributor. Turns out the old distributor has a wire that has shorted out, coming from the pick up coil.

What would you have done? I am betting her husband laughed at her when she told him about me. I am betting that (if she did) if he laughed at her, she is still mad at me and him. So, was I wrong? I probably should have just asked her for a ride.

[ThreeQuarter]

Wrong? Naw, that's pretty funny. Couldn't she go around? Sounds like she was looking for something to be angry about. She needs to realize that sometimes cars break down. Good luck with the repairs. If you break down in front of me I'll help you push it off the road.

[da-burb]

You didn't have your "Honk if you're Horny" bumper sticker on, did you??

Sometimes people can be so f'ing funny about a transportation device. I get it at work all the time. I drive an $800 truck and it has been the best winter beater. It has cost less than 3 new car/truck payments and given me 5 good years of driving and has another 2 left in her. I don't buy into the depreciation cycle of a newer vehicle. You are just tossing money away.

What you said was funny in my book.

[mikep]

I dont know if you were wrong or not but walking up to someones car in a confrontational manner when they have been honking for a while is a really good way to get yourself shot in a few neighborhoods I know of.

[COBALT]

I think you were pretty clever in your response. I would have gotten mad.

I would have walked back to her car real nice, and when she opened her window I would have told her if she honks that horn one more time I'd tear it out from under her hood with my bare hands and shove it up her a$$.

I had something similar happen to me a few months ago. I was in a gas station near where I live, and went to pull out into traffic. There wasn't anyone in the right lane, and here in Seattle there's this funky thing were people are allowed to park in the right lane for specific parts of the day, so I had to merge quickly. This woman in this green S10 was taking her own sweet time, so I gunned it and got in front of her with about 50 feet to spare. I really didn't need that amount of gas to get in front of her. She responds by racing up behind me, and slams on the brakes and blows her horn at me like I blatantly cut her off. I look back to see her beating her steering wheel and flipping me off. I went ahead and passed my house just to see how long this would continue, and she continued to throw a fit. She rolled her window down and yelled at me too. I just kept driving, but I finally turned off, and she went by giving me the finger again.

Turns out she's a friend of our neighbors across the street from our house. She's over there all the time in that same S10 pickup, and she has to recognize the chevy truck parked across the street as being the one she threw a fit over. I'm amazed at how stupid and ignorant people can be.

You have much more patience than I have.

[70c10]

You were perfectly fine. At least YOU were not rude. Don't sweat it!

[Nova_Cobra64]

I must say that I like the way you worded what you said to her. Some people are so ignorant towards things like this and need a wake up call. I probably would have told her that Nissan puts reverse in their vehicles and she should test hers out.

[Leinie]

Sounds like you did the right thing to me ! You might have added that if she used the steering wheel like it was intended- she could easily have gone around you.

[junkyardjohn]

SOME PEOPLE GO THRU A KIND OF MAJICAL TRANSFORMATION, WHEN THEY GET BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A CAR. MOST ALWAYS IT'S NOT GOOD. PEOPLE WILL DO & SAY THINGS THAT THEY WOULDN'T CONSIDER EXCEPTABLE AT ANY OTHER TIME. I'M SURE THERES SOME SHRINK OUT THE THAT COULD EXPLAIN IT BETTER, BUT IT IS KINDA LIKE MY EX-BROTHER IN LAW. I USED TO SAY HE WAS AN INSTANT @SSHOLE --- JUST ADD ALCHOHAL , & IT DIDN'T TAKE ALOT EITHER. JUST ONE BEER, OR MIXED DRINK, & HE TURNED FROM A LOVABLE GUY THAT WOULD HELP YOU WITH ANYTHING, INTO A TOTAL FRIGGEN @SSHOLE THAT YOU COULDN'T GET AWAY FROM FAST ENOUGH. GO FIGURE.

[Maximum Overdrive]

That is some funny crap. Nothing wrong with what you did.

[chevy2racr]

that'd boy, I prolly woulda just gone off. I can't think up witty comments like that. and if my truck won't start I'm already gonna be pissed. the honkin would just push me over...

[67cst]

dude you didnt do enough, im can get fairly tempered sometimes, i probably wouldve gone off on her....

[Southpa]

The worst part of the whole affair is people feeling justified that we are all driving old, out-dated junkers that should have been scrapped years ago. I like to make them think otherwise. By all appearances my truck might look like its seen its last day 10 yrs ago. Its about 8 different colors, but looks can be deceiving. Look closely and you can see no holes or serious rust in the body. Listen closely and you can hear a well-tuned engine. More than once I've come across people with their hood up on their newer vehicles, tinkering away trying to get it started. I just jump in my truck, turn the key and vroooom!

I don't mind so much, if i get the truck painted it will only get stolen, keyed or attract the attention of debt collectors.

[70shortnphat]

telling you to go and buy a new truck was the worst part.Id like to see if her Nissan is still on the streats after 34 years!

[Bowed]

I don't think you were wrong , she was the one that was wrong and if there was an officer there I'm suprised he did not tell her to stop with the horn .

[wxman1]

I see this attitude all the time. When somebody pays
$30,000+ for a new vehicle they think that everybody else
should have to suffer the pain of $500+ car payments
every month for the next 5 years! Sorry, but Jimmy don't
do dat! They take their car to the dealership and get
ripped off to the tune of $500-$800 dollars in labor to
find a malfunctioning part that cost $15. They believe
you (we) should have to suffer the same fate. The real
problem is in Detroit (the major auto makers) and Washington
(the EPA). We have been sold this "were destroying the planet
with our vehicles" horse dung for many years by the ever growing
number of unscientifically educated tree huggers.

Or maybe you just ran into a horse's ass!

Jim M.
Mt Juliet

[72 CustomCamper]

That sounds like some of the AH's we have here. You need the bumber sticker that says "Keep honking, I'm reloading"...

Chuck

[dion]

Na, you're okay. I've done worse, not that I'm proud of it but sh!t happens.

[marcuspboldt]

I think you deserve a pat on the back! Thats the funiest thing Iv'e heard in a while.

In a related story once my grandfather was helping his brother move with his 70 chey pick-up, and this guy got behind them and followed them for a pretty good ways with his bright lights on the whole time (it was dark) finally they came to a red light and my grandfather got out reached into his truck and pulled out a hammer, went back to the guys car and knocked both headlights out. He got back in the truck put it in gear and just said "he wont be bright lighting me anymore" and they drove off leaving the poor guy just sitting there in shock.

[Hotrod70C10]

haha a hammer? I would have loved to see the guys face.

[Project1970]

I've lucked out...my truck has only stuck me twice. Once during the summer...the weirdest thing, I just got my paycheck, turned right out of the parking lot, and stood on it, to get ahead of the rush-hour traffic. All is fine and dandy...until it comes time for the 1-2 shift. Instead of the normal barking tires...it shuts off. Just completely dead. The worst part is that my starter solenoid picked right then to be too weak to do anything about it...yeah, not fun. A nice guy in a Honda decided to offer his car to push me...poor guy probably sacrificed 10,000 miles of clutch life to help me off the road!

The second time, I'd been having increasingly bad idle problems (eventually traced to dirt in the carb that was causing extreme richness at idle) and one day, at the top of an offramp, I figured it'd warmed up enough that I didn't need to two-foot it...nope, wrong. Sputtered, coughed, and died...took five minutes of on-and-off cranking before it finally roared back to life (with two huge clouds of black smoke). One guy even offered me his cell to let me call my dad...

I'd say you did good. I'd have a hard time not kicking out a headlight of hers if I had that said to me. I'd at least have said something to the extent of not wasting my signifigant other's money on a piece of junk like that.

[GMCjunkie]

Id have shut her up.

[greasemonkey]

How would you do it Junkie? I know how you hate people even almost touching your truck.

[Truckstr]

I like your response. Nothing wrong with it in my book.

I'd have to agree, though, that it could be dangerous to go up to somebody's window and do that. Maybe if you just went to the tailgate of your truck and leaned on it there until she leaned out to hear what you had to say. Less threatening that way maybe.

A few weeks ago, on Thanksgiving as a matter of fact. I pulled up behind a couple of cars in a left hand turning lane. The lights at the other parts of the intersection went through three cycles without the signal for the lane that I was in changing. I finally figured out that the lead car in my lane wasn't far enough forward to trip the sensor for the turn signal. So I just went around all of the cars and pulled in front of the car (it was actually a new, big Suburban) to get the sensor for the signal to trip the light.

All of a sudden the guy in the Suburban starts laying on the horn, as if I had insulted him. My family was in the car with me and my wife was afraid that I was going to have some sort of road rage.

Not me. Not this time anyway.

What did I do? I just sat there and let the turn siganl light change to red again. Just at the end of the yellow, I went - leaving the Suburban to sit through another cycle.

Yeah, a little juvenile and maybe still qualifies as "road rage", but I couldn't just let this jackazz in the Suburban get away with blairing his horn at me for what was his stupidity.

Jeff

[crazy longhorn]

ChevLoRay, I think you handled that situation very well Im sure that would have irritated me, & am suprised that the cop didnt say anything to the gal while she sat blowing the horn.....& knowing that the truck wouldnt start