Can we wrap this up... NMC : Miata List Archive : MX-5 Miata World

Can we wrap this up... NMC #1
mailbot Mail List Archive Bot ., Online, USA	Topic Creator (OP) Oct 29, 2003 12:19 PM Joined 15 years ago 227,243 Posts

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Mail From: m7powers (Michael Powers)

John, I need to call you a name, so here goes. You (cough cough, splash,
wipe, sorry Bonni) are a wing-nut (think Benny Hill) or possibly a bung-hole
(think Lower Michigan wines).

You have a bright yellow car and got heckled by somebody. Seems even steven
to me, it had nothing to do at all with your speed - as you know. Yellow
car = attention, you wanted it when you bought the car, you got it, seems
like a natural balance. Of course speed had nothing to do with it. He
could have yelled, "Sucker!" and it would have had the same meaning.

I reacted to the other story because it was quite different and involved
respect for other human beings. Here was a situation where a neighbor felt
threatened for some reason, by the total package that was our lister's car.
Be it the exhaust note, color, how he drives through the neighborhood, etc.
it doesn't matter because this neighbor felt threatened. The neighbor did
the stand-up thing and approached him about the problem in person, instead
of just calling the cops, egging the car, slashing the top, etc. and the
reaction was for the lister to make a rebuff regarding the safety of kids,
and then chalked it up to sports car envy. The neighbor was naturally upset
at this response. I was upset just reading it, wondering how some people
can place so little value on the feelings and opinions of others and somehow
think a stupid little sports car manufactured by the tens of thousands each
year is somehow worth more than the safety of children or relationships with
neighbors who physically live near you.

Not to mention the common sense aspect that dissing your neighbors is not
much different than defecating in your bed; it's guaranteed to come back to
you somehow.

The common link between both you guys, is that you are completely innocent
and un-deserving of the attention you got because of a technicality: the
speed limit was not being exceeded. But both of you got exactly what you
were seeking -- attention, be it a loud exhaust in a residential area or a
bright yellow car. Both of you take the point of view that somehow you are
being wrongly persecuted and fail to recognize, there are other equally
valid points of view, there are solid reasons you received the attention you
did.

I am sure the traffic cop just locked eyes with you and said the first thing
at the tip of his tongue. I am equally sure that Hammer's neighbor felt
genuinely threatened by his driving for one reason or another, which we will
really never know. It's probably short sighted for everyone to believe that
somehow, the total package that is [you and your car] did not have something
to do with the reaction you get from people.

That was my point. Despite your defense you earned what you got. Put away
your slide rules and think of the people around you as people and not
jealous pleebes that fantasize about driving a rice burner like a Miata.

It was interesting watching the thread dissolve into pieces, each person
with their own equally valid point of view.

- Mike

On 10/29/03 1:02 AM, "Jon Etkins" <(email redacted)> blurbed:

> On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 17:59:16 -0600, Michael Powers wrote:
>
>> That's not correct... The thread started with a story about a neighbor
>> complaining about a lister's driving through the neighborhood, and the
>> lister's rebuff that incorporated a reference to kids being safe while on
>> the lawn.
>
> Actually, no, it started with a traffic cop singling out a yellow Miata
> for a verbal admonishment based purely on the fact that it was a
> brightly-colored sports car. Several folks reported similar
> experiences with folks assuming that their cars were being driven fast
> when in fact they were not, rather like the Toyota Celica commercials
> from earlier this year.
>
> In one of those replies, someone mentioned that they had been accosted
> by a neighbor who would not listen to reason, and had made the comment
> that if his kids were to play in the yard instead of the street, they
> would be safe from any perceived threat because he was not in the habit
> of driving through people's lawns.
>
> Someone (*cough* Michael *cough*) took virulent exception to this
> offhand comment, and took the discussion off on a tangent. Several
> exchanges later, someone (*cough* Michael again *cough*) changed the
> subject line when he replied, but changing the subject does not a new
> thread make, especially when the previous thread is quoted in said
> reply (as it was).
>
> And now someone (*cough* Michael once more *cough*) is attempting to
> rewrite history by making it appear as though his initial kneejerk
> overreaction to a rather benign discussion of human nature and
> perceptions, was no such thing.
>
> Humbug.
>
>
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> realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/miata

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