I am sure there is a treasure trove out there on the internet, but a quick Google search did not turn it up...
So this morning I left Future Cyclist with his nanny and got on my bike to head to work. Very first stoplight a cyclist pulls in about 2 cm from my shoulder. YIKES! I startled, and all I could think to say was "oh, hi." Later he passed me at the next red light, and then I very loudly said "On your left!" as I dropped him on the bridge.
Always too late at this sort of thing I thought later that what I wished I'd said was something more like "I don't usually let a man get this close to me 'till I've got his phone number" or something like that.
Witty people, or people with better Googling skills, what could we be saying in these situations, something that indicates no-harm-done but next time say something!?
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9 comments:
glad to hear you're back on the bike! sorry to hear it was on such a rainy day!
If you had more than one gear on that bike (guessing it was a fixie rider) I wouldn't have to keep passing you.
How about, "Would you like a breath mint?"
I usually just yell "FUCK!!!" but that's probably not appropriate.
Had a similar need for a quick and cutting remark last night, when coming around a corner on foot on the sidewalk in Harvard sq, I came about 18" from getting run over by a fast moving bike on the sidewalk. I yelled "HEY!" and then, "you're not supposed to be on the sidewalk" but I don't think I had much affect..
I can kind of sort of sympathize with people riding super slowly and without confidence on a sidewalk, but if you're riding that fast, there's no reason not to be on the street.
These are what I use:
1) Do the words 'personal space' mean anything to you?
2) Do you practice being rude or does it come naturally to you?
I usually go with a pointed (though, I guess, passive aggressive) "on your left" as well (or, if at the light, a more specific: "a little space, please?") wittier equivalents that come to mind usually assume that the cyclist has a familiarity with pacelining or group riding ("drafting against a crosswind, champ?")
I go with, "On my what?"
Also, the term for this sort of thing is "L'esprit de l'escalier" (aka staircase wit): "The act of thinking of a response, argument or clever comeback when it is too late to deliver it. The phrase can be used to describe a riposte to an insult or any witty remark that comes to mind too late to be useful, after one has left the scene of the encounter. The phenomenon is usually accompanied by a feeling of regret at not having thought of the retort when it was most needed or suitable."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'esprit_de_l'escalier
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