Special Snowflake Stories

[Adelaide]

Ridiculously hot guy is also a push over.  Maybe you could teach him the word no

I would, but it's really not my place. At this point we're acquaintances and I think it would be overstepping it if I said "You know you can say no to her, right?"

[doodlemor]

Could she be trying to get [size=78%]Mbbored into trouble by making her dog bark?[/size]

That is certainly an interesting possibility.  Maybe some of the eight people want her apartment.

[Gwywnnydd]

Ridiculously hot guy is also a push over.  Maybe you could teach him the word no

I would, but it's really not my place. At this point we're acquaintances and I think it would be overstepping it if I said "You know you can say no to her, right?"

I don't think that it would be overstepping in a casual friendship for you to say that. It would probably move into overstepping if you didn't let it drop afterwards, or you kept bringing it up, but just saying it once and moving on doesn't seem out of line.

[mbbored]

Could she be trying to get [size=78%]Mbbored into trouble by making her dog bark?[/size]

That is certainly an interesting possibility.  Maybe some of the eight people want her apartment.

She can't get me into trouble. These are independently owned townhouses: I own mine and they rent from another owner. After speaking with my trainer, I'm looking into setting up a camera of some kind, for legal purposes.

[Diane AKA Traska]

Could she be trying to get [size=78%]Mbbored into trouble by making her dog bark?[/size]

That is certainly an interesting possibility.  Maybe some of the eight people want her apartment.

She can't get me into trouble. These are independently owned townhouses: I own mine and they rent from another owner. After speaking with my trainer, I'm looking into setting up a camera of some kind, for legal purposes.

Ah.  For some reason, I was picturing an HOA situation of "Barking dog = $X fine every day until it stops or you move".

[Lady Snowdon]

Coming home today from lunch, I was in front of a very Special Snowflake.  I was at a red light, turning right.  There's not a "no right turn on red" sign there, so I was free to turn whenever I felt it was safe.  I was waiting for a good break in traffic, and trying to figure out what one person was doing (driving slowly, turn signal on, not lane changing or turning) when the guy behind me started honking.  He probably honked five or six separate times at me in the space of a minute or two; everyone in the cars next to us was turning around to look at him!  When I looked in my rearview mirror, I could see him throwing his hands up in the air, flipping me off, gesturing at me to move, etc. 

Sorry, dude.  I'm not going to turn suddenly, possibly causing an accident, just so you can get to your exit sooner. 

[Elfmama]

Could she be trying to get [size=78%]Mbbored into trouble by making her dog bark?[/size]

That is certainly an interesting possibility.  Maybe some of the eight people want her apartment.

She can't get me into trouble. These are independently owned townhouses: I own mine and they rent from another owner. After speaking with my trainer, I'm looking into setting up a camera of some kind, for legal purposes.

But does Doorbell Woman KNOW that you own your own home?  Maybe she thinks that you rent from her landlord also.

[Elfmama]

Sorry, dude.  I'm not going to turn suddenly, possibly causing an accident, just so you can get to your exit sooner.

That seems to happen quite often to me.  Yes, I drive like a grandma!  5 grandchildren worth. 

But the most impatient of the SS turning brigade has to be the young woman who pulled up behind me as I was signalling to turn left and waiting for the oncoming traffic to get past me.  She didn't want to wait for that, or go around me on the right where it would have been safe. No, she pulled around me on the LEFT, straight into the face of an oncoming car!  The other car had just enough room and just enough time to swerve onto the grass shoulder.  I couldn't tell who I heard screaming, the SS's passenger or the passenger in the oncoming car.      Really, was waiting for another 10-15 seconds THAT difficult?  Or was  the risk of being involved in a head-on collision somehow acceptable to her?

[Margo]

Elfmama, I had one like that a little while back.

There were temporary traffic lights as there were roadworks. It was on a fairly narrow road (space for one car in each direction, with no verges or pavements) one side of the road was closed completely as they were repairing the retaining wall holding up the road.

Traffic lights turned red as I approached so I slowed down and stopped. Guy behind decided to pull out, accelrate past me and through the red light. Did I mention it was a completely blind bend?

I couldn't see what happened, but I heard a lot of honking, and the driver of first vehicle which came the other way (a large and battered looking truck) was shaking his head.

In a touch of instant karma, aqbout 1/2 mile further on I say the same car in a field by the road, with a distinctly bent looking front end. I'm guessing he assumed that the 'slow' and 'sharp bend' and 'warning, adverse camber' signs didn't apply to him, either. (he wasn't hurt - he was out of the car looking angry when I passed. But I don't think the car was going to go anywhere without a winch and a tow truck) And he probably had to walk quite some way to pick up a phone signal.

[Spring Water on Sundays]

Sorry, dude.  I'm not going to turn suddenly, possibly causing an accident, just so you can get to your exit sooner.

That seems to happen quite often to me.  Yes, I drive like a grandma!  5 grandchildren worth. 

But the most impatient of the SS turning brigade has to be the young woman who pulled up behind me as I was signalling to turn left and waiting for the oncoming traffic to get past me.  She didn't want to wait for that, or go around me on the right where it would have been safe. No, she pulled around me on the LEFT, straight into the face of an oncoming car!  The other car had just enough room and just enough time to swerve onto the grass shoulder.  I couldn't tell who I heard screaming, the SS's passenger or the passenger in the oncoming car.      Really, was waiting for another 10-15 seconds THAT difficult?  Or was  the risk of being involved in a head-on collision somehow acceptable to her?

Speaking of driving like a grandma....

DH and I recently inherited an early-90's Buick from an elderly relative who has decided not to drive anymore. This beast of an automobile just screams "blue hair who can't see over the steering wheel". It's ridiculous and huge and looks like a stereotypical grandma-mobile, not a vehicle normally driven by a sassy 30-something. We have both noticed, independently of each other, that when we are driving it and preparing to make a turn or any other maneuver that *requires* slowing down, other drivers honk at us. It doesn't happen in either of our sporty, youthful-looking 2-door coupes we normally drive. We can only guess that they see the car, assume it's an elderly person driving, and just become total jerks who are impatient at the thought of being stuck behind a slow grandma, even if that "slow grandma" is 30 years old and doing something completely reasonable like slowing down to a safe speed before making a turn. 

[Sirius]

Mr. Sirius once told me about stopping his school bus at a railroad crossing that had the crossing arms down and a train was visibly coming...and two bicyclists rode through the downed crossing arms and went on their merry way. 

[White Dragon]

This thread is bad for me. 

I have been indexing documents all morning and several have an ID code of SS.
Now, in this context SS stands for "Structural Steel", but it makes me do a bit of a double take every time one pops up!

[BarensMom]

 I just came back from Right-Aid (neosporin for Baren) and witnessed a woman with a baby in one of those strollers with a basket underneath and a 5-year old child.  This woman was pulling all sorts of things out of the basket and putting them to the side, while asking the cashier how much the item(s) she was actually purchasing cost.  The stuff to the side:  10+ bottles of nail polish, toys, candy, snack crackers, etc.  The stuff she actually bought:  a mascara and two bags of potato chips.  It turned out the 5-year old was running around the store, grabbing things and dumping them, first in the basket, then on top of the register.  As they were leaving, the mother made the girl drop a handful of metal cars.

When I finally got to the register, the counter was a disaster of major proportions with seals broken and wrappers torn on almost all of the left items.  I felt so bad for the cashier.

[Iris]

Mr. Sirius once told me about stopping his school bus at a railroad crossing that had the crossing arms down and a train was visibly coming...and two bicyclists rode through the downed crossing arms and went on their merry way.

Dh (rightfully) lays claim to having saved a special snowflake's life at a railway crossing once. He was working right next to the crossing and saw a teenaged boy duck under the pedestrian gates to walk behind the passing train, not realising that *another* train was approaching from the opposite direction and would have arrived with perfect timing to cream him as soon as he stepped out from behind the the first train. Thankfully DH had the window open so the boy could hear his shout of "STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!" or this story would have a much less happy ending.

Naturally, even after the train passed inches in front of his nose, a second after DH had stopped him, Special Snowflake couldn't give a wave of thanks...

[2littlemonkeys]

I live in a townhouse with my dog who has been really stressed lately, showing some extreme reactions to people walking by my house or ringing my doorbell. I've ended up hiring a behaviorist to deal with this, spending almost $400 so far.

Further background, there's a 2 bedroom unit in my building with 8 people living there, which is against housing codes. I figure the economy is terrible and they're mostly nice, except for one woman who has a baby and a preschooler. She thought it was really cute to hold the baby up to MY doorbell and let him ring it nonstop. I spoke to her about it twice and both time she seemed really surprised that it bothered me. "But he's having so much fun!" So let him do it to your house. "But the preschooler is napping!" So was I! Not my problem! The second time she finally said "You really mean the baby can't ring your bell?!?" Yes! Fortunately, it hasn't happened again, or so I thought.

Today I decided to work from home. This afternoon, my doorbell starts ringing nonstop. My dog is freaking out, and I whip open the front door to find the same woman with her baby.

Bad neighbor: Oh, you're home!
Me: What are you doing? I've told you repeatedly to leave my doorbell alone. You are driving my dog crazy!
BN: Oh, I don't mind the barking!
Me: I mind the $400 I've spent trying to deal with the anxiety problem you've apparently created in my dog.
BN: But the baby loves it!
Me: I don't care.

Right now I'm so furious at her that I'm somewhat tempted to call her landlord and let him know about his extra tenants, but I don't want to do something out of revenge.

   That's appalling!  Also, who DOES that?  Great googly moogely!  I feel so bad for your poor dog!