Don in Austin

"Yes, there certainly are a lot of inconsiderate, unsafe, arrogant bicyclists out there just as there are motorists. A responsible & law-abiding motorist like you, or a responsible & law-abiding cyclist like me has to be always on the defensive and vigilant to minimize the chance of needless serious injury or death."

Don in Austin

nelson249

This has never happened to me at the checkout line but it HAS happened at work in conversation with people who could adversely affect my job. Needless to say, tact is a good thing...

gcottay

"Yep, there are some bad riders out there. Bad drivers too." And if the person wants to rant on as opposed to conversing I just turn away and tune out.

In real life, I've endured very few "bad, bad, bad riders" lectures as compared with many friendly or neutral conversations.

Forknroad

Some good suggestions for educating ignorant people if one feels the need to waste their time to educate ignorant people.

But personally, I'd still say "Go F*ck yourself".

Nitram612

Never had an adult say anything like that to me in public. The worst I have had is when little kids are like "Why are you wearing a helmet, don't you know how to ride a bike without crashing?" and I'm just like "Of course I do, the helmet is for things that I can not control." In my head I'm thinking "Enjoy your triple dipple fake suspension on the sidewalk kid."

If an adult came up to me and started talking sh*t for no reason I would tell them to f*ck off.

noisebeam

When I go shopping as an errand no one knows the transport I used to get to the store.

When I go shopping as a stop as part of my commute when I am wearing obvious cycling attire no one has said anything to me, partly because I am there to get what I need and get on with my commute.

genec

And no one speaks to you during your precious moments in line?

I haven't had anyone say anything while I am in grocery line, but I have had co-workers come up to my posted (outside my cube) California Vehicle Code rules and express amazement that cyclists had any "rights" at all. That usually sparked an interesting conversation, which often ended up with folks expressing their opinions regarding "sharing the road."

noisebeam

No one talks to me, usually I am in express lane with no line if I am commuting anyway.
I also don't usually turn around and face the person behind me to invite conversation, to talk to me would require that the person behind me puts away their cell phone and taps me on the shoulder or otherwise gets my attention as I am unloading groceries. The person in front of me is also not looking at me.

genec

Also helps if you wear that "I'm terribly busy" look on your face.

noisebeam

I usually wear that zoned out look. But seriously I don't encounter lines where I am just waiting doing nothing when grocery shopping, usually I am unloading the cart as the person in front of me is checking out. Lines are usually at the movies or cafe type food places.

closetbiker

I started to get this all the time after I started to become known for writing a column on cycling issues. People like to air their grievances and beefs, especially to someone who writes about cyclists rights.

Most of the time I'll just listen, a lot of the time I'll agree with them (those kids shouldn't be going BMX tricks on the sidewalk in front of the old folks home), but sometimes I invoke the old, "You know, that cars and bikes are inanimate objects right?"

I'll then suggest that maybe the problem has to do with what a person is doing rather than what he/she's using, and that we all make mistakes from time to time and should be more tolerant of others because we all make the some mistakes once in a while.

I also suggest for them to get involved in some sort of more constructive way in order to have others behave more responsibly, but they're not usually too keen on that, they just want to complain.

I find most of the people who take the effort to let you know "what's wrong with cyclists" already have their mind made up, so I don't try to battle with them. I just try to give them something to think about. Maybe if they thought a bit more, they wouldn't have so much of a problem.

crhilton

Repeat after me:

"I'm sorry you had a bad experience ma'am."

That's it, don't explain what you do. Don't advocate anything. Answer very simple specific questions, and when they complain it's just "I'm sorry you had a bad experience ma'am."

If you give people nothing to argue with you can't get drug into their lecture. If you're not saying anything you look normal when you walk away rolling your eyes. You won't win the argument, you won't even finish it. It's not the right place to do anything but say "yes, I live near here."

And if it's a clerk, once you finish inform their manager that you just want to buy your things and not be invited into arguments. Don't lecture him. Don't start an argument or continue one. If he gives you a hard time, change "ma'am" to the appropriate gender and go on with your day.

billyymc

+1

IknowURider

ok cool, thanks for sharing. Being more tolerant of others helps me stay alive out there. Frequently, I wave cars ahead of me at stop lights if I've stopped and they pull up behind me. I need to have a car in front of me, especially at rush hour. Let them be cranky, inattentive and in a hurry, you're not gonna change that. Sometimes you have to coax them to get in front of you. Try this sometime, it's great fun and you make allies out there, (I won't say friends) then they remember that at the checkout line .

BTW, you don't have to be at the supermarket, folks. It could be the coffeeshop, anywhere. Remember, one of these people could be the EMT that scoops you up into the ambulance...

IknowURider

Wow what city/state are you in?

IknowURider

generally, clerks are smart enough not to engage in debates. But I've used that same line too, sort of Forrest Gump
"i'm sorry about Thaaat!" .

New Englanders are a bit freaky sometimes. I'm originally from NY, and I was always used to people just being too busy to engage others, or it's just common sense, you don't walk around on the street judging people unless you want to get beat up or shot.

But here it's hyper conservative and very croney. A lot of talk about your shoes, which bores the hell out of me, for god's sakes be more creative in opening a conversation. So I often get bored in about four seconds. Finding someone here with an actual sense of humor and light heart is rare.

So if I'm feeling drained or tired , I do that too "wow! bummer!" You visualize yourself rocking a crying baby and handing it back. But sometimes people do have something mildly interesting to share, and you can often learn things, but that's your call. But yeah, I get tired of interviews too, so +1 that. If you can walk away in neutral, you have a clear enough head to ride home paying full attention as well.

GP

"Why are you talking to me?"

JusticeZero

"Yeah, there are a lot of people on the road who don't know what they're doing out there, bikes and cars both. I wish we had some more good role models out there to show them how to stay out of trouble. I do what I can, but there's only so much I can do by myself, so yeah.."

IknowURider

okay, I like that. +1

Bicure

My favorite answer, but BrianInc's more positive ones good too.

I sometimes approach bicycle cops & ask them basic questions about the bike laws. They no answer so good.

eddubal

As much as I want to tell them to go find a shrink; I've found that a simple, cold "Thank you for the advice." coupled with turning my back on them works very well. Treat them like the "I like Santa Claus" kid in A Christmas Story. It works in most situations where people are unloading baggage or unwanted advice on me.

Seattle Forrest

I don't think I've ever been in a store where people have wanted to talk to me about cycling, except at the bike shop. Do these same people talk to each other in line about how much tint their windows should have or if it's okay to use the stock CD player?

PaulH

I usually lock my helmet to the bike, so people have no idea how I got to the store. Last winter, a cashier watched me pull out may wallet, and observed that I was wearing both an overcoat and overpants. "You must really like to be warm" was what she said. I can't recall any other conversations that were even indirectly cycling-related.

Paul

sggoodri

"Drive carefully."

I have only experienced positive conversations with people seeing me in my bike clothing when off the road. At most, people say "Be careful on your way home!" and I say "You too!"

I've heard more negative conversations started by people who didn't know I'm a cyclist. I try to avoid arguments and present myself as having enough confidence in myself and my own opinion that I don't feel the need to change their opinion. One day I was at a party and returned to a room where my wife (not a frequent cyclist) was explaining cyclists' right to the road to the party host, who was a doubter. She had pretty much finished, and turned to me to take over, and I just smiled and shrugged.

AlmostTrick

“past resentments and near misses” and “lecturing you on how to ride safe”, is not very specific. It could be many different things, so my response would depend greatly on what was actually said, how it was said, and who it was doing the saying.
-------------

Hot babe: I miss riding my bike... I quit after I was almost hit by a car.
Me: I cycle thousands of miles a year and have very few close calls. Allow me to show you the best way around town on two wheels!

Fat old fart: You guys are gonna get yourselfs killed runnin’ them red lights like ya do.
Me: Do you eat all those donuts in one day?