Originally Posted by
softreset
On three separate occasions while commuting home this year, I've asked someone fixing a flat (and/or something on the bike) if they needed any assistance. Two of them, kitted out fellas. They responded with something along the lines of: I'm fine/stop asking or I'm good/does it look like I need help?
The third, I remember clearly because it was yesterday. Said: "Jesus, everyone needs to stop asking. I'll wave if I need something."
Wow. I find the gall in this anecdote hard to believe. I simply cannot imagine ever feeling peeved at someone stopping to ask if I need help.
I express profuse gratitude to anyone stopping to ask me if I'm okay when I'm on the side of the road fixing a flat or making some kind of adjustment on the bike. Normally they're in cars, as I do a lot of solo riding in the middle of the empty countryside. "Thanks very much for stopping! I'm fine, just fixing this flat/making an adjustment."
Is it really possible that a busy bike path in a large city would feature too many people stopping to offer help to people working on their bike, that it would turn into an annoyance? Or is this yet more anecdotal evidence of the death of courtesy in modern life? That "I'll wave" guy really takes the cake. Unbelievable.