It's honesty time - How many times have you used the finger to express your feelings
 

I'm talking about a very specific finger, the one which is widely accepted as the universal symbol for dissatisfaction.

Edit: If you've got an interesting story about a time when you felt it necessary to use your finger, please share! No judgments here (well, from me at least...).

Lots. Where I grew up, giving the finger with feeling was considered a necessary communication skill.

J.

Just yesterday. She (cager in Volvo) started it.

Where I live people are armed, I don't ever escalate. An armed society is a polite society....

I live in a non armed society, and I have used it on occasions, but its rare, more rare riding a bike than a car.

Last week I was in the parking lot of my work place. I was in the area that leads up to the gate for the underground parking, but just before that is a pedestrian crossing. Unfortunately not everyone in the line can see the pedestrians.

The guy behind me honked as I let a pedestrian go by. He honked again as he followed me in the undergroud. I got out of my car after parking and walked over to his. He denied loudly and repeatedly that he hit his horn. He claims not to have heard a horn. Yeah right. I didn't buy it, but what more could I say.

Not to start the whole blanket sweeping statements thing again.. but I've noticed theres a vehicle type I tend to give the 1 fingered salute to, and it's solely because they often endanger me.. I'm sure I'd give any vehicle the same salute if they did the same garbage. If anyone couldn't guess, it's Pious drivers.

I don't think I've "flicked someone off" since I was in elementary school.

once a month

Same. Usually when someone feels the need to cut me off right before a red light during rush hour where a bike is faster anyhow.

I'm doing it right now.

There are some truckers I would have flicked off if I could, the ones that change lanes without signalling or looking, when you are about mid way up the trailer. I've come close to smacking the guardrail. I avoid being parrallel to a truck for that reason, but i heavy traffic sometimes it is unavoidable.

You notice and remember them because the car is distinctive, just like drivers notice and remember errant cyclists because they are less common. They are probably no more or less likely to drive like jerks than anyone else.

None. But I've only been at this commute thing for six months, give me time. ;)

On the bike - maybe two or three times. It was never to any specific make of car - though I've noticed that I usually end up getting irritated by BMW drivers and Ford truck drivers.

Not terribly often, but in the grand scheme of things, once someone has endangered your safety, it seems rather minor.

When I have, I wished my finger was bigger.

and how often does someone get shot for giving someone else the finger? it's probably statistically riskier to take a shower.

I can only think of one time (though there may be more I'm forgetting about) while biking. I am the type that typically wants to avoid confrontation, but I do remember when I gave the guy the finger I was actually hoping he would stop and get out of the car. I must have been having a pretty bad day.

I have made an interesting observation about Pious drivers. They aren't all a bunch of pious tree huggers. Sure a lot of them are, but there is another type who comes from the opposite end of the spectrum who got the car in preparation for Obama coming for our guns and oil. I have a brother in law who is one of them.

Tree huggers and birthers, it seems to me, are equally prone to road rage. Even I have succumbed, and I am an otherwise reasonable guy.

After a particularly nasty ride a couple weeks ago, I came up with a better response.

I smile and say, "Ask YOUR doctor about (tadalafil)!" (Look it up!)

In the winter I can only give the mitten. Doesn't have quite the same effect. Wait until it warms up though!

It's bad enough having 4000lbs vs 200lbs, then add in the thought that they just might be violent (they just made an aggressive move at me already) and armed (I think we'd be surprised how many armed drivers are on the road). In my old age it just doesn't make sense anymore.

Flipping the bird doesn't make me more relaxed or happier, it just escalates the situation. In one of these threads a member posted how he spend 6 months in jail and was shocked by how violent some people can be for the smallest perceived slight. He wasn't a fan of the bird for the reasons I've stated.

If I can't learn to let it go, I need to find another way to relax.

I was driving my pickup truck the other day, and this lady started taking a video of me. I flipped the bird and lost control, crashing into the median. Please let me know if you know her. I want to apologize for my rude behavior.

It has been well over a decade since I've expressed myself in that manner. Life's too short to be that angry........ Om Mani Padme Hum...... Om Mani Padme Hum..... Om Mani Padme Hum....

Look where it got Dennis Hopper at the end of Easy Rider.

I'll be honest here.

As the recipient of a few birds in my life, I can't say they've ever improved my perception of the sender in any way, - usually the opposite. It also won't cause me to change my behavior.

By the same token, I don't think my giving somebody the finger is going to make them less likely in the future to do whatever it is they did that set me off. It'll just make me look like an ass or I'll get some lip or a bird flipped right back to me.

So I rarely give people the finger. If my intended goal was to escalate the situation, then I might, but that's not really me either.