Got into my car at a local supermarkets only I had to reverse backwards into the car park space behind me as a complete numpty was parking to my left at such a shallow angle that the front of my car would have been wiped out by the side of their car.
Looking at their car,I can understand all of the scratches down the side now !
God knows what would have happened if I were not there at the time.
So why are some people in their own little world when parking at supermarkets ?
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Or... "So why are some people in their own little world"?
Its not just when driving nor just in supermarkets. A total lack of awareness of what's going on around them. My Dad was knocked flying one day by a woman who stood up after attending to her sprog and marched sharp left, straight into him. None of this "looking where you're going lark". And he was an old fella at the time, not really up to such knocks.
John
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Same reason they walk behind reversing cars, or drive right up to the back bumper of a car about to reverse park, or fail to leave a through gap on a traffic congested roundabout, or tailgate, or fail to pull forward 10 feet after returning to their cars after paying for fuel and before sorting out their wallet and checking their appearance in the rearview mirror, or diving in front of a braking lorry at a junction / roundabout in their cars then braking hard, or pull out in front of motorbikes, or let their dogs run free where there are people cycling...
It generally pays not to overestimate the intelligence of the public.
:-)
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They're on the list. Come the revolution.... :-)
John
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I used to wonder why,on parking in a deserted car park,I would return to find another car parked right next to mine-then the penny dropped,it's the only way some drivers know they've parked squarely.
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back many years ago, when I passed my test, I went that very afternoon to the local church, which had a HUGE carpark, with painted lines, and spent an hour parking, and learning the angles properly.
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Top Bloke, Ian! Entirely the right attitude.
Passing the test doesn't mean "I know know how to drive". It means "I now can carry on learning on my own"
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>> back many years ago, when I passed my test, I went that very afternoon to the local church, which had a HUGE carpark, with painted lines, and spent an hour parking, and learning the angles properly.
Did you take it for a service afterwards, or were you unable to get it through the church gates ;o)
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"I used to wonder why,on parking in a deserted car park,I would return to find another car parked right next to mine"
Strangely enough I suspect that it is basically because humans are social creatures and it and almost unconscious reaction. It the same reason people are reluctant to occupy the empty part of a restaurant or an empty carriage in a train. It makes no logical sense but it is human nature.
I sometimes park in a car park that effectively has two joined parking areas. Occasionally there is no one parked in one area even though the other has a reasonable number of cars and both areas seem equally attractive as a place to park. If I park my car in the empty area its seems to act as a catalyst and on my return I will be surrounded by cars.
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If I want to guarantee spaces all around me at Tesco's, I simply go shopping in the GMC.
I can fit it into the spaces perfectly; thing is it's got so many scratches and scrapes on it that people tend to avoid parking next to it!
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Sixty million people on this island and most of them are completely unaware of the presence of others.
That's the reason I refuse to be in the kitchen at the same time as SWMBO. Too many hot objects and too dangerous.
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Never mind the car park. What about the supermarket itself?
Every time I go to one, I keep meeting blockages consisting of half-empty trolleys placed sideways across the aisle, with one or more shoppers standing, mouths agape, eyes dull, leaden and inhuman, in the rest of the space. If you wait politely these things - one can hardly call them people - continue chewing the cud and staring vacantly into space. The temptation to barge through and give the carphounds a short sharp shock of a polemical mouthful is almost irresistible sometimes.
I suppose they are looking for some product that has been shifted by the supermarket to make punters wander around and be exposed to temptation.
But that is no excuse. Like drivers, shoppers have a duty of commonsense and courtesy. Like drivers, a lot don't understand that, or know what commonsense and courtesy are.
Why am I misanthropic? For those reasons among many others. Tchah! (not to put it more strongly).
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I know that vacant look.
it mostly applies to men in the washing liquids isle, because it says 'concentrate' on the front of the washing liquid.
Sorry couldn't resist.
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>> with one or more shoppers standing, mouths agape, eyes dull, leaden
>> and inhuman, in the rest of the space. If you wait politely these things -
>> one can hardly call them people - continue chewing the cud and staring vacantly into
>> space.
Brilliant description AC. George.A.Romero's second zombie film (Dawn of the Dead) was based on exactly the above.
Last edited by: corax on Sat 23 Oct 10 at 20:37
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>>I simply go shopping in the GMC.>>
A pal who has a Toyota pickup said much the same, if he parks it in a car park he often finds empty spaces next to it on his return. It is newish and unmarked, but usually dirty. As he said, would you park next to it? No, and I know that he is fanatical about caring for his vehicles and is a farmer who can manoeuvre huge chunks of agricultural kit into tight spots.
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>> "I used to wonder why,on parking in a deserted car park,I would return to find
>> another car parked right next to mine"
>>
>> Strangely enough I suspect that it is basically because humans are social creatures and it
>> and almost unconscious reaction. It the same reason people are reluctant to occupy the empty
>> part of a restaurant or an empty carriage in a train.
Heh heh, maybe that's why I usually park in the emptiest part of the car park and walk a few more feet to the shop. I've always been a bit of a loner.
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If you want to experience people's complete lack of awareness about what is right in front of them you should try pushing a wheelchair around... They see you, but not the wheelchair which stick out 3 ft in front of you... the get all apologetic when they trip over it! And then there are those who stop suddenly in front of you... emergency stops aren't an option when pushing a wheelchair... you have been warned!
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Forget supermarket, most people don't even see emergency vehicles unless they are almost kissing the bumpers of their cars!
It is medically proven that most of the time our brains are in "auto pilot" mode. This is part of evolution.
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It is medically proven that most of the time our brains are in "auto pilot"
There was a very interesting edition of Horizon this week dealing with optical illusions and the part the brain plays in what we see. Most of what we see, approximately 80% is effectively manufactured by the brain and only 20% is direct input from our eyes. Thus in many circumstances we see what we expect to see from previous experience.
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>> approximately
>> 80% is effectively manufactured by the brain and only 20% is direct input from our
>> eyes.
Wonder if this also applies to posts on forums?! ;-)
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I try to look for the newest most expensive up market vehicles and hopefully I can park between a pair of them on the assumtion they will not add any more to the " blemishes" that already exist on my oldish Mondeo. :-)
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>>
>> Its not just when driving nor just in supermarkets. A total lack of awareness of
>> what's going on around them.
A while back in Canada we were held up where two 3 lane motorways merged. There was a broken down car in the center lane with the hood up with cars having to go round it. Imagine my surprise to see a woman standing staring at the engine. If any one of the other drivers was not paying attention, her car would have been rear-ended and herself dragged underneath.
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>>There was a broken down car in the center lane
Do you mean 'centre'?
After all dear chap, they do speak the Queen's English over there.
Coat?
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"Coat?"
Go on then, the pedantry here is starting to grate with me a bit again. I'd say the poster is possibly American anyway, given his name and use of the term "hood".
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And keep it on until you realise that "British" English is not the first language for many people. Including our cousins across the pond.
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Granted ON. Although of course they will almost certainly, and possibly quite rightly, take no notice at all it behoves us all to least try to educate them...
:-)
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Reading English littered with grammatical and spelling errors is hard work.
When posters confuse there and their, loose and lose, were and where, it trips me up as I read the post.
It is not pedantry to support a basic written standard of English, although it has become known as such on this site.
Ignorance is nothing to be proud of, or to be defended.
To me, the worst examples of bad grammar and spelling are in the same category as text-speak and swearing.
None have any place in a civilised forum.
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That may be all well and good, but some people who have an interest in all things motoring may not have quite the standard of English education that seems to be required on here. You are not going to encourage new members if you turn it into an English academic school for the elite.
Last edited by: corax on Sun 24 Oct 10 at 10:47
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...You are not going to encourage new members if you turn it into an English academic school for the elite...
Agreed, the standard needs to be set at an achievable level.
But anyone wanting to post on here should accept the need to meet that standard.
I don't suggest it need be very high, conversational English is appropriate for the forum.
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iffy: I can't really agree.
It isn't polite, or kind, to moan about people's standards or styles of written English. As we all know these vary, in all social classes, from good to barely literate. It's just the way people in the real world are (or ' are in the real world' if you insist).
It can be appropriate to put people down for their prose styles, but only on the rare occasions when they are themselves being offensive to someone else about their attitudes or apparent social class.
I wish the Sheikh Rattleandroll would make an intervention on this. I seem to remember that when he first started to post on the HJ site he was mobbed by snooty pedants for a combination of odd spelling/grammar and over-hasty typing, but didn't take it too much to heart and has improved a lot, despite late-night post-clubbing lapses. This good-humoured response earned him much credit and affection.
But: the Sheikh is young, savvy and quite smart. Not everyone has those advantages. Pat the truckerette also says she was intimidated by the pedantry here and on the HJ site.
I blame the Telegraph connection. It's the paper I have read for many years but I'm not blind to the sort of people a lot of my fellow-readers are.
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A word of caution though. In my experience a meeting or other formalised discussion which regularly descends into a debate as to what format the interchange should take is often indicative of a group which has run out of anything more useful to discuss. I freely admit to allowing myself to indulge in useless prattle and verbal ping-pong for the sake of my own amusement but also openly grant that it serves no other real purpose.
I actually don't mind at all if people mis-spell or or make inadvertant or otherwise grammatical errors if their posts contain subject matter which interests, informs or amuses me.
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>> None have any place in a civilised forum.
It is a good job there is a place for pompous gits, otherwise Car4play would be minus contributors from autumnal North Yorkshire.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 24 Oct 10 at 11:20
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I realise that this thread has drifted quite spectacularly and, at the risk of perpetuating the drift, I would like to add a comment. I endeavour to write anything (whether it be a post to this site or a letter to Aunty Mame) in the best English language that I can manage. I fully accept that that is not everybody's standard particularly with what might be described as 'the younger generation' and specifically the generation that has been educated since the introduction of the mobile phone and its attendant text facility.
I can just about get along with the odd spelling mistake (I made one myself a few years ago!) but what is less acceptable to me is sloppy typing. Everybody has the ability to go over what they have typed and make any necessary corrections before hitting the 'send' button.
By the very nature of the beast people who contribute to these type of sites have too much time on their hands. A couple of minutes spent checking the content of a message would fill some of that time up and make the resultant post easier for everybody to enjoy (or not, as the case may be!).
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I make a few spelling mistakes and my grammar isn't wonderful and my posts if anyone bothers to read them (which if they have any sense they don't) are disjointed ramblings, unforunately that's me i'm far from perfect.
I like to read different styles of writing, just as i look forward to my various face to face and telephone discussions with people from all walks of life and all nations, it's what makes us individual humans and long may that continue.
We fortunately and probably to politicians disgust are not clone's, we have differing educations backgrounds histories qualities desires and needs and these are reflected in tthe way we write as well as everything else we do.
Long may our differences continue, be a boring and disturbing place if we conformed to someone's idea of utopia, who decides what is correct.
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...pompous gits...
Oh dear, when lost for words, just hurl an insult.
Supporting a modest standard of written English is not pompous.
If, as AC says, Rattle has improved his written English, all credit to him.
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We can't all be good at everything, maybe the pedants are compensating for their inadequacies. They may be crap drivers for all we know :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 24 Oct 10 at 12:09
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>> Supporting a modest standard of written English is not pompous.
I agree, but:
>>But anyone wanting to post on here should accept the need to meet that standard.
Demanding them is pompous git territory.
Its not an insult, merely an observation.
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At times Zero, you are pig ignorant.
That's no an insult, merely an observation.
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>> That's no an insult, merely an observation.
Oh dear. Do I spy a grammatical error, or is it spelling mistake?
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There are times when posters' tenacity when refusing to concede a point, tends to make them appear positively anal.
That is also an observation.
Put your handbags down, gentlemen, this ill becomes either of you.
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I freely admit to being intimidated when I first posted on HJ some time ago and the pedants remarked on incorrect grammar.
It was, and still is, the reason I sometimes decide not to post on a thread, although now I feel more at home I'm happier to take the criticism.
I certainly don't think anyone has the right to demand certain 'standards' from a poster. If the way they write offends then everyone has the option NOT to read their posts.
Another point about typo's is that not everyone has nimble fingers, and typo's happen. I post a lot when I get up at around 3.30am. I get up because it's uncomfortable to lay in one position anymore. Posting for me at that time is a diversion and a pleasure and when I have the time to give it some thought.
I invariably get so engrossed in what I'm posting that my brain goes faster than my fingers.
Yes, I could preview the post, but for me that would take away much of the pleasure and it then goes into the category of 'is it worth it'?
I was always told that tolerance and compassion were a virtue, and I do think a few on here who are hasty to criticise others, could practice both.
On the other hand, I now find myself taking more care when posting on our PDA forums where it doesn't matter, so some would say this is a good thing.
However, we absolutely refuse to allow anyone to be criticised for the inability to spell or write a grammatically correct post, and have learned that some of the posters make some excellent points nevertheless.
I think the thing to remember is that we need to make new posters welcome and feel at home before we criticise them. We also need to remember that English may not be their first language and even if we don't particularly like foreigners, attacking their natural way of communicating isn't clever.
Pat
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Nawt in the terms and conditions of the sight about posting grammar.
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get a grip people.
this appears to have started off as a moan about the correct spelling of "center"
no swearing, no shouting and no text speak. surely everything else is acceptable
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nyx,
You beat it to me to it.
Can we please keep it less personal please ?
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Or a typo?
I can spell but my typing is pretty bad. I swear one hand is faster than the other :-)
One thing I do is to read what I've typed. It's amazing how many words never make it from my head to the screen. And it catches the reversed letters and at least some of the spelling errors. As a courtesy to others you really should read what you type, make sure it makes sense. Sometimes it doesn't.
John
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Of course. I wouldn't want to appear perfect. (Where's the red face smiley?) :-)
John
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why are some people in robot mode at supermarkets - Tooslow
