You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

[ulthar]

What bothers me is the school bus drivers who don't give a crap about the traffic backed up behind them.

...

What made it all the more frustrating was that a few drivers would pull over and let people pass, proving that it can be done, there's no reason it can't be done, and the drivers who don't do it are just being inconsiderate.

Ah, school bus drivers.

Attended a Defensive Driving class once when I was a firefighter, and the guy teaching the class was also a School Bus Driver and Trainer of same.

He told us in no uncertain terms that his drivers were specifically trained NOT to yield Right of Way to emergency vehicles...the bus gets precedence in ALL circumstances.

Huh?  We read the statutes and had other emergency vehicle training personnel present who mentioned specific statutes that said NOTHING of the kind..."ALL vehicles shall yield" means just that; the wording did not say "ALL vehicles except school buses."

Still, he would NOT budge.  He was convinced that the School Bus was sovereign on highways on that State.

In keeping with the spirit of my above post (regarding stereotyping), that experience tainted my view of ALL school bus drivers.   

[Mr. DS]

I can't stand people who blow their leaves into a main street because they're apparently too lazy to bag them.  I personally try my damndest to blow them back with my car when I drive by.  Alas, it never works.

[AndyC]

Ah, school bus drivers.

Attended a Defensive Driving class once when I was a firefighter, and the guy teaching the class was also a School Bus Driver and Trainer of same.

He told us in no uncertain terms that his drivers were specifically trained NOT to yield Right of Way to emergency vehicles...the bus gets precedence in ALL circumstances.

Huh?  We read the statutes and had other emergency vehicle training personnel present who mentioned specific statutes that said NOTHING of the kind..."ALL vehicles shall yield" means just that; the wording did not say "ALL vehicles except school buses."

Still, he would NOT budge.  He was convinced that the School Bus was sovereign on highways on that State.

In keeping with the spirit of my above post (regarding stereotyping), that experience tainted my view of ALL school bus drivers.  

People do generally show school buses a good deal of patience, at least in my experience. They are going to hold up traffic to some degree, and any reasonable driver understands that there are very good reasons for the school bus stopping traffic. But I think when the drivers have that ability to flip a switch and stop traffic in both directions, and such a strong and widely-supported reason for doing it, they can become kind of oblivious to their effect on the flow of traffic. They're supposed to hold up traffic to some degree, so it's no big deal. They might not consider at what point it becomes excessive.

I'd say city bus drivers are much the same. You have to be aggressive if you want to navigate something as big as a bus through busy streets in a consistent amount of time. But there has to be some line between aggressive and dangerous, and a lot of city bus drivers cross it in my opinion.

[AndyC]

I can't stand people who blow their leaves into a main street because they're apparently too lazy to bag them.  I personally try my damndest to blow them back with my car when I drive by.  Alas, it never works.

I hate when people do that. Never never never put a pile of leaves anywhere cars might drive. All it takes is small kids playing in the leaves at the same time somebody decides to park a car next to the curb, and you've got a tragedy. I'm not even speculating. That exact scenario has happened.

Streets should be clear, so nothing is hidden where drivers can't see it. Every homeowner with a clear lawn and a pile of leaves in the street out front should get slapped with a fine.

[The Gravekeeper]

I can't stand people who blow their leaves into a main street because they're apparently too lazy to bag them.  I personally try my damndest to blow them back with my car when I drive by.  Alas, it never works.

I hate when people do that. Never never never put a pile of leaves anywhere cars might drive. All it takes is small kids playing in the leaves at the same time somebody decides to park a car next to the curb, and you've got a tragedy. I'm not even speculating. That exact scenario has happened.

Streets should be clear, so nothing is hidden where drivers can't see it. Every homeowner with a clear lawn and a pile of leaves in the street out front should get slapped with a fine.

Kids haven't been hurt in leaves alone. When you're driving something as dangerous as a car, never assume that things are always as they seem.

[Mr. DS]

I can't stand people who blow their leaves into a main street because they're apparently too lazy to bag them.  I personally try my damndest to blow them back with my car when I drive by.  Alas, it never works.

I hate when people do that. Never never never put a pile of leaves anywhere cars might drive. All it takes is small kids playing in the leaves at the same time somebody decides to park a car next to the curb, and you've got a tragedy. I'm not even speculating. That exact scenario has happened.

Streets should be clear, so nothing is hidden where drivers can't see it. Every homeowner with a clear lawn and a pile of leaves in the street out front should get slapped with a fine.

Kids haven't been hurt in leaves alone. When you're driving something as dangerous as a car, never assume that things are always as they seem.

Hence why one shouldn't blow them into the road.

[AndyC]

I can't stand people who blow their leaves into a main street because they're apparently too lazy to bag them.  I personally try my damndest to blow them back with my car when I drive by.  Alas, it never works.

I hate when people do that. Never never never put a pile of leaves anywhere cars might drive. All it takes is small kids playing in the leaves at the same time somebody decides to park a car next to the curb, and you've got a tragedy. I'm not even speculating. That exact scenario has happened.

Streets should be clear, so nothing is hidden where drivers can't see it. Every homeowner with a clear lawn and a pile of leaves in the street out front should get slapped with a fine.

Kids haven't been hurt in leaves alone. When you're driving something as dangerous as a car, never assume that things are always as they seem.

And parents should teach their kids not to play near the street. Everybody has a responsibility, and nobody should rely entirely on someone else's diligence. The driver should drive as if every pile of leaves by the road has kids in it, and kids should treat the same pile of leaves as though a car is inevitably going to drive through it.

However, the whole problem exists because somebody put the leaves there in the first place. Some lazy bugger cluttered the street up with crap from his yard, which isn't merely being careless, but deliberately doing something he shouldn't.

[Mr. DS]

Excess school funding for athletics.  I understand some money should go towards it but some places, especially my town, go way overboard.  My town put in a mecca of basketballs courts all on tax payer's dollar.  I for one don't see a point in having a building with 5 courts and secondly don't really want to pay for it.  I'd rather see my tax dollars go for stuff like the latest computers and other training which school is for after all.  Even IF someone made the NBA or NFL from my town out of high school I doubt we'd see any money back from their million dollar contract.

Since I am paying for the basketball mecca I feel I should have access to it day and night along with my fellow taxpayers.

[Flick James]

Excess school funding for athletics.  I understand some money should go towards it but some places, especially my town, go way overboard.  My town put in a mecca of basketballs courts all on tax payer's dollar.  I for one don't see a point in having a building with 5 courts and secondly don't really want to pay for it.  I'd rather see my tax dollars go for stuff like the latest computers and other training which school is for after all.  Even IF someone made the NBA or NFL from my town out of high school I doubt we'd see any money back from their million dollar contract.

Since I am paying for the basketball mecca I feel I should have access to it day and night along with my fellow taxpayers.

I agree that it can go overboard. I do want to see kids get educated in sports and being physically fit (we have become a fat nation afterall). However, I would like to see a better extracurricular balance. Music, arts, etc. These things are important too.

[Mr. DS]

Excess school funding for athletics.  I understand some money should go towards it but some places, especially my town, go way overboard.  My town put in a mecca of basketballs courts all on tax payer's dollar.  I for one don't see a point in having a building with 5 courts and secondly don't really want to pay for it.  I'd rather see my tax dollars go for stuff like the latest computers and other training which school is for after all.  Even IF someone made the NBA or NFL from my town out of high school I doubt we'd see any money back from their million dollar contract.

Since I am paying for the basketball mecca I feel I should have access to it day and night along with my fellow taxpayers.

I agree that it can go overboard. I do want to see kids get educated in sports and being physically fit (we have become a fat nation afterall). However, I would like to see a better extracurricular balance. Music, arts, etc. These things are important too.

Exactly, I too feel PE is important and necessary but so much is placed on excellence in sports.  Granted this has been a habit for decades but like you pointed out, theres other talents and unfortunately art/music ALWAYS seem to get hit hard when there are cutbacks.  That is BS to me.

[Newt]

What really grinds my gears is when the same local politician to whom I had to explain the concept of 'conflict of interest' gets condescending toward me when discussing an issue regarding 'fairness'.   

[dean]

Excess school funding for athletics.  I understand some money should go towards it but some places, especially my town, go way overboard.  My town put in a mecca of basketballs courts all on tax payer's dollar.  I for one don't see a point in having a building with 5 courts and secondly don't really want to pay for it.  I'd rather see my tax dollars go for stuff like the latest computers and other training which school is for after all.  Even IF someone made the NBA or NFL from my town out of high school I doubt we'd see any money back from their million dollar contract.

Since I am paying for the basketball mecca I feel I should have access to it day and night along with my fellow taxpayers.

I imagine in some ways building a stadium a bit of an economical decision since you can always rent out the basketball courts to various sporting bodies and recoup some of the cost [even make some money], something harder in other disciplines.

[AndyC]

What really grinds my gears is when the same local politician to whom I had to explain the concept of 'conflict of interest' gets condescending toward me when discussing an issue regarding 'fairness'.   

All-candidates meeting in Haldimand?

Must be fun voting in one of those single-tier rural conglomerations down south. Glad I live in a place small enough that I know all but a couple of the candidates personally, and all of them are concerned with the same area.

[Newt]

What really grinds my gears is when the same local politician to whom I had to explain the concept of 'conflict of interest' gets condescending toward me when discussing an issue regarding 'fairness'.   

All-candidates meeting in Haldimand?

Don't you know it!  The smarmy git.   

[Mr. DS]

I personally don't like when places like "Mickie D's" tries to be healthy.  Thats why I like BK, they simply keep throwing more fatty stuff on their menu as if to say "F-You" to the health nuts.  Hey I'm all for a healthy lifestyle, I eat pretty good and moderate my fat intake.  BUT if I want health food I know better than go to BK.  When I want grease, fat and salt...thats the place man.