to have verbally abused an old man i the street today?!

[smeeinit]

ok,im sure i am BUT in was bloody annoyed
so im driving along (on a road obviously) at around 20mph through town and from nowhere out pops an elderly gent in the middle of the road,i say elderly but he was proberly under 70!
i have to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting him and he shakes his head at me?!
huh? im on a road in a car driving 10mph UNDER the speed limit, hes swaggering across said road rather than walking 50ft to pelican crossing and i get a head shake?!

now verbally abusing people isnt a usual thing for me to do but i was rather angry so put the window down and said....

"dont go shaking ya head at me darlin,this is a road not a f**kin path love,go use the crosing"

so the proper thing would have been to smile politly and drive on wouldnt it?! so AIBU to have been abusive to an old guy?

I was nearly ran over by a road raging pensioner on one of those mobilitly scooters last week.

I was a little abusive

yabu

everyone has an off day
he was probaby a bit scared

Giving someone abuse is never going to be "reasonable" in my view.
It is sometimes understandable though...

He's probably on Oldblokesnet right now: "AIBU to think I should be allowed to cross the road without being abused?"

If you want to say something yes you can, he was indeed in the wrong. But there really wasn't any need to swear at him. I'm not sure you will get any other response here tbh.

You certainly abandoned the moral highground at a run there, OP!

Yabu. You were stressed though. And he's clearly a senile old fart. But you know you shouldn't have shouted, even if he did deserve it

Well, I wouldn't have done that.

I may well have had a mutter to myself in the confines of the car, but I wouldn't have sworn at him in the street. It would make me feel like an old fishwife, and I think I'm above such things.

@ "Oldblokesnet"

oh i didnt shout at him prettybutterfly....just swore!

YANBU. Well, maybe you shouldn't have done it, but I would have done the same.

YANBU - common sense does not have an age limit.

I got a telling off when I let a lady on in front of me on the train. She then had a go at me when I shoved her because her arm was blocking the way. This was after saing 'excuse me'. She was late middle age. She also told me she would 'throw me off the train.

Maybe he'll think twice the next time he crosses the road.

Oh, and nice use of the word 'love'. Very patronising!

"dont go shaking ya head at me darlin,this is a road not a f**kin path love,go use the crosing"

lol you sounds like a guy ritchie character.

yanbu in my book. pedestrians should take as much care to not caus accidents in such situations as drivers are obliged to.

If he stepped out right in front of you he was wrong. I do cross roads at other places than crossings though. I assume if I give you plenty of warning that you will slow down.

My reaction would've been to lower the window and laugh loudly and probably rather hysterically at him.

mayorquimby.....hahahahaha,a Guy Ritchie actor!!!

How could he pop out from nowhere in the middle of the road? Did he have a trap door? Unless you saw him begin to cross he must have started crossing before you drove into view - probably shaking his head at himself thinking God I can't even get myself safely across the road these days I should have used that crossing 50ft up the road but I'm so tired and my legs ache - I've popped into town early to get the dw Mamma Mia dvd for Christmas now going back to the safety of my armchair with a nice cup of tea.

Have some compassion - that'll be you one day.

My mum is in her seventies and finds it a very scary experience crossing roads. 20 MPH looks a lot faster to an old person and often my mum doesn't even see the cars coming before they are upon her. Old people often suffer dizziness and disorientation and this comes on very suddenly with no warning. People swearing and being generally nasty and impatient doesn't actually help at all.

YABU.

I would of beeped the horn and given him the finger lol!

(runs off this thread to start pedestrian Rage to relieve my stress)

PS if he wasn't old would you have been so bothered about swearing at him?

Save your anger for the twatty teenagers who seem to wait at crossings then just fling themselves across just when the traffic is reaching full speed or those with a death wish on their bikes with no lights.

Your post has got me thinking....has anyone else noticed an increase in pedestrians generally (not necessarily the elderly) who seem to think that they have right of way on a road?

I find that people cross the road in front of my car all the time -they look, they see you coming but they cross anyway knowing that you've seen them so therefore causing you to slow down/stop to let them finish crossing.

YANBU. It's the head shaking bit on his part that would have got on my wick, as it implies that you were at fault, and so I would probably have reacted in a similar way.

I'm not sure that describing a theoretical path as 'fucking' counts as swearing at him. If you had called him a fucker, that would be bad, but using the word 'fucking' in the sentence doesn't make you lose moral high ground - it emphasizes the potential gravity of the situation.

yab a tad u.buuuuut i think given that you could have run him over you did quite well.

that doesnt make sense.yabu a bit

MsPontipine- no that wont be me one day,i have enough sense to use the crossing,50ft away, legs hurting,dog tired or not.thats what crossing are there for
he appeared form behind a row of parked cars,hence not seeing him.

Norbert - Yes, there is a v. secret critical mass-style guerrilla-pedestrian movement (ahem) afoot. We communicate, secretly, via the internet. We aim to bring car drivers to a halt to a halt. Reclaim the Roads!

S'mee - please tell me you were wearing Boden and driving a Saab when you channelled white van man.