Happy Days

Snowdrops in the Churchyard this morning 
Apologies for the thumb

I nearly got my head kicked in this morning.
Not something you expect in a lane above the village at 10.30 on a Sunday morning.
Mary and I had stopped to say hello to Mrs Trellis and her greyhound Blue when a large black car, tinted windows and a throaty exhaust roared past us without slowing down.
The dogs jumped as we did, so I gave one of those very British open palmed shoulder shrugs and the car reached the top of the hill in front of us, in order to say " thanks for slowing down"
The car stopped for a long moment
And as Mrs Trellis gulped a large gorilla-sized man got out to stare at us.
" what are you effing looking at? " the gorilla bellowed furiously
" You didn't slow down and your exhaust scared the dogs!" I countered not unreasonably
" You were in the middle of the fucking road!" the man shouted waving his arms
There was no point arguing as patiently were couldn't have been in the middle of the lane as he had passed us easily.
Mrs Trellis' bobble hat twitched nervously
There was a stand off silence for a few moments as the aggrieved gorilla thought about what to do, and eventually he got into his car to drive off, only then did I conceded to myself that we were lucky. Luckily a silly stare could have landed me into hospital.
When I was on ITU I remember having a conversation with a police officer who told me that cocaine use was rife in North Wales. Cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamine and steroids all stimulate the user into violent rages and aggression and they are drugs of choice by more people that I could shake a stick at. " Normal people like yourself have no idea just how common drug taking is " I remember the policeman saying " would you think of cocaine at breakfast time with your sugar puffs? They would " He added cheerfully
We have a brave new world.
I'm not saying that the gorilla in the lane had taken drugs...perhaps he had...whose to know.....more likely he was just an angry person upset that a middle aged dog walker had looked at him "in the wrong sort of way" a look which he had caught in his rear view mirror .

74 comments:

  1. Those people scare the crap out of me, usually when I’m Minding my business in K-mart!

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    1. It's normal behaviour to too many people

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  2. It's a good job you didn't give that nasty man two fingers as he zoomed past... or even the single-fingered American salute. Such situations can be very distressing. I am glad you successfully deflated his wrath instead of adding fuel to the fire. He was what we call in Yorkshire an "ignorant twat".

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  3. But would you call him an ignorant twat to his face YP.

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    1. Only an idiot or someone with a gun would

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    2. There would be no point in calling him an "ignorant twat" to his face as ignorant twats are incapable of changing their ways. "Once an ignorant twat - always an ignorant twat" is another wise Yorkshire saying.

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  4. Anonymous1:26 pm

    I doubt he was on drugs, arsehole more like. How lucky were you to have the lovely Mrs Trellis as a witness and the pack of dogs especially winnie kept him at bay and I'm sure having a stand off with you would be enough to scare the living day lights out him.

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    1. Too much aggression for one look me thinks

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    2. Anonymous3:33 pm

      Hope Mrs Trellis has recovered and is OK. A pots of tea and a slice of victorian sponge helps.

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    3. She probably had a sweet sherry

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  5. You must have an amazing "Stink Eye"...

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  6. There is an awful lot of things also beginning with C around these days. I hate aggressive drivers.

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  7. Obviously an idiot; a normal person would have slowed down and waved.

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  8. Great photo (apart from the thumb). There's some nasty people out there, be careful who you take on.

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  9. I think that some people are just unbalanced & if one approaches it's advisable not to engage with them.I have concerns of methamphetamine close to where I live.The smell is very ,very toxic & it made me feel ill.I reported it to the local police but unfortunately on this occasion I heard nothing x

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  10. He has fabulous eye sight....eyes that see things were they aren't for one and eyes that can pick up a 'look' on someone's face in his rear view from the top of a sodding hill. He may indeed have been on drugs but more than likely he was just an obnoxious bully looking for an easy target. You had a witness with you. It wouldn't have worked for him. Lucky indeed.

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  11. Anonymous2:03 pm

    This reminds me of an event that happened a year or so ago. My car has hands free phone and I was driving along talking to my son who had called me. A driver cut in front and hit the brakes unreasonably hard. My son said something funny so I threw my head back a little and had a laugh. At the next lights the driver of the car in front jumped out and walked up to my open window "who do you think you are badmouthing?". I told him I didn't know what he was talking about but I was talking to my son on the phone, at that point a loud voice from the void said "what's up dad? Who are you talking to?". The aggressive driver noticed that the light was now green, trotted back to his car and drove off at speed. Some people are so aggressive that they take offence at gestures that have nothing to do with them and sadly there have always been people like that.

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    1. Yes and I do think drugs have a place in this level of sudden anger and potential violence


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  12. no snowdrops here yet; too early.

    ignorant arseholes are everywhere; here they also carry guns.

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  13. Lots of crazies out there, stay safe.

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  14. The fact that he even looked back through his rear-view mirror tells us that he knew exactly what he was doing and looking for a good reaction to his 'deeds'. Otherwise he would have kept going, don't you think? Winnie would have torn him apart...right?

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    1. We are not amused that you have SNOWDROPS in January!!

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    2. Good point jimbo ( aka Sherlock) x

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    3. Not only have snowdrops, they look like snow!

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  15. What is there to say except that some people are just complete assholes? And by your description of the man, sounds to me like he might be experience what I've heard described as "roid rage". People who abuse steroids in order to build muscle sometimes have the side effects of being rather perpetually inappropriately angry.

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    1. Steroids was my first thought, I've been assaulted by a steroid freak before

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  16. Life is never dull in your neck of the woods John... come to Hythe next time you are down in Broadstairs. Folk here are so friendly.

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    1. You are further south then?

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    2. Sure am! Just past Folkestone and what a buzzy town that has become. Back in the day my old dad lived in Deal, which in those days was a dreary one horse town. Now it is another Notting Hill on sea. Just hope Hythe doesn’t go the same way?

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  17. That picture is great, thumb aside.

    Perhaps the gorilla is writing of his encounter with the brave dog man as well. Probably ruing his behavior and discussing the lesson he learned.

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  18. The Snowdrops are wonderful this year aren't they, we have masses of them over the animal resting places (grave area), that I stand watching as I wash the pots. And now last years transplanted ones are coming up in the front patch.

    I'm glad your little stand off passed without incident, there's some real tossers out there these days. I usually go all Mancunian and virtually challenge them to a duel!!

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    1. I would have pounded into chicken feed

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  19. My ex husband would be more than capable of starting a fight for that and as far as I know was never on anything. I think it was the huge chip he had on his shoulder from being a skinny runt. I did once here in France have a chap pull out in front of me in town and I had to slam my brakes on. I am very, very laid back and the old geezer jumped out of his car and started yelling did I not know that there was priority to the right. I got out the car and said "yep I think I did know that but not when there's a bloody white line directly in front of YOUR car". Arsehole didn't even apologize (they hate it even more when THEY are in the wrong). My son cringed but we got a great laugh out of the look on his face though. Anna

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    1. Yes he was obviously in the wrong but the brain could not compete

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  20. You never know who the hell is on drugs these days.

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  21. Perhaps he was just an angry person, manic sort. I know one. She can can do exactly as did your gorilla, with no provocation except what she imagined. There's no accounting for the world and what's in it.

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  22. As we say here in Canada, "put the boots to him", no kidding John, you did the right thing. I remember when I went to get my license to drive, the instructor said to always let a hot head go, he said now a days they could have a knife or gun. He said they could be driving away from just killing someone and now you are getting into an argument with a crazed person.

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    1. I find it hard to keep my mouth shut at the best of times

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  23. Isn't the reason for speed limits due to the fact one never knows what will be in the middle of the road or on the side of it? His statement was about as stupid as his driving!

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    1. The lane is almost single track , two cars can pass each other but only at some parts of the road

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  24. Anonymous4:44 pm

    So many headcases on the road it's scary. You wouldn't believe the road rage incident I witnessed the other night driving home from work between an articulated lorry and some prick in a pickup truck. Got it on dash cam too!

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    1. Have you put it on YouTube?

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    2. Anonymous6:04 pm

      Not a bad idea. Perhaps I'll upload it tomorrow.

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    3. Anonymous7:28 am

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqS8TI4ZMrs

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    4. Wow, that pickup driver REALLY wanted to get past the artic didn't he?

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    5. Anonymous10:45 am

      Thing is, he started off in front, apparently deliberately holding up the lorry.

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    6. It's the 'I, Me, Myself' thing isn't it. I want, therefore.....

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    7. Anonymous1:16 pm

      There's a lot of that about, Col.
      Scary times.

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  25. Ooer John. Glad it was Mrs Trellis and not me. I would have been scared stiff, I don't care for monkeys of any variety.

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  26. Beautiful photo with the snowdrops and the church and gravestones in the backgrounds.
    People who "bark" are usually weak, however they frighten me.
    Greetings Maria x

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  27. Speed kills!!! end of story , no excuse for the beast trying to say you were in middle of the road.

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  28. What a shame. It over shadowed the beautiful snowdrop scene in the church yard. I hope you were still able to enjoy them and your walk still???

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  29. I have had to learn not to roll my eyes or mutter when people get me crazy with their stupidity .. especially since I would be stupid to get myself into a fix , not having a weapon or karate belt lol

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  30. When SWMBO tells me of how she made an angry gesture or spoke harshly to some idiot I shudder and tell her (once again) not to do that because so many people (Americans) are armed these days.

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  31. The road is full with potential killers. Even if the light is green, one should look at all sides.

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  32. You could have cupped your hand behind your ear and said (with a deaf person accent) "Sorry, I'm deaf what did you say?" ...repeat as needed!

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  33. When living/driving in California you learn to dive only looking ahead. For several years, drive by shooting on one stretch of the 405 where innocent people were shot as they got in the way. LA is bad but Oakland is worst. Do not even think of honking your horn. That is just asking for a fight. Awful and they are drug related.

    Hope Mrs. Trellis if fine by now.
    cheers, parsnip and mandibles

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  34. But you have snowdrops and it's still January! How could anything be wrong in the world?

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    1. We always have them now...sometimes earlier!

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    2. Lynn Marie9:03 pm

      I'm trying really hard to be happy for you & not jealous.

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  35. Probably he only looked in his rear view mirror to check that he hadn't actually hit you???

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  36. I had a situation with a driver (going too slow and would not let me pass) this morning also - not pleasant but civil. My pup was safe and sound in the seat next to me.

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  37. Road rage and drugs are everywhere sadly.

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  38. Every so often I forgot myself and react like you did and I'm reminded by Jerry that you never know what nutcase might be behind the wheel.

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  39. The extent of drug use among the population is staggeringly high, and if it often leads to violent rages it's not surprising people are so belligerent at the slightest provocation. Of course your local thug might simply have been looking for a fight, as a lot of men are.

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  40. Wow! You're right -- it's well worth remembering that people around us may not be sober.

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  41. Enjoy with video model sexy that get top in the world

    Cup Z Sexy Girl

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  42. Thank goodness he moved on.

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I love all comments Except abusive ones from arseholes