What made you smile today?

[Buffalobiian]

Exams finished for a while so relaxed and learned the 2015 Mazda MX-5 has been revealed, with a starting price of $30 000.

[Archangel]

[Buffalobiian]

Hah, cute. If that was a certain other female titan though, I'm not sure if I would be laughing.

[shinta|hikari]

It depends how sexy the cosplayer for her would be.

[Animeniax]

Looking out the window from my office, I noticed someone parked his utility truck next to my car in the office parking lot. So I went outside to see if there was anything worth getting upset about. Walked up to the truck, it's parked outside the lines and too close to my car, and the guy is still inside his truck. I keep walking, waiting to hear a thunk when he inevitably opens his door and dings my car, at which point I'd have to talk to him and make a scene. To my surprise, the truck door opens slowly and cautiously and a big burly guy gets out, but he's taking care not to hit my car with his door. He edges his way out past my car and walks off, leaving me flabbergasted, a bit ashamed for assuming, but mostly happy that people can be considerate and courteous. That made me smile.

[Abdula]

That right there is a great example of why you are such a likable individual Ani. You see the truck pull up, you believe that he is going to hit your car with his door but instead of taking some action to prevent this. You go outside, as your post implies, specifically so that you can witness him hitting your car because then you would have to talk to him and make a scene. This is just golden, this is George Constanza level angst. I applaud your honesty.

[Animeniax]

That right there is a great example of why you are such a likable individual Ani. You see the truck pull up, you believe that he is going to hit your car with his door but instead of taking some action to prevent this. You go outside, as your post implies, specifically so that you can witness him hitting your car because then you would have to talk to him and make a scene. This is just golden, this is George Constanza level angst. I applaud your honesty.

No, when I first noticed the truck was parked next to my car, I went outside to see how close he was and whether or not I'd want to move my car. Outside I noticed the truck was indeed parked too close to my car, and that the driver was still in the car. What you're suggesting is that I should have walked up to the driver and asked him to be careful not to ding my car, or to move his truck and park properly in the parking space. That is why you live in a dream world. In the real world that kind of confrontation would only cause more problems, as the truck guy could easily take offense. The way I handled it, I left it up to him if there would be a confrontation, as he did not even notice me walking past and he did not know it was my car next to his truck. As it turns out, I made the best choice, gave the guy a chance to be a good guy, and happily found myself proven wrong (albeit only anecdotally in this one instance) as he showed himself to be a decent human being and considerate of others' property by carefully exiting his vehicle without striking mine. That's the end of the situation, as it should be.

[Abdula]

Ani, if the wording of your post was misleading that is on you.

No, when I first noticed the truck was parked next to my car, I went outside to see how close he was and whether or not I'd want to move my car. Outside I noticed the truck was indeed parked too close to my car, and that the driver was still in the car.

So I did not misunderstand that. You noticed the truck was too close and that the driver was still in the truck. You thought it was very likely that he was going to ding your car but you took no preventive action. Not even simply speaking to him or moving your car.

What you're suggesting is that I should have walked up to the driver and asked him to be careful not to ding my car, or to move his truck and park properly in the parking space. That is why you live in a dream world. In the real world that kind of confrontation would only cause more problems, as the truck guy could easily take offense.

Ah, I see. Someone who was likely to flip out simply because you warned him not to hit your car would also be, as you said, cautious, consider and courteous enough to take steps to avoid hitting your car.

The way I handled it, I left it up to him if there would be a confrontation, as he did not even notice me walking past and he did not know it was my car next to his truck.

This is just funny. You didn't handle it. You did nothing! That is not handling it. It was your prerogative to protect your car but you left that up to him. It is humorous that you mention he did not know that you were even present or that it was your car. Given the situation I would think that making him aware of your presence and indicating that it was your car would have made him cautious of hitting that car. That would have required nothing move that you unlocking, approaching or entering your car.

I keep walking, waiting to hear a thunk when he INEVITABLY opens his door and dings my car, at which point I'd have to talk to him and make a scene. To my surprise, the truck door opens slowly and cautiously and a big burly guy gets out, but he's taking care not to hit my car with his door. He edges his way out past my car and walks off, leaving me flabbergasted, a bit ashamed for assuming, but mostly happy that people can be considerate and courteous. That made me smile.

As it turns out, I made the best choice, gave the guy a chance to be a good guy, and happily found myself proven wrong (albeit only anecdotally in this one instance) as he showed himself to be a decent human being and considerate of others' property by carefully exiting his vehicle without striking mine. That's the end of the situation, as it should be.

Pardon me for reading your posts and coming to the wrong conclusion.

Seeing Abdula post made me smile

Hey Arch. It does feel good to be back.

[Animeniax]

Ani, if the wording of your post was misleading that is on you.

With your history on the forums? That's a knee-slapper.

So I did not misunderstand that. You noticed the truck was too close and that the driver was still in the truck. You thought it was very likely that he was going to ding your car but you took no preventive action. Not even simply speaking to him or moving your car.

Ah, I see. Someone who was likely to flip out simply because you warned him not to hit your car would also be, as you said, cautious, consider and courteous enough to take steps to avoid hitting your car.

How could I know that he would be cautious and courteous until after the fact? To start he parked his big truck too close to my car.

This is just funny. You didn't handle it. You did nothing! That is not handling it. It was your prerogative to protect your car but you left that up to him. It is humorous that you mention he did not know that you were even present or that it was your car. Given the situation I would think that making him aware of your presence and indicating that it was your car would have made him cautious of hitting that car. That would have required nothing move that you unlocking, approaching or entering your car.

Sometimes inaction is the best action. Jumping the gun or jumping to conclusions can get you in much worse situations. As demonstrated here, doing nothing led to the best outcome.

Pardon me for reading your posts and coming to the wrong conclusion.

No problem, we're pretty used to it here .

[Archangel]

Seeing Abdula post made me smile

[Abdula]

For the record, I was not attempting to play psychiatrist. Kraco hit the nail on the head. In most cases you simply had to let yourself be seen and that would have probably been enough. You left your office to check your car and see if there was any damage. You realized that the driver was still in the vehicle and you just waited around to see if he would hit your car. You lost me right there. It seemed like you were being proactive and then for no apparent reason you just decided to wait and see, which just makes no sense to me.

If the guy indeed did not see you as you believe, and as Kraco said, had heedlessly jumped out of the truck paying no attention to his surroundings and had damaged your car. Then your post would have been in the bitching thread and I would have laughed at it.

[Buffalobiian]

Action-wise, I would have done the same as Ani. This is from my inherent desire to reduce responsibility for myself - if he doesn't dint my car then I didn't commit to any accusations - if he did, then he's at fault when I approach him.

I do not hold the same ideas of "inevitability" though, so I see where Abdula is coming from. He's basically saying that Ani seemed like he was "camping" the guy for his move as opposed to simply observing. My interpretation of Abdula is that "If you expect the guy to hit your car, take appropriate action to stop him."

[Ryllharu]

Action-wise, I would have done the same as Ani. This is from my inherent desire to reduce responsibility for myself - if he doesn't dint my car then I didn't commit to any accusations - if he did, then he's at fault when I approach him.

But your body kits aren't even painted!

[Kraco]

Action-wise, I would have done the same as Ani.

Action wise, I'd have gone to my car, acting as if I was retrieving something from there. Like I said before, only a clinical fool would carelessly open his door hitting the next car if somebody was clearly there to witness the incident, especially if the somebody was the owner of the victim car. The most important thing would be to prevent any incident from happening in the first place, not catch the culprit. That's why I said Ani did enough. Nobody knows if the person had done anything wrong even without him being there, but I think a driver sitting in a car pays attention to the outside instinctively, and he likely notice Ani even if Ani feels like he didn't. Which was enough.

[Animeniax]

Playing Destiny, started the day with no real legendary or exotic eq (except the faction class banner). Now I have 2 pieces of exotic eq and 2 pieces of legendary eq (plus the faction class banner). I also seem to have hit a switch in my performance in PvP, routinely getting more kills than deaths in a round. Just earlier this week I was dying 3x as many times as scoring kills each game. Small things but they made me smile.

[Animeniax]

Hulk-smashed another PS3 controller last night out of anger and frustration at Destiny PvP, now the L stick is wonky. There was a bit of lag but I had also just gone for a HIIT run so I was tired, it was late, and my reaction times were a little off. I need to learn to step away from games when I'm tired, as it affects my performance and ends up with broken controllers. But I smiled this morning because I found I still have the last controller where I broke the R1 and R2 buttons via hulk-smash. Between the two I should be able to get one good working controller.

[Buffalobiian]

I need to learn to step away from games when I'm tired

You need to learn to stop breaking your own property.

[Animeniax]

You need to learn to stop breaking your own property.

Simpler said than done, and it is a good outlet because I feel immediate shame and disappointment in myself that lasts a while and keeps me grounded. It's like a psychiatrist visit for $45. Which kinda sucks, PS3 controllers now cost $45. Last year they cost $40.

[Buffalobiian]

Do you do this when you play on other people's consoles?

[Animeniax]

Do you do this when you play on other people's consoles?

Of course not. I don't get in the same super-focused mindset when playing games with others. When I'm hunkered down to play solo, I get very competitive and into it, and hence very outraged when the computer cheats or the controller doesn't do what I asked it to.

I've thrown a friend's controller down before. I didn't break it though.

I once punched my CRT TV after losing to Akuma's cheapshot in SF too many times. It flew back and hit the wall. But it was undamaged.

I once broke my car's windshield when I jabbed it because I disliked a haircut I got.

I've stopped hitting things as much in recent years. I've learned to control, or rather, detach myself from such emotions and impulses. That made me smile (in a sinister, psychopathic way).

Each time I break something in a fit of rage (it's relatively rare, only seems to happen when I'm playing video games) I feel that shame and remorse and it keeps me from doing it again for a while. It's not an issue of control for me, just means I'm alive and well.