I pulled up at the red light turning onto the MacDonald Bridge from Dartmouth to the minivan in front of me just sitting there waiting for the light to turn green. There is no right turn on red, that’s true, but only between 6am and 9am and 4pm and 6 pm. It was 9:10 am. So, because we didn’t have to just sit there, I honked my horn. The minivan didn’t move, either because they didn’t know it was after 9 am or because they couldn’t see the sign from their position. In any case, I was annoyed enough, but then YOU had to show up and block the other lane. You, Mr. Mid-50s on a motorcycle being all high and mighty, commiserating with minivan and shaking your head at me, tapping on the side of your helmet like I was the one being a dumbass, while I continued to honk and firmly inform you that it was “AFTER 9!” while tapping my watch. OK, so maybe I was being a little aggro, but for fuck’s sake, I was RIGHT and you were being a dick. You had a full view of the sign and yet you just assumed that I, a young woman, was the one in the wrong. Fuck you and your minivan friend for wasting two minutes of my time with your bullshit. I’m not vindictive enough to wish you physical harm, but I would find it pretty satisfying if a garbage truck backed over your bike while it was parked outside whatever shitty workplace you were going to. —Cranky Sedan
This article appears in Aug 24-30, 2017.
By using terms like “mansplaining” you just showed that you’re what’s wrong with society. Stop trying to make gender an issue.
Oh, THAT’s what’s wrong with society? Shit, here I am thinking there are bigger issues than whether people use the term “mansplain”. You’re a true hero for your cause, SEANSHADILAY1! Ps, OP might be wrong that her experience had anything to do with gender, but that doesn’t mean sexism has magically been erased from planet earth. Sheesh.
Sure it exists, look at the middle east… Where’s the women’s march on the Saudi embassy?
Sorry, Sean, today’s woman only march for issues that can be twisted into being sexist. There is a whole industry built around “equality” that, if and when it is reached, will collapse and the whole bunch will be tossed back into the real world of working and having actual careers. And yes, Joan, conjuring up sexism where it doesn’t exist only marginalizes the so called plight of the modern, Western Woman.
Equality doesn’t mean that everyone gets the life they feel they deserve.
PS; Wonder Woman (the movie) was a piece of trash and got turned off by my wife after 15 mins.
Does the OP even realize that the minivan doesn’t HAVE to turn right on red? It’s their right to sit there until the light changes.
The bike that pulled up was probably shaking his head, asking the minivan how your dumbass was able to obtain a drivers license.
they didn’t waste 2 minutes of your time, they saved the rest of us 2 minutes of not having to deal with your delusional ideas of everything being sexist.
I’m not vindictive enough to wish you physical harm, but I would find it pretty satisfying if the next time you turn right on red, a garbage truck plows into you sedan rendering it impossible to get home to your shitty apartment with your 4 cats.
Sure, no one HAS to turn right there, but that’s not a dangerous corner, it’s not even really a corner in the normal sense, it’s not a hard right. I guess it’s fine to be angry about OP’s use of terminology and argue about whether anyone was sexist if that’s what you’re into, but don’t try to pretend that the mini van was in the right…that’s just making excuses for the usual terrible driving techniques employed by Nova Scotia drivers…right alongside going too slow for the flow of traffic, not signalling, and letting drivers turn left before going straight. She had every right to be pissed about the bad driving, I would have been laying on the horn too.
Mansplaining Mike: Isn’t wishing the OP physical harm exactly what you’re doing when you say you hope a garbage truck runs into her car while she’s driving it? She only hoped for a bit of property destruction, but you took it to another level in your attempt at using her words against her. Your hysteria is causing you to contradict yourself. Also, there’s really no need to bring anyone’s precious kitties into this.