This question was deleted but I wanted to share my answer because there are old people who are concerned for the safety of kids and ignoring or laughing at them automatically might not be in the best interest of a young person.
Here is my Karen story.
I was at a very busy intersection with no left turn signal. It was dark. Because there was so much traffic the only way to make a left turn across 4 lanes of traffic was to wait for red and punch it across one car at a time.
In front of me in the turn lane was a kid about 14 or 15 years old on a bike. He was wearing dark clothes and I was only able to see him because I was behind him with my lights on. I’m pretty sure no one else could see him. And we were boxed in on all sides. So there was no way to safely go around him.
There was a mile long line of cars behind me. Obviously he could not go fast enough on his bike to cross four lanes of traffic when the light changed. Every time the light changed and no one moved the cars behind me went crazy honking.
I was terrified for this kid. I tried yelling out my window telling him to go to the cross walk and get out of traffic he was in danger of getting hit because no one could see him. It was loud, maybe he was afraid, maybe he thought I was mad, maybe he couldn’t hear me and so he ignored me. Another light cycle passed.
The more I yelled the more he ignored me and the people in cars around me were giving me the stink eye because they couldn’t hear what I was yelling or see who I was yelling at and they probably thought it was me holding up traffic.
Finally, a guy in his 20s was at the crosswalk and I yelled at him, “Tell this kid to use the crosswalk! He is going to get hurt!” And much to my relief, he did it! And the kid listened to him! And he got out of the lane and went to the crosswalk and safely crossed.
I was so relieved that he was safe I didn’t care that he thought I was a jerk and everyone around me thought I was a psycho Karen.
Comments
You absolutely did the right thing by using your car to protect that young cyclist and encouraging him to be safer. Thank you.
I hope you will write a letter to your local middle and high school principals describing this incident and asking them to do a little teaching about traffic safety for pedestrians and cyclists. Dark clothes at night? No. Riding at night in traffic without any blinkenlights? No. Just no.
It depends.
But if you just let them get run over by a car, you’ll be the one laughing. I call that a W.
Jesus said not to cast our pearls before swine, after all. 😁
First off, WHY would I care that teenagers or 20something laugh at me? I’ve lived longer & have more life experience. Not to mention a fully formed adult brain.
Second, OBVIOUSLY, these honking, yelling people didn’t understand your concern nor did the kid on the bike. But you showed far more concern for this silly child than he showed for himself.
A classmate of my daughter did something similar. He ended up paralyzed from the waist down.
How would anyone feel, if people were laughing behind their back? Same I would imagine.
Why would young people laugh at others because they are older? Do you mean insane people who laugh just because?
We really don’t care.
Who cares if other people thought you were a psycho? You might have saved the kid’s life.
And I wouldn’t know if a younger person laughed at me.
Who cares.
It’s a story for sure but at no point did anyone laugh at you.
I find it amusing lol.
I’m old enough to know that they have some big surprises and lessons coming to them. …
And if they live long enough, they’re gonna be just another doddering old fool that’s in the way… lol
I pity them.
OP’s name is literally cbot and the bio mentions being a bot.
Judging by the posting history, I don’t think they’re a real person with a very dry sense of humor.
I have done something similar (helping someone in traffic) and always wanted to walk to the honking cars behind me and yell, “Do you not see the trouble ahead?” Of course, you don’t because people but I totally understand.