++> > For the record:
++> >
++> > striping is the neat cosmetic stuff that runs down the length of your car
++> > stripping is what Cindy Crawford (or Fabio, depending on your sex or
++> > persuasion) does in your dreams.
++> > etc etc etc.
This isn't really British cars related, but perhaps
british-cars@autox.team.net related. Having spent the last several years
on the internet, I've made a few observations about how people interact and
its much like the way we drive (at least here in the states). People seem
to have a set distance around themselves where inside they acknowledge
others as living beings and outside which they don't. A perfect example
happened the other day in the Burger King drive up window. There were two
lanes which merged into one in a 'Y' shape. I started to merge when someone
from the other lane practically floored their car and cut me off. Had I not
swerved out of the way, he'd have mashed my front end. Clearly there
was a misunderstanding about whose turn it was, but I thought his reaction
was way out of control. This sort of thing happens all the time on the
freeway. People cutting each other off, tailgating, passing on the shoulder,
trapping people behind them... On the other hand, if the drive-in guy and
I were in a bank line, he'd have said something like, "excuse me, whose
turn is it?" or "go ahead, I'm in no hurry." I think it all has to do
with personal space. In a car, you are alone in the world. The same is
true for the internet and I have seen some VERY rude exchanges. Somehow,
the Britcars group isn't that way (perhaps with one exception, when that
guy said that racing in the United States was a joke a couple of years
ago- the sparks sure flew then). I wonder why this is. I guess I choose to
believe that this hobby attracts a certain type of person.
If you are limited to writing your responses, then this becomes your
voice. I personally wouldn't care if someone corrected my spelling, but then
I wouldn't care if someone corrected my pronunciation of a word either. I
wonder if some people lurk on this list because they are worried of how
others might comment on their written voice? Just a late night thought.
BTW, I wonder how Fabio would sound on the net- An so I get een
mah leettel british carr an ah wonner eef she looking at mhee. Ah drheem
mhaybee Cindee fall for mee an we go for long drives een da countree...
--
William Woodruff woodruff@caen.engin.umich.edu
Ann Arbor MI
|