Dude in a wheelchair ran my hat over!

[citRon]

So I'm sitting in one of my Anthropology classes waiting for it to start. I Always sit on the front row on the end. I had my Saddleback Leather bag with my Federation on top of it on the floor beside me, at the end of the table. Dude in the wheelchair rolled up to the front of the class to talk to the professor while he was setting up. (Insert P.C. statement here ) Ok, I am not 'handicap intolerable' or 'sympathetically challenged'. On the contrary, due to an injury to my spine at work, I, at the tender age of 38, need to use a cane sometimes to stay upright. Back to rant- On his way back, he cut the corner too sharp, clipped the end of my bag with the back wheel spinning it around and knocking my hat off and then running it over. :rage:
He didn't even bat an eye.
The co-ed and dude that sit behind me were horrified . Co-ed said "guess you didn't want that!" I calmly got my bag situated, picked up my hat, brushed off the tread marks, pulled the ribbon back down into place and set it down. Co-ed and I shared a silent moment of disbelief.
No "sorry", "oops" or any recognition of his mistake.
I wasn't too bothered by it really, since it's a Fed. Had it been one of my vintage lids, I probably would have let chair dude meet 'Angry, White, God- Fearing, Tax Paying Southern Hat Guy' with a few choice words.
Rant over

 

[Not-Bogart13]

That whole "people are people" concept, while true, is double edged. Good and Bad. Anyone can be rude, walking or not.

I feel your pain, but I applaud you for keeping your composure, and proving to be the better man in the situation.

Some semi-fftopic: advice, from one who has studied this sort of stuff (since you seem concerned with it); "Dude in a wheelchair" is a fair descriptor that does not show any prejudice, but "Co-ed" is probably where you lost you PC path. That term is often used as shorthand for any female college student of the young and very attractive variety. It singles such women out as being a different class of student (objectified and labeled as a lesser or secondary variety).

I'm sure you didn't mean it in a demeaning way, and PC can be a real headache. But some terms are nothing but negative, even if they don't sound bad. I don't mean it as an attack. Just an attempt to improve the world, one vocabulary word at a time.

 

[KY Gentleman]

Next time continue wearing your Fed.
When the prof asks you to remove it say "the last time I did 'Dude in a wheelchair wrecked it!"

 

[avedwards]

I take it the hat made a full recovery then?

And about being PC, don't bother. At least in Britain PC is a waste of time. :rage: Some PC are worse than the banned word. e.g. I'd rather be small than "vertically challenged" (PC term) Are tall people therefore "vertically winning"?

 

[nickn5]

Are tall people therefore "vertically winning"?

fftopic: Not sure about that, but I do know that small-headed people are 'lots of nice hat winning' at the moment on Ebay :rage: :rage: fftopic:


Good job you had a Fed, citRon. They wheely seem to take any punishment, unlike many others. It's a wheel hat now... lol

N.

 

[Colby Jack]

'Angry, White, God- Fearing, Tax Paying Southern Hat Guy' with a few choice words.

Now that would make a great image!....:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

I'd rather be small than "vertically challenged" (PC term) Are tall people therefore "vertically winning"?

No...I think we tall people enjoy the phrase "vertically superior"...

and Coed sounds fine to me...this is a vintage oriented site...and that's a fine vintage type word...

 

[gtdean48]

No...I think we tall people enjoy the phrase "vertically superior"...

Tall people are "vertically advanced"...

 

[Colby Jack]

Also good!

 

[Topdog]

You could always knock him out of his wheel chair.

 

[citRon]

That whole "people are people" concept, while true, is double edged. Good and Bad. Anyone can be rude, walking or not.

I feel your pain, but I applaud you for keeping your composure, and proving to be the better man in the situation.

Some semi-fftopic: advice, from one who has studied this sort of stuff (since you seem concerned with it); "Dude in a wheelchair" is a fair descriptor that does not show any prejudice, but "Co-ed" is probably where you lost you PC path. That term is often used as shorthand for any female college student of the young and very attractive variety. It singles such women out as being a different class of student (objectified and labeled as a lesser or secondary variety).

I'm sure you didn't mean it in a demeaning way, and PC can be a real headache. But some terms are nothing but negative, even if they don't sound bad. I don't mean it as an attack. Just an attempt to improve the world, one vocabulary word at a time.

Ok, 'Chick' behind me.
Just kidding- the reason I used 'Co-ed' was so if my wife read this post she wouldn't see 'the very hot female student'...

 

[handlebar bart]

Ok, 'Chick' behind me.

hot chick? Back to serious: Horrible story, much worse than the person that takes the hat off your head and pulls it down over their own.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

You could always knock him out of his wheel chair.

Sure, why not.

Or you could similarly damage a part of his wardrobe. Bump into him and tear his jacket, perhaps.

There's no excuse for his carelessness. No matter the person, the rampant obliviousness to one's surroundings continues apace. He (chap in wheelchair) may find himself in an altercation with someone less sanguine than our friend citRon. Sadly it may take his running into someone who won't accept such behaviour to change his ways.

bk

 

[Gilgamark]

So I'm sitting in one of my Anthropology classes waiting for it to start. I Always sit on the front row on the end. I had my Saddleback Leather bag with my Federation on top of it on the floor beside me, at the end of the table. Dude in the wheelchair rolled up to the front of the class to talk to the professor while he was setting up. (Insert P.C. statement here ) Ok, I am not 'handicap intolerable' or 'sympathetically challenged'. On the contrary, due to an injury to my spine at work, I, at the tender age of 38, need to use a cane sometimes to stay upright. Back to rant- On his way back, he cut the corner too sharp, clipped the end of my bag with the back wheel spinning it around and knocking my hat off and then running it over. :rage:
He didn't even bat an eye.
The co-ed and dude that sit behind me were horrified . Co-ed said "guess you didn't want that!" I calmly got my bag situated, picked up my hat, brushed off the tread marks, pulled the ribbon back down into place and set it down. Co-ed and I shared a silent moment of disbelief.
No "sorry", "oops" or any recognition of his mistake.
I wasn't too bothered by it really, since it's a Fed. Had it been one of my vintage lids, I probably would have let chair dude meet 'Angry, White, God- Fearing, Tax Paying Southern Hat Guy' with a few choice words.
Rant over

Wheelchair or not, this dude was an asshole in this situation.

Here's what had me irritated: yesterday, a group went to lunch at a Mexican joint in town. I wound up sitting at the corner of the table. As with just about every restaurant these days, there was no hat rack, so I hung my hat on my chair back . . .

Now, I was wearing a stingy brim, not a big hat. We were at the end of the lunch rush, so the place was fairly full; however, there was plenty of walk space between the tables . . .

Three people -- none of them employees, so they shouldn't have been rushed -- cut the corner and knocked my hat off. Not a single freakin' one of them stopped long enough to pick up my hat or had the common decency to apologize.

Unbelievable how rude people are these days. And this is the South. Aren't we supposed to be hospitable and all that horses**t?

 

[Drew B]

On the topic of being PC, I am of the opinion that being PC can also be mildly offensive. The reason for this being that if one trys too hard to be PC it implies that there is 'something wrong' with the topic in question.

For example: A few years ago Taronga Zoo began calling fairy penguins 'little blue penguins' to be politically correct toward gay men. Gay rights groups were a little suprised by this and stated that they had never been offended by the title 'fairy penguins'. In this case the political correctness was un-required and if anything patronising toward the gay community.

In my opinion one can be polite without being 'PC'. Infact I personally consider it to be more respectful because you aknowledge the individual's unique trait (whatever it may be) however do not consider it to be a taboo topic.

WOW that was much more of a ramble than I intended to write.

PS as a young hat fan, i find myself often in situations where my peers see my hat and consider it a novelty. Snatching from my head they mostly jam it on their head or flick it around doing tricks with it. I feel your pain, not really the same thing but yes, hat abuse is a crime.

Cheers,
Drew.

 

[Goose.]

...
There's no excuse for his carelessness. No matter the person, the rampant obliviousness to one's surroundings continues apace. He (chap in wheelchair) may find himself in an altercation with someone less sanguine than our friend citRon. Sadly it may take his running into someone who won't accept such behaviour to change his ways.

bk

I started to get side tracked about this PC or not PC jazz about the hot chick co-ed babe...but back to the point of the thread:
In line with what N-B13 wrote, good job for keeping it cool. What a bummer though. And I agree 100% with the Baron...Wheelie is one lucky buck.

And, b4 ya all write about "Wheelie" not being PC, get over it. My mom is in a wheelchair and my wife was for a year plus with me helping her do everything...and I mean "everything". And I loved every moment I was there to help her which was 7x24 for several months.If my mom or wife had ever done something like running over a gent's hat, they would have been devasted and extremely apologetic to the point of offering to get it fixed or replaced.
This "man" that ran over citRon's lid garners no respect from me.

 

[CRH]

...Snatching from my head they mostly jam it on their head or flick it around doing tricks with it. I feel your pain, not really the same thing but yes, hat abuse is a crime.

This kind of hat snatching is an attempt to express dominance over you, like a dog humping your leg - a form of bullying. One is not surprised at this kind of behavior from children but we are taken aback when it comes from adults.

I have a middle aged co-worker who used to snatch my hat and prance around childishly doing Ed Norton imitations. I gave him the bully lecture one day and he became aggressive but quickly backed down, like most bullies do when actually called to the mat. He leaves my hats alone now but he's still a bully in other ways. Some folks just never grow up .

 

[Wil Tam]

PC or not...

Next time you can 'accidentally' bump into him, spilling a full hot coffee all over him... then apologize while brushing off your hat

 

[1911 Man]

To keep this thread on topic, I will first say I am very impressed that you held your composure so well in the face of rudeness. There is of course the possibility the "gentleman" was simply oblivious.

However, in my dealings with people over the years, I have come to the personal (and probably somewhat biased) opinion that obliviousness stems from selfishness, and is in itself a form of rudeness. It is in effect a lack of being aware, or lack of caring, how your actions are affecting those around you.

Years ago, when I was in High school, and started wearing hats, sometimes a young co-ed would take it off my head and put it on her own. I considered it a form of flirting, and didn't mind. Now if anyone but a pretty young lady (my wife and daughters fall into that category) did it, I suppose it would bother me. No one ever has though....

 

[4and1]

Cut his tires! ...well, maybe not.

Ultimately, it is really up to you to keep the things you care about out of harms way.

Where I live the vehicle code states that a pedestrian has the right of way in an uncontrolled intersection. But, if you don't look first and just step right out into the street you are the one that could get plowed. True the driver of the vehicle that hit you will be held responsible, but you are still injured and you could have prevented it.

I do sympathize with you and your hat and I, no doubt, would have had hard feelings at first. Then I would look for ways to avoid similar problems in the future.

 

[avedwards]

Hat snatching

Someone mentioned that it is acceptable for a child to snatch a hat but not for an adult. Can I point out that most children (that I've met) have the manners to leave your hat alone. I do have this problem with teenagers in school though. When we have "home clothes day" I obviuosly wear a hat, as it's part of my out of school ensemble. And the amount of times I have to tuck my hat under my arm to keep it safe is shocking.