http://zelazowa.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/pimp-run-end-of-europe/ The Official Zelazowa Blog! Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:11:50 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 http://zelazowa.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/pimp-run-end-of-europe/#comment-82 Dug Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:11:50 +0000 http://zelazowa.wordpress.com/?p=21#comment-82 That was a great read! It sounds like you guys had a shit load of fun. That was a great read! It sounds like you guys had a shit load of fun.

]]> http://zelazowa.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/pimp-run-end-of-europe/#comment-74 zelazowa Thu, 29 May 2008 22:58:53 +0000 http://zelazowa.wordpress.com/?p=21#comment-74 I don't know, in America it's hard to go to jail for manslaughter when someone drives into you from a perpendicular angle of travel. Also, hindsight is twenty-twenty, but when things are happening in the heat of the moment and you only have a split second to make a decision, sometimes people make mistakes. It doesn't matter who was right or wrong. It was an accident, and now it's an amusing anecdote. The European impression of Americans seems to be that we are insolent boors, so I can see how some people would read into this story that we were a van full of assholes, thirsty for blood, out to run people down. With all due respect to the European readers, sarcasm and humor don't tend to translate well overseas. But based on other feedback I have gotten, it seems that most American readers realize this is a rather dramatized, humorous retelling of a very small event. Furthermore I wouldn't call my reply "survival of the fittest" or "crush the weak." I would call it "common sense above all else." Whether it's common sense to get out of the way of a truck while on a bike, or a bike while in a car, it's still common sense. I myself am a bicyclist and I make a very serious effort to stay out of the way of cars that are moving, and also to keep from bumping, crashing, or skidding into cars that are parked. Just because you are the smaller, "weaker" member of traffic doesn't mean it's always the bigger guy's fault. I appreciate your opinions and commentary, even though we seem to disagree on certain viewpoints. I don’t know, in America it’s hard to go to jail for manslaughter when someone drives into you from a perpendicular angle of travel. Also, hindsight is twenty-twenty, but when things are happening in the heat of the moment and you only have a split second to make a decision, sometimes people make mistakes. It doesn’t matter who was right or wrong. It was an accident, and now it’s an amusing anecdote. The European impression of Americans seems to be that we are insolent boors, so I can see how some people would read into this story that we were a van full of assholes, thirsty for blood, out to run people down. With all due respect to the European readers, sarcasm and humor don’t tend to translate well overseas. But based on other feedback I have gotten, it seems that most American readers realize this is a rather dramatized, humorous retelling of a very small event. Furthermore I wouldn’t call my reply “survival of the fittest” or “crush the weak.” I would call it “common sense above all else.” Whether it’s common sense to get out of the way of a truck while on a bike, or a bike while in a car, it’s still common sense. I myself am a bicyclist and I make a very serious effort to stay out of the way of cars that are moving, and also to keep from bumping, crashing, or skidding into cars that are parked. Just because you are the smaller, “weaker” member of traffic doesn’t mean it’s always the bigger guy’s fault. I appreciate your opinions and commentary, even though we seem to disagree on certain viewpoints.

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