Deleted Scenes
Readers will, I think, recall this eye-widening altercation, shared in the Ephemera of October 11, between a laid-back driver and a rather wound-up cyclist. The latter being a candidate, as Mags put it, for the title of World’s Most Annoying Human Being:
Average cyclist interaction in Utah. pic.twitter.com/od5i6a9dSX
— Dr Manhattva (@Manhattva) October 9, 2024
If you haven’t seen the exchange above, I do recommend watching it, if only as an instructional tale. Or a test of your own self-restraint. In the video, the cyclist, the aptly named Mr Peacock, goes out of his way to generate conflict, repeatedly, then descends into some paranoid fantasy, in which he is somehow both the hero and the victim. His fabulist construals of what is happening are quite remarkable.
As I said at the time,
The drama resulted in Mr Peacock, our high-maintenance cyclist, receiving a $160 fine for disorderly conduct, and the driver, Mr Kempton, initially being given a citation for passing too closely, which would have resulted in a $130 fine, based solely on the cyclist’s claims. This was subsequently dropped after reviewing the driver’s dashcam footage, which tells a different story.
Readers will, I suspect, note the almost comical difference in attitude. Mr Chill meets Mr Head-Full-Of-Crazy-Beans. In the video linked above, Mr Kempton, our low-key driver, says that he feels sorry for the cyclist being cited for disorderly conduct, despite his dishonesty and irrational behaviour, and even though at the time Mr Kempton felt in some danger. As one might when confronted by someone belligerent and neurotic, a raving fantasist.
Well, happily, Dicentra has brought us a second video, showing Mr Peacock’s exchange with the police officer. Again, it may offer both instruction and some amusement:
Y’all remember that Park City Karen cyclist that picked on that kid?
Enjoy this cinematic masterpiece. Nature is healing.pic.twitter.com/mj6SxeL4wA
— 𝕏ANDER GEOGRAPHIC | ᴛᴏᴜᴄʜᴇʀ ᴏꜰ ɢʀᴀꜱꜱ🏕️ (@actionxander) October 21, 2024
“Oh, come on, man,” says Mr Peacock. “I was the victim here.”
And as before, almost every breath is a lie.
Also, open thread. Share ye links and bicker.
Thank you dicentra. I needed closure. 🤣
Watching the second video, I had to keep reminding myself that Mr Head-Full-Of-Crazy-Beans knows what actually happened, the choices he made, and he knows that his behaviour was recorded, and he knows that the officer has seen the video.
And yet he keeps on lying, and inventing new ones. Like it’s second nature.
It occurs to me that police officers, who must see this kind of thing quite a lot, must have a fairly wearied view of human nature.
Man, if that isn’t Douche of the Year.
And I feel the need to apologize as Peacock seems to be of my generation, i.e., late stage Boomer. This is something I have noticed among my chronological peers, the aggravating amount of entitlement. God help me if I ever wind up in some nursing home, I’m smoking some bitches.
For the most part, I’m an even-tempered chap, but just watching the thing, my patience was being tested.
Oh karma, how I love thee!
I vote stick.
Watching the first video again, the term clash of personalities came to mind. Over the years, I’ve encountered only a handful of people of whom I felt an immediate, quite visceral dislike. An unhappy resonance. And specifically, a sense that continued proximity would result in elaborate plans to somehow dispose of the body without detection.
I think first-hand exposure to Mr Peacock would produce that effect.
Oh, and that thing… That Thing That Never Happens… well, take a wild guess.
The world’s oldest four year old.
I wonder if aggravated mopery is on the books in Utah..
I’m not so sure. Maybe so, but the way narratives work is they organize the brain to only be able to see future events in the context of their narrative. I haven’t watched the second video yet but judging from the first one, he seemed 100% convinced he was right. If the group he lives amongst are like-thinkers, and I have known quite a few of these people and been around them in groups, they are convinced of their own moral superiority in any conflict with “cagers”. Which is not to say that they do not have some reason for their sense of victimization. Before this biking thing became a craze (Cio Papa!)*, I used to ride in 15 mile or so jaunts and the behavior of many drivers was atrocious. I got intentionally run off the road once, though that was more an act of anti-semitism. Usually it was a woman driver who was too timid to pass who would eventually get frustrated and make an issue of things.
I generally only rode out in the country or took mostly back roads in the city but you cannot avoid short uses of major roads in most places. I last rode regularly back in the 90’s but gave it up due to the overreaction of (again mostly women) drivers.
*Breaking Away
Plague of morons. Largely, you’ll notice, ladies of a progressive leaning.
Context.
Gentle, innocent soul, etc.
I always give cyclists a wide berth, for safety and for their peace of mind. But I do marvel at the large number of spandex-clad risk-takers on well traveled semi-rural two-lane blacktops where the speed limit is 55 mph.
That other kind of thing that never happens . . . has happened again.
(An insincere apology was made when he realized there might be consequences, but he made multiple expressions of murderous hate.)
I don’t much like saying this, but when Kempton said he felt sorry for Peacock, I’m afraid he was virtue signalling. And if he wasn’t it’s even worse: too much empathy.
It’s easy for a vulnerable cyclist to misperceive the proximity and velocity of nearby cars. But an adult is supposed to understand this and compensate accordingly.
That second video is beautiful; It really cheered me up.
I bring joy to the world. Been saying that for years.
What?
[ Does happy face. ]