Psychological warfare...
05-13-08, 08:55 PM
#1
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Psychological warfare...
My apologies if this has already been posted, or if this is the wrong forum.
From the Surly blog:
"I play this little game while riding to and from work where I memorize the license plate of a passing car. When the next car drives by I memorize that one, and so on and so on. If there is an altercation, I've trained myself to look at the license plates first. So rather than use my middle finger to tell somebody how I feel, I can find out where they live based on that license plate and send them a letter of gratitude.
Flashback 10 weeks to Valentines Day in February. I'm riding within the law and hugging the curb as much as I safely can, doing about 20mph down the street, when a car lays on their horn for a good 10 seconds. They pass me, I memorize the license plate, approach them at the red light one block down, and stare into her window. No words said, no middle finger needed, I had her plates.
I "obtain" her name and home address (don't ask how) and write her the following letter:
"Dear Nancy,
Thanks for the extended horn honk this morning. It reminded me that today is Valentines Day and my wife just loves red tulips, the same red as your Cadillac. So thanks for the horn honk. Happy Valentines Day.
- Cyclist on 66th St."
I also enclose a fake traffic ticket and a copy of the Minnesota Department of Transportation rules of the road. No threats, other than she knows I know where she lives.
Fast forward to last Wednesday. I'm riding to work as usual, signaling my turns, flowing with traffic and abiding by the law when a car honks. I see the familiar license plate and verify the same red Cadillac with an older blonde woman driving. I wish you all could've seen her face when she pulled along side me at the red light and I said "Hi Nancy". All she could do was grip her steering wheel, look straight ahead, and figure out how she was going to get the poop off her panty hose once she got to work.
Score one for the cyclist. "
https://www.surlybikes.com/surlyblog.html
From the Surly blog:
"I play this little game while riding to and from work where I memorize the license plate of a passing car. When the next car drives by I memorize that one, and so on and so on. If there is an altercation, I've trained myself to look at the license plates first. So rather than use my middle finger to tell somebody how I feel, I can find out where they live based on that license plate and send them a letter of gratitude.
Flashback 10 weeks to Valentines Day in February. I'm riding within the law and hugging the curb as much as I safely can, doing about 20mph down the street, when a car lays on their horn for a good 10 seconds. They pass me, I memorize the license plate, approach them at the red light one block down, and stare into her window. No words said, no middle finger needed, I had her plates.
I "obtain" her name and home address (don't ask how) and write her the following letter:
"Dear Nancy,
Thanks for the extended horn honk this morning. It reminded me that today is Valentines Day and my wife just loves red tulips, the same red as your Cadillac. So thanks for the horn honk. Happy Valentines Day.
- Cyclist on 66th St."
I also enclose a fake traffic ticket and a copy of the Minnesota Department of Transportation rules of the road. No threats, other than she knows I know where she lives.
Fast forward to last Wednesday. I'm riding to work as usual, signaling my turns, flowing with traffic and abiding by the law when a car honks. I see the familiar license plate and verify the same red Cadillac with an older blonde woman driving. I wish you all could've seen her face when she pulled along side me at the red light and I said "Hi Nancy". All she could do was grip her steering wheel, look straight ahead, and figure out how she was going to get the poop off her panty hose once she got to work.
Score one for the cyclist. "
https://www.surlybikes.com/surlyblog.html
05-13-08, 09:24 PM
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Stalker-Cyclist? 
(Kidding, by the way! Don't be offended, please)
(Kidding, by the way! Don't be offended, please)
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. “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”- Fredrick Nietzsche
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." - Immanuel Kant
. “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”- Fredrick Nietzsche
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." - Immanuel Kant
05-13-08, 09:42 PM
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Funny!!!!!!!
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Master Guns Crittle, You out there??
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert A. Heinlein
Master Guns Crittle, You out there??
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert A. Heinlein
05-14-08, 02:23 AM
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05-14-08, 05:47 AM
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05-14-08, 06:41 AM
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I'd like to do this, except I have poor short term memory...
Definitely a better way of going about people who honk incessantly though.
Definitely a better way of going about people who honk incessantly though.
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Food for thought: if you aren't dead by 2050, you and your entire family will be within a few years from starvation. Now that is a cruel gift to leave for your offspring. ;)
https://sanfrancisco.ibtimes.com/arti...ger-photos.htm
Food for thought: if you aren't dead by 2050, you and your entire family will be within a few years from starvation. Now that is a cruel gift to leave for your offspring. ;)
https://sanfrancisco.ibtimes.com/arti...ger-photos.htm
05-14-08, 09:07 AM
#11
Two H's!!! TWO!!!!!
05-14-08, 09:41 AM
#13
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Actually, License Plate info in a lot of states is public record.
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. “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”- Fredrick Nietzsche
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." - Immanuel Kant
. “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”- Fredrick Nietzsche
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." - Immanuel Kant
05-14-08, 10:03 AM
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The OP of the blog post implied that he/she gets this information in a sinister way, which tells me it's probably not an ethical practice.
05-14-08, 10:05 AM
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Neither is necessary. License plates are public record, though usually the state charges for access. But in many states you can just buy the database. Sometimes companies or malls will buy it so they can see if a given car in their lot belongs to an employee or not. In Michigan it's < $1000 to buy the whole database. Not worth it for one person but a few bike advocacy groups have bought them and made them available to members, and also there are places that buy them and will do a lookup for you for a few bucks.
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05-14-08, 10:42 AM
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Now I'm not trying to pick a fight with adam or anything but why does it seem like lately, a lot of threads turns into a moral/ethical debate. Isn't it easier to just move onto another thread where you might be able to offer a little helpful information instead of trying to debate who's right and who's wrong? I mean, isn't that what this forum is supposed to be about?
05-14-08, 05:02 PM
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There are a number of websites where anyone can reverse search a license plate number. I don't know of any that will do it for free. All that I have seen charge a fee for this service.
05-15-08, 10:09 AM
#22
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Hmmm, trying to figure out the next step.
You've sent the polite letter.
Next step maybe should be a nasty letter.
Then, if that doesn't work, an unpleasant social visit?
Just kidding. But are you going to continue sending letters till she gets it thru her thick skull that it's you sending them?
I love this idea, need to work on it myself, especially on that white pickup truck with the lardass behind the wheel who thinks loud horn honking and 1ft of passing room is doing me a favor.
You've sent the polite letter.
Next step maybe should be a nasty letter.
Then, if that doesn't work, an unpleasant social visit?
Just kidding. But are you going to continue sending letters till she gets it thru her thick skull that it's you sending them?
I love this idea, need to work on it myself, especially on that white pickup truck with the lardass behind the wheel who thinks loud horn honking and 1ft of passing room is doing me a favor.
