To the Person I Gave the Finger To Today ---

[IdaBriggs]

Yes, I saw your bumper-sticker, and yes, I honked to get your attention to make sure you saw my open-the-window-stick-my-hand-out gesture of disrespect. The fact I was driving my mother back from an appointment (she's been sick) didn't stop me from a completely uncharacteristic (my first????) expression of contempt, and its now been nearly 14 hours later, and if I was a different person, I would be apologizing and regretting my actions.

I'm Not. You are a contemptible human being, and I'd do it again. I metaphorically spit in your general direction, you worthless piece of excrement.



(The bumper sticker read: "There are Americans, and There are Liberals.")

[Name removed]

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[sailor65]

13. +1

And assure her that it's not her fault you turned out that way!

[Vickers]

16. These "look at what a bad-ass I am" responses always smell fishy to me.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[mrcheerful]

26. One thing folks tend to forget is out side of what folks post here we have no clue on the person

or his life other then what he/she tells us. You have no clue on if said posters have criminal records, done time, is alcoholic or is just a kid on mommies computer in the basement. Now unless it's a dead give away like the nit wit that asks "do you know who I am"? type crap, you really haven't a clue on the person your dealing with. For all we know the poster could be fresh out of prison after doing hard time or some young guy/gal who has the world all figured out at the age of 18.

[IdaBriggs]

29. Or you could look at my profile, see I've been a member since early 04,

read some of my work during election investigation 2004, read some of my posts about my (now 3 year old) twins, read about my volunteer work with American Red Cross during Hurricane Katrina relief, etc. My criminal record is clear (!), and I've got an excellent relationship with local law enforcement due to my deceased father's long-time working with them. I do, however, have a bit of a snide attitude toward "certain types" of people, and once flipped completely off the deep end at a bunch of abortion protesters who were throwing up the "cut up dead baby pictures". Also, I once got SUPREMELY sarcastic with an idiot woman in a Starbucks prior to election 2004....

But I like the implication that only 18 year old criminals would flip off a person with an insulting bumper-sticker. It keeps life in perspective! LOL!

[reggie the dog]

58. I have been verbally insulted by conservatives many times

because i was wearing a pro obama or kerry tshirt often by people old enough to be my grandparents so i think giving the finger and saying "fuck you" is a pretty mature response, especially when dealing with conservatives, its not like most of them understand logic and reasoning,

[Ignis]

44. +1

When I read the OP, I just knew that the "You're Lying" brigade would show up shortly.

It's Ida, FFS. :eyes: Not some random 50-post noob.

[reggie the dog]

57. grow up??? the bumber sticker is so like Nazi germany

in which Jews were not "German" enough..... I would insult the fuckers too, in front of my 2 year old or my 60 year old mother. I never once considered conservatives to not be american. If they dont consider us liberals to be american whats to stop them from deporting us back to our "homeland" or just applying some kind of final solution?

[Vinca]

3. Sometimes the stupid goes over the top and you just react.

My only concern is for your safety. The whack jobs love their guns and you never know when one of them will decide to start with you to "take their country back."

[reggie the dog]

59. liberals have guns too

[gleaner]

4. Good job!

Think of it this way. You were testing out your social finger on pond scum and you now know it works. If you ever need it again, it is there for you.;) Just don't do it to anyone with an Easy Rider gun rack on top of their vehicle.

[xchrom]

5. Here's hoping he gets a lot of those kinds of reactions. Nt

[sendero]

6. Good job..

... these stupid fucks need to understand that not everyone is operating at a single digit IQ level.

Oh, and some of us have guns too, lots of them.

[CTLawGuy]

7. Impugning the patriotism of an entire group of people

is beyond the pale. It is not a "difference of political opinion", like a "Palin/Paul 2012" sticker or even a "throw all the illegals out" sticker. It's a vicious and unfounded attack on a group of people for their beliefs.

I might have abhorred the Bush administration, but I never said that they hated their country or that they weren't American. I believe sincerely that, while their policies are wrongheaded at best, they thought they were doing what was best for our country in their uninformed opinion.

I applaud your reaction, even if it might not have been the classiest reaction. It was certainly in the realm of reasonable.

[pipoman]

8. Are you 16? Or just haven't developed past that level of maturity?

FTLOF people wonder why there is road rage...

[Zywiec]

9. Unrec. - Grow up n/t

[reggie the dog]

62. Dick Cheney was in his sixties when he told a Democratic rep

"go fuck yourself"....

[Dappleganger]

10. I'm glad things didn't escalate...

because if the driver had turned his car into a battering ram, both you and your mother would have paid dearly for that little expression of freedom of speech.

It won't change anyone's mind by flipping them off, only solidify the hatred.

[reggie the dog]

60. They wouldnt have paid

the driver causing the wreck would have paid a lot...

[bobburgster]

11. Sometimes we just react!

The building frustrations of comments "Drill Baby Drill!", "Calling congressional members nig.... and fag....", "Saying Obama is Hitler", and on and on and on can lead to actions that are not the norm. Is it correct or mature? No, but sometimes we lose it.

I certainly would not apologize for it!




What's their excuse?

[customerserviceguy]

12. Never heard of road rage, have you?

Anyone witnessing the exchange from the beginning, had it turned out worse, would have thought that you caused it.

You got lucky, a lot of places you would have been followed, or shot at.

[depakid]

14. Damn- irony impairment at its finest.

It's a bloody epidemic.

[reggie the dog]

61. and she could have shot back

[era veteran]

15. I think the finger is a political statement and use it regularly.

In politics at any level, turning the other cheek means you lose. of course I live in Kentucky where they're are lots of targets of opportunity. You cannot let the right lie and insult without calling them on it. Too many Americans are dead to have these big lie purveyors not called on it. Good job Ida.

[IdaBriggs]

19. Thank you. I appreciate that!!! nt :)

[IdaBriggs]

17. Opinions seem divided on whether I was being immature (truth),

should have feared for my life (don't), should have respected his right to call "liberals" "non-Americans" (I didn't damage his property, so I guess I can still wear that liberal value!), or just apologized to my mother for displaying bad manners (she's mostly liberal).

I'm not sure what should be done when something "beyond the offensive pale" in the insult line goes up for public display. A person's car is their property, and yes, I agree we should all appreciate people who let those around them know they are idiots, but the fact they are comfortable / proud of such things is very irritating. For example, if someone tells me they listen to Rush, I automatically know they aren't the brightest bulbs in the box (unless it is followed by a reasonable explanation, which can occasionally happen - rare, but you get the point).

On one score, I think the guy got the reaction he wanted: he got my goat/obviously irritated me. I don't have a gun in my car, and my little display of free speech back was right up there with the same rights of his that I respect, albeit admittedly rude. No one got hurt, but nearly 24 hours later, I still think he's an ass.

Ah, we all have our lack-of-maturity moments. I can live with this one. I'll move on with my life, and he'll still be a world class turd. :)

[TorchTheWitch]

21. the guy probably has no clue why you gave him the finger

Most people would assume it was something about their driving that pissed you off. You acted stupidly and accomplished nothing.

[uncle ray]

36. oh, he fucking knew.

it's not like one forgets that you're an asshole. besides, with that kind of sticker on his car, he deserves to spend the rest of the day pissed off and not know why.

[TorchTheWitch]

74. assholes don't believe they are

And no, it's highly doubtful that he'd know his bumper sticker caused the finger waving incident and it's far more likely that he thought it had something to do with his driving because when people are driving and another motorist gives them the flying finger they think it's something about their driving the motorist is unhappy about. It's not like he got the sticker so he could drive around every time he got in the car hoping to intentionally piss people off. Bumper stickers are just not that fucking important to people. Yes, people like that dude suck, but he thinks he's perfectly normal and even though he has fucked up right-wing political views it's not like those kinds of people are even thinking about anything political 24 hours a day and believing everything they say and do is being politically judged by anyone.

I think it's pretty mental to get that riled up by some dumbass right-wing bumper sticker anyway. The world is an ugly place and there's far and away more evil and important stuff to get one's panties in a twist over than some asshole's stupid bumper sticker. Personally, I don't give a shit if anyone thinks I'm "un-American" because I'm a liberal since such staunch nationalism is pretty wack to begin with. I'm an American because I was born here and always lived here through no choice of my own, and quite frankly, I'd give my left tit to get the hell out of this fucked-up embarrassing country and live somewhere civilized where I wouldn't have to deal with such ignorant shitstains like Bumper Sticker Dude and wouldn't be expected to wear the American label as though it were some kind of badge of honor rather than a scarlet letter which is closer to reality.

[EnviroBat]

37. Good for you...

I get really tired of the "apologists" on here. Many people would just rather hide under a rock rather than call out a conservative bully on their crap. When that person displays such a bumper sticker, they are saying "F%&k Liberals". Well, I think it's just good God Damn fine to return the favor. The complacent always get run over. I'd have done the same thing...

[BlancheSplanchnik]

50. I second your opinion. Bullies count on people being too polite to challenge them.

They think they rule the world.

It is RIGHT to speak up in the face of hate!!!!!!!!!!! Even if you don't get total approval!! Oh hell with it, something like this, you're always going to get a supporters and scolders, each with some validity to their point.

You gotta go with your own decisions given the situation.

Ha, I gave it right back to some duuuuuude on a motorcycle recently..... got a little scary, but I was glad to let him know I wasn't accepting his kind of behavior.

I'm sure he learned nothing from it, but I felt good not taking his crap passively.

[reggie the dog]

65. its worse than "fuck liberals"

they would probably have us deported or worse for not being american

[reggie the dog]

64. you were not immature

the very mature former vice president Cheney told a democratic representative "go fuck yourself" and the media never once said he was immature for it.

[muffin1]

18. Good for you!

I haven't been on DU in about a week (this place is really getting to me lately). But seeing some of the crappy responses you are getting, I felt the need to jump in and say, "You go girl"! :-)

[a la izquierda]

24. I agree with your sentiment.

There are some real Grade D Buffoons on here lately.

[Dinger]

20. K & Rec # 15

well done:)

[disillusioned73]

22. Good for you...

Cons "expressed" themselves towards us during the 2008 campaign for having Obama/Biden bumper stickers... especially here in red country PA

I applaud you for utilizing your "freedom of speech" - ;)

“The best lack all conviction and the worst are full of passionate intensity.” - William Butler Yeats

[Hubert Flottz]

23. You did the right thing Ida!

The GOP can dish it out but they can't take it!

[salguine]

25. You should have shot him in the face. Fucker deserved it.

[raccoon]

27. You mean, follow the example of the Dick?

Thanks, Salguine, for a good laugh. I needed it this morning. :fistbump:

:rofl:

[crazyjoe]

28. surrreee you did.......

[IdaBriggs]

30. One of my favorite responses - why am I going to lie about giving

someone the finger??? It kind of bugged me, hence my talking about it. Not one of my more mature moments, certainly, but seriously, not that big of a deal in the big picture. The guy got my goat; technically he won, but at the same time, I'm okay that I let him know he was an insulting ASS. My mother being in the car - well, at least she can bear witness!!! (Not that she was particularly proud!)

[NeedleCast]

31. Congrats! You proved that a dipshit with a bumper sticker is all it takes to get you frothy

Doesn't really reflect well on you.

[reggie the dog]

67. sometimes anger is GOOD

like if you are black and see a KKK bumper sticker, gay and see a homophobe sticker, liberal and see you are no longer american on a sticker, jewish and you see a sticker saying that jews are not good citizens....

[w8liftinglady]

32. I have found myself wanting to give the finger a lot myself these days

then I have to remind myself of a few of my stickers...
"Draft young Republicans"
"Somewhere a village has lost their idiot"
among many others I had during the Bush Regime.
I guess it's their turn

[reggie the dog]

68. your stickers do not call for revoking the citizenship of a group

of people,

[Luminous Animal]

33. It is interesting to see how many DUers are figuratively flipping you off

in response to you literally flipping someone off.

You are one of the good ones, Ida. And I understand the "fuck you" impulse.

[pipi_k]

34. It's time to grow up now...

Like someone upthread pointed out, it's possible the person had absolutely no idea why a vulgar gesture was being used on him.

There are a few reasons for that...

maybe it wasn't his car. Maybe he doesn't have a car or his was being repaired. Maybe he had borrowed the car from a friend. Maybe he borrowed the car from a friend to pick up his mom or some other relative from the doctor's office. Maybe this person had borrowed the car to visit a sick or dying relative in the hospital.

So let's see....

Bumper sticker on car. You think it sucks. You flash a vulgar gesture at someone who might have been having an even shittier day than you were, and it might not even have been his vehicle in the first place.

Nice.

Grow up.

[depakid]

35. delete

[pipi_k]

38. Self deleted reply

[depakid]

40. Thought better of my response above on the cross post

We're probably in agreement that the whole thing on both ends is really dumb.

[pipi_k]

43. Or, at least, half in agreement..

which is better than nothing!


self deleted my reply.

No hard feelings.

:)

[Obamanaut]

42. Splendid response. +1 nt

[reggie the dog]

69. we are told that we are not citizens because of how we vote

and we are the ones that should grow up? The dude had the idea that "you either think like me or dont deserve to live and vote here" and we are immature for speaking out?

[Nye Bevan]

39. You really need to learn some self-control.

The anger management classes suggested by a couple of other posters would be a really good idea.

Say he had taken exception to your gesture and followed you and ended up causing an accident. You, your mother, and several innocent third parties could have ended up dead or paralyzed for life, all because you didn't like someone's bumper sticker.

And of course it might not have been his car. I noticed you have not responded to any posters who pointed this out; I guess this didn't occur to you at the time. When I borrow my brother-in-law's car I don't carefully check all of the bumper stickers, and if some moron screams at me and gives me the finger for no apparent reason while I am driving it, I just assume he's a moron.

The problem is that being in a car gives the illusion of safety. I highly doubt you would give the finger to a fellow diner at a restaurant, or some guy in a bar, if you didn't like their political views. But it's only an illusion. Try to control yourself in the future or you could end up causing a horrible road-rage incident.

[reggie the dog]

70. If HE caused an accident

people would have been injured becaue of HIM, not her. I recently told my boss "fuck you, fuck your school," slammed his door and gave him the finger. My students protested on my behalf because the administration is doing some really underhanded shit to revoke my contract early.

[Nye Bevan]

75. Why in the world would they want to revoke your contract early?

That's a complete mystery as you sound like a lovely person.

[reggie the dog]

76. I had discipline problems with half of my classes, in May

so the boss flipped out. Kids act up in May, as all my collegues have been experiencing. Since they forced me out many parents contacted the school because I was such a great history teacher and they want to know why the hell I am not there to teach their kids.

[lunatica]

41. Hell! My mother would have done the same thing

She wasn't shy. LOL!

[Martin Eden]

45. First Refuge of the Scoundrel

There's a famous quote about PATRIOTISM being the last refuge of the scoundrel, but with RWers nowadays the first thing they tell themselves and anyone within range is that THEY are they "real" Americans and those who disagree with them are traitors.

This might have something to do with that notion being drilled into their head day after day after day by Limbaugh and Hannity and beck, et al. The idiot with the bumper sticker was displaying for all the world to see that he is stupid enough to believe the blatant propaganda they spew.

[HillGal]

46. Does anyone else even call themselves liberal anymore? I hear progressive being used all the time

now. :shrug:

[reggie the dog]

71. I am a liberal, and a socialist

[EXneoCON]

47. Low-post Noob....

....saying "You Go, Girl!"

[klook]

48. The first time I saw the bumper sticker

"Jesus Was a Community Organizer - Pontius Pilate Was a Governor" was on a car in Alabama.

I waved and gave he driver the thumbs up.

Of course, to some posters on this thread, I guess that makes me a juvenile jerkwad for expressing my opinion about a political bumper sticker to the driver of the car bearing the bumper sticker.

Perhaps I should take "approval management" classes! B-)

Ya done good. Thanks for reporting. :pals:

[salguine]

49. You're really equating a friendly thumb-up with giving someone the finger? Are you fucking kidding?

[reggie the dog]

72. feel the anger, if it is justified it is good

remember the song "freedom" by rage against the machine??? "anger is a gift".....

[hyphenate]

51. I've got a great bumper sticker gave to me some years ago now

that probably got a good reaction out of some people. Thing is, the people to whom it is targeted are too dumb to know exactly what it means:

"Lord, Protect me from your followers."

I don't think I want to drive it around any part of the bible belt, though. ;)

[Duncan]

52. sometimes

Sometimes I want to just put a sticker on my car that says "fuck you" to save me the trouble of having to give people the finger all the time.

[hfojvt]

53. "Go ahead and hate your neighbor. Go ahead and cheat a friend."

Do it in the name of heaven.
Justify it in the end ..."

[cherokeeprogressive]

54. Anger is an emotion I have a very hard time expressing...

I'm not known as an angry person by those who've known me longest. While I might get mad, I find it to be an emotion that's hard to sustain for more than a short period of time, and certainly not one I share with the general public.

There are things that make me angry, and things that make me go... meh. Bumper stickers, if I notice them at all, come down on the meh side. I don't live and breathe politics or ideology.

I don't begrudge you your need to give the finger to those whose bumper stickers are at odds with what you believe. For all you know though, that person might have purchased the car from someone whose opinions are exactly opposite of yours, or they may simply have parked their car in a Walmart parking lot.

[Maru Kitteh]

55. Unrec for endangering and upsetting your mom. Not admirable at all.

[Hawkowl]

56. Good on you!

By fighting back, and rudely, we begin to make the right wing knuckle draggers start to question everything they believe about liberals.

They think we are weak, wimpy, cowardly. We won't fight. Well a big FUCK YOU BUDDY right in their faces is really disturbing to them.

I know because I do it on a fairly regular basis.

[stewartcolbert08]

63. Well at least you proved to him that you are a REAL American Dammit! Bravo!!!!!

:toast:

[Greyhound]

66. I'm amazed at how many here are apparently living their lives in a paranoid bubble.

:wow:

[reggie the dog]

73. anger is a gift

anger fueled Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, Jessee Jackson and his son, not all of us can control ourselves like Martin Luther King or Ghandi.

[deaniac21]

77. I love these made up stories.