Why?

[EGbassing]

I live in a nice subdivision (it used to be, at least) and like fishing ponds nearby, bike riding, etc. and in the past couple days I've gotten yelled at by three random strangers for no reason, plus had a car try to run me over on my bike. I was fishing a pond nearby earlier and some guy in the ugliest purple car I've ever seen slows down, screams "you ain't gonna catch ****", and drives away. (I caught a 3~ pounder with a gizzard shad in it's mouth right after he drove away ?) What in the heck is wrong with these people? Sorry for the rant, but I'm just sick of this.

[Sam]

Why?  Because!

 

Because they can do it.

 

If you don't want to moon them, just turn your back and ignore them.

 

Never get into an altercation with a stranger. You never know if they are a mental case or just someone having a bad day.

 

Now go out there and catch your personal best in that pond for us.

[Hammer 4]

Sam offers good advice, don't confront them..Some people are just jerks in all walks of life. Good luck with your fishing.

[NYWayfarer]

There are riff-raff everywhere nowadays. I fish early mornings to avoid them. I am off the water before they get out of bed. 

 

I agree with the above about no confrontations. Not worth the potential worst case scenario. Others will disagree. Those are generally the tough guys that want to teach someone a lesson. Sometimes the teacher learns a fatal lesson...

 

I remember my tough guy days. I was walking with a girlfriend one day and while crossing a street with a stop sign a driver failed to stop and almost hit us. I started screaming, banging on his hood and made my way to the drivers side window. The guy looked at me said “Sorry” and showed me a gun he had between his legs. I turned white and pushed my girl behind me and started walking backwards. He cruised away and I was able to breathe again. I learned that day it’s stupid to die over ego. 

 

That guy that screamed at you has low self esteem. He has to push you down to stand on your shoulders to make himself big. Pity him and his small mind and go back to having fun fishing.

[N Florida Mike]

You must live in Florida. Things like what you describe happen to me a lot. In my younger years I wouldn’t put up with it. It’s truly a miracle that Im still here. I’m not what I want to be today, but am thankful I’m not what I used to be. 

People are really crazy, I know this because I IS ONE !!!

I had a customer today ( from another country) try to manipulate me into a lower price .( I do sales) Normally it doesn’t bother me but after explaining all of it to her and her brother at least SEVEN times and being very patient up to that point, they began raising their voice and trying to entrap and manipulate me. 

Instead of letting it escalate , I got up and walked out, no sale - no problem.

 

[FishinBuck07]

A friend of mine always used to say after a moment like that the reason people act like they do is because "People are stupid"  that goes for all of us.  We all have our moments, just don't let them get to you.  If you are happy with the way you do things and it isn't hurting anyone then keep doing it.  Some people are just miserable and they feel the need to make everyone else miserable, ignore them.

[NHBull]

Sam always offers sound wisdom, but you also need to protect yourself against the evil in the world.  There are sheep, wolves and sheep-dogs.  Be a sheep-dog.  When a situation is unavoidable and the hair on the back of your neck stands up, so must you. Truth be told, the rod in your hand can double as an equalizer.

[J Francho]

I think you ran into more than your fair share of jerks in a short time period.  It'll pass.  That said, take a look inward, and inspect your own behavior to see if you are doing something to attract the attention of the jerks.  I know when I'm in a bad mood, everyone around me feeds off it, and life seldom happens smoothly.

[ike8120]

People are just crazy now days. I know you want to say something but it is best to avoid confrontation. Just like I want to say something to the people that fish without a license or take everything. No sense losing your life over it.

[Glenn]

This isn't new behavior.  It's been going on for decades. There's just easier ways to broadcast about it now.

 

I had a paper route when I was a teenager. One morning I parked my bike at the end of a customer's driveway to deliver his paper to his front porch, like I always did.  When I reached the porch, I heard a car coming...and then accelerate.  I turned just in time to see him swerve and purposefully hit my bike, smashing it to pieces.  He didn't stop; he sped off.

 

To this day, I have no clue what that guy was thinking.  But I presume he was having a bad day and decided to take his anger out on my bike.  I was reminded of it when I read the OP's post.  

 

There wasn't social media around back then to tell anyone about it.  Just my friends, family, and police when I filed a hit-and-run report. Other than that, nobody knew about it.

 

[Harold Scoggins]

I get the same thing during the week from folks going to work and I'm on my way to the lakes. Just wave and smile.

[EGbassing]

2 hours ago, J Francho said:

I think you ran into more than your fair share of jerks in a short time period.  It'll pass.  That said, take a look inward, and inspect your own behavior to see if you are doing something to attract the attention of the jerks.  I know when I'm in a bad mood, everyone around me feeds off it, and life seldom happens smoothly.

I was just standing there fishing and I'd never even seen the guy before. Plus it's impossible to be in a bad mood while catching bass. ?

[FishinBuck07]

58 minutes ago, Harold Scoggins said:

I get the same thing during the week from folks going to work and I'm on my way to the lakes. Just wave and smile.

Well that is because you are a jerk!?  Just messin!

[TnRiver46]

Why?? Didn't you say you lived in Alabama?? .......... Sorry I couldn't resist 

[Koz]

People that are jerks have been around forever, but I think that these days people are more aggressive about it. And for all of the technological progress we have made we certainly seem to have regressed when it comes to the basics of humanity. In a lot of cases we live in an age of jealousy and despair and a lot more "me" than "we".

 

Case in point, when I was a kid I lived on a dead end road about 3 miles long and there were 40-50 homes along the road and everybody knew each other. Not everyone was friends, but all were friendly. Today people don't seem to take the time to meet their neighbors. I just moved to a new area and I walk my dog every day and say hello top people I pass and I'd say 50% give a terse reply like they could not be bothered.

 

I personally try to combat the negativity by performing random acts of kindness at least once a week. It could be as simple as holding a door for someone when they are still 30 feet away or help someone unload their shopping cart in the grocery store. Just do something unexpected and kind for someone whether it's a big or small gesture. If they express gratitude I remind them to pay it forward.

 

If you have a Twitter account I suggest you look at and follow the account of Bill Pulte (@pulte). He's a billionaire and he has started what he calls Twitter Philanthropy to help out those in need. He'll randomly give out $100, $1,000, or $10,000 to people on Twitter or travel to a place like Detroit and randomly hand money out to people. He'll rally his followers and ask celebrities and politicians to help by a car or medical equipment for veterans or those in need. Every day I'm fascinated by the things he does and how he tries to rally people to reach out and help others. It's amazing.

 

[MN Fisher]

Case in point: I was on the water today in my canoe...thank everything I had the outriggers. I was anchored well inside the marker buoys for 'No Wake Zone', but a number of boats passed by outside the buoys at speed. I still ended up with a couple gallons of water in the canoe from wakes.

 

These weren't all pleasure boaters, most of them were fishing boats. I know there's a Muskie tourney on the lake this weekend, so it had to be pre-fishing. You'd think they'd be a little more courteous to someone obviously fishing themself...but no...they had to get to their spot RIGHT NOW.

 

Sometimes I hate power-boaters...even if they're also fishers.

[Bluebasser86]

I had a car full of teenagers yell "You suck at fishing!" at me not too long ago. No idea why, maybe they'd been fishing and hadn't had any luck and needed to take their frustration out on someone else. I hear so much crazy stuff and get called so many things at work and because of what I do by random strangers that it doesn't faze me anymore.

[NYWayfarer]

9 hours ago, Koz said:

Case in point, when I was a kid I lived on a dead end road about 3 miles long and there were

40-50 homes along the road and everybody knew each other. Not everyone was friends, but all were friendly. Today people don't seem to take the time to meet their neighbors. I just moved to a new area and I walk my dog every day and say hello top people I pass and I'd say 50% give a terse reply like they could not be bothered.

I agree. I live in a neighborhood of strangers.

 

The 50% of terse reply's you get could be because of your dog. As a property owner I see plenty of dog owners that have no respect for anyone else's property. It gives everyone a bad name.

 

I have seen dog owners with extendable leases let their dogs come hallway across my lawn to do their business under my tree. Then they don't want to walk on my lawn to come pick it up. I have a mother and son around the corner who's dog loves to do his business on my lawn. She picks it up, he doesn't. I had one poor lady upset because her dog had a loose stool on my lawn and couldn't pick it up. I told her not to worry, it happens. In my head I was thinking I just wish it happened on her own lawn.

 

I tend to give a short hello to dog walkers. I love dogs, it's their owners I am not sure about...

[J._Bricker]

On 8/2/2019 at 5:07 PM, EGbassing said:

I live in a nice subdivision (it used to be, at least) and like fishing ponds nearby, bike riding, etc. and in the past couple days I've gotten yelled at by three random strangers for no reason, plus had a car try to run me over on my bike. I was fishing a pond nearby earlier and some guy in the ugliest purple car I've ever seen slows down, screams "you ain't gonna catch ****", and drives away. (I caught a 3~ pounder with a gizzard shad in it's mouth right after he drove away ?) What in the heck is wrong with these people? Sorry for the rant, but I'm just sick of this.

Lotta responses to your original post @EGbassing. I’d just like to offer “people are people” in that every day the world and social media provides examples of the best and worst of us as people. As for the guy driving the giant plum on wheels down the street, I’m sure you chuckled to yourself when you landed that 3lber thinking “no fish huh”. Just continue to be a good person and the best fisherman you can be and things will take care of themselves...

[Koz]

4 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

I agree. I live in a neighborhood of strangers.

 

The 50% of terse reply's you get could be because of your dog. As a property owner I see plenty of dog owners that have no respect for anyone else's property. It gives everyone a bad name.

 

I have seen dog owners with extendable leases let their dogs come hallway across my lawn to do their business under my tree. Then they don't want to walk on my lawn to come pick it up. I have a mother and son around the corner who's dog loves to do his business on my lawn. She picks it up, he doesn't. I had one poor lady upset because her dog had a loose stool on my lawn and couldn't pick it up. I told her not to worry, it happens. In my head I was thinking I just wish it happened on her own lawn.

 

I tend to give a short hello to dog walkers. I love dogs, it's their owners I am not sure about...

 

I have a little, friendly dog and when I walk him I always make sure the poop bag I am carrying is visible so people don't get freaked out and think I leave my dog's business behind. My dog is also trained to walk by my side when we are moving, stop when I stop, and stop when we come to a road or the end of a curb. To be on the safe side anytime we approach someone I lock down his leash so he can't pull.

 

I see people all the time with out of control dogs that go nuts every time a person or another dog gets near them and the owners are yanking their dog around. It's actually easy to train a dog to walk on a lead and prevent the dog from jumping or pulling, but I guess most people don't take the time to do that. I agree, there are a lot of terrible dog owners out there.

[roadwarrior]

 

[scaleface]

I was fishing an irrigation ditch from my Bass baby a few years back and i noticed these strange splashes close to me . Didnt know what they were at first but after a few seconds I realized  they were rocks . I looked back at the bridge and a   pickup truck was speeding away . People , sheesh !

[deaknh03]

Ignore them completely, people hate that.

[WdyCrankbait]

Some peoples children   SMH   Sam is right.  Just keep fishing and ignore people.

[Sam]

2 hours ago, WdyCrankbait said:

Some peoples children   SMH   Sam is right.  Just keep fishing and ignore people.

Woody, you are a gentleman and a scholar.

 

OK, forget scholar.