Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Belligerent Obese Middle-Aged Irishmen Hate My Hair

Posted by Trott


Irish pugilist Andrew Murray
is neither obese nor middle-aged.
He probably also likes my hair.
Today is Wednesday, so the Gambling Poet is supposed to post today. But he hasn't yet, and I have something to get off my chest, and it's my birthday, so I'm posting.

Lately, I've taken to bicycling in near-complete obedience to the law. I consider myself a safe cyclist, but I've decided that I really should come to a complete stop at stop signs, even if there doesn't appear to be any other traffic around.

This behavior has won me mild kudos from various drivers and, at least thus far, no angry comments from fellow cyclists who have to go around me to blow through stop signs.

Today, I was stopped at a red light on Scott Street heading northbound at the intersection with Fell Street. I was in the left-turn lane, as I was making a left turn onto Fell into the bicycle lane that starts there.

A small white truck pulls up next to me with the driver's window rolled down. The driver says to me, with an Irish accent (sorry, I don't know enough to say if it constituted a brogue or not), "It's pr**ks like you that give all bicyclists a bad name."

Needless to say, I was taken aback as I had been cycling in a defensive and lawful manner. I had no idea what he was talking about and said, politely, "Um...why? Is it because I'm stopping at traffic lights?" It was a serious question. Cars often seem surprised when I don't ignore the fact that they have the right of way, so I wondered if maybe I had caused him some delay somewhere by waiting my turn at a stop sign or even a traffic light.

His reply: "It's because you're a f**king airhead." By now, the light was green and he drove off.

I didn't get the chance to say, "Thank you for your informed, intelligent, and articulate opinion. I'll be sure to take it into consideration."

I am struck by how similar this man is to the jackass that punched me on the arm while we were performing at the Blackthorn Tavern. They are both in their 50s or so, overweight, have a noticeable Irish accent, and apparently have a lot of misplaced anger. I wonder if it was the same guy. Are there really that many belligerent obese middle-aged Irishmen in San Francisco? And if so, why do they all hate me in particular? Is it because of my hair?

2 Comments:

 Anonymous said...

Maybe it's because you're bonking an Irish girl. They know... somehow.

9:41 PM, June 27, 2007
 Anonymous said...

My husband is Irish: don't take offense, its the Irish way.

"Feck off ye feckin' cunt fat-arsed stupid eejit" is a loving remark I regularly hear around the home.

Our 9-year-old son is a "feckin eejit cunt" and our 3-year-old daughter is a "feckin bitch". We all chuckle when he shows us this affection.

All Irish should know what I mean, the Irish sense of wit is just missed in America, the "feckin' cunt-faced feckers...."

Visit Ireland if you want more (you couldn't pay me to go back)...

12:25 AM, August 17, 2007

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