this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2025
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I understand and empathize with your frustration, as a commuter long boarder i have similar sentiments about how politeness can inconvenience me because of the precautions i have to take to stay safe. I would, however, like to point out that you are complaining about people putting in an earnest effort to exercise empathy for you; those who don't bike or otherwise do not have the experience to know that predictability is key, but they are otherwise attempting to care for your well being
The thing is that predictability is always key when you're driving no mater the situation. These are the same people who dont take their fucking right of way and wind up slowing down everyone. These are the same people who will stop inside a roundabout to let someone in and wind up causing a traffic jam.
Being "nice" behind the wheel is just being an asshole because you want to pat yourself on the back. Don't be "nice" while driving, be predictable.
Absolutely. Which is why it's so hard to get upset at them. I appreciate the gesture. But unfortunately we live in a world of cars. A nice gesture can quickly end with someone getting hurt.
Like, there is no world in which these nice polite gestures between bikes or pedestrians would ever have such high stakes. But sadly cars make it impossible.
Affective empathy without cognitive empathy is meaningless.
They do, but they make it worse instead.
I think that this is inaccurate. It's not an earnest effort, it's a bare minimum effort.