Fires of Heaven Guild Message Board - View Single Post

paanar · 11-05-2009, 05:51 AM

The thing that I hate the most about driving in Korea, and this applies to the Korean culture in general, is the lip-service they pay to being polite. On one hand you have , for example, a guy (I will refer to everyone as guy though I am sure most of them are actually chics) that will stop and let you go at a T intersection where you would normally have to wait a while for an opening. On the other hand that guy will stop 100 meters up the road to let a passenger out. And the whole culture is that way. They put such extreme emphasis on the polite form of words and when to bow and when to act like you are not worthy of being in some old guy's presence, but really they are thinking 'jeeze that guy is an asshole'. I mean, when I'm driving and some guy in front of me stops right in the way to let someone out of the car I just wonder; Am I an asshole? Did I punch that guy yesterday and he's getting back at me by making me wait 5 minutes to unload some idiot or, going back to the T intersection: Dude, there are rules about who goes first. I'm all for being nice but don't fuck me over because you want to get in your good karma points for the day.

Speaking of rules, who goes first at a four-way intersection? Since you probably don't know because you are also an idiot, I'll give you a hint: The person on the right. Why is it so hard for people to remember that? Then there are the intersections where people see imaginary stop signs. Just this morning I was stopped at a stop sign and observed this exact situation. The giant duche in the truck to my left slowed to a stop for... a crosswalk. Jesus Christ! That crosswalk looks like a fucking stop sign?!?! I just sat there and glared at him for what was at least 3 minutes before he finally decided to go.

And let's not forget the hazard lights. In Korea you can do anything you want as long as you honk and/or put on your hazard lights. Need to run a stop light? Just honk. Need to turn right from the far left lane? Just honk and or use the hazards. Need to run into the bank for 10 minutes? Just use the hazards - it will only be a moment. In fact, in Korean cars the hazard lights aren't activated by the itty-bitty button hidden behind the stering wheel - it's a ginormous button about half the size of a dollar right in the middle of the dash. I'm pretty sure this is so any passenger older than 2 can also activate it. "Honey, hit the hazard before you open the door, we don't want anyone to miss the fact that were stopping IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMNED ROAD!"

Let's see.... Ah, yes. Passing on the right. So theres a stop light, right? And, two lanes for through traffic and one each for left and right turning traffic. WRONG! In Korea there are only passing lanes. I shit you not: On the way home today I am turning right on red and there are cars moving through the intersection. RIGHT ON RED! The dude behind me thinks I'm not going fast enough (or something) so he gets into the through lane by basically driving sideways down the crosswalk in front of the first car, then goes into the intersection and makes a right turn in front of me. Or, maybe there are only lanes for playing leap-frog with your car. Yesterday I was stopped in the through lane at the line. Some enormous dick uses the right lane to pass veryone waiting patiently then pulls right in front of me and stopped in the sidewalk. Not to be outdone, some mastadonic dick follows suit pulling up right in front the other guy. Only, this second dick isn't in the sidewalk he is damn near in the middle of the intersection. Then he just sits there while a giant truck trying to turn honks at him because hes in the way. And then he just sits there as if to say 'I'm not in the way, perhaps you should go around'.

The center yellow line. Am I the only person that knows that a solid yellow means NEVER FUCKING CROSS UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH!?!? I cannot count the number of times I have personally seen the yellow line violated. Be it making a u-turn, turning left across, crossing to pass on the left or just plain being a road hog. and I don't mean I can't caount that high. I mean it's some astronomical number that literally cannot be counted, like a fucking googoplex or some shit.

Anyway, I'm sure I've missed some but I feel a lot better now.

P.S. This is my habanero plant. I hope it doesn't freeze to death before I get some peppers out of it.

11-05-2009, 05:51 AM	#1 (permalink)
paanar Wut-wut? In my butt! Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 80011 Posts: 361 -36 Internets	Driving in Korea (and a habanero) The thing that I hate the most about driving in Korea, and this applies to the Korean culture in general, is the lip-service they pay to being polite. On one hand you have , for example, a guy (I will refer to everyone as guy though I am sure most of them are actually chics) that will stop and let you go at a T intersection where you would normally have to wait a while for an opening. On the other hand that guy will stop 100 meters up the road to let a passenger out. And the whole culture is that way. They put such extreme emphasis on the polite form of words and when to bow and when to act like you are not worthy of being in some old guy's presence, but really they are thinking 'jeeze that guy is an asshole'. I mean, when I'm driving and some guy in front of me stops right in the way to let someone out of the car I just wonder; Am I an asshole? Did I punch that guy yesterday and he's getting back at me by making me wait 5 minutes to unload some idiot or, going back to the T intersection: Dude, there are rules about who goes first. I'm all for being nice but don't fuck me over because you want to get in your good karma points for the day. Speaking of rules, who goes first at a four-way intersection? Since you probably don't know because you are also an idiot, I'll give you a hint: The person on the right. Why is it so hard for people to remember that? Then there are the intersections where people see imaginary stop signs. Just this morning I was stopped at a stop sign and observed this exact situation. The giant duche in the truck to my left slowed to a stop for... a crosswalk. Jesus Christ! That crosswalk looks like a fucking stop sign?!?! I just sat there and glared at him for what was at least 3 minutes before he finally decided to go. And let's not forget the hazard lights. In Korea you can do anything you want as long as you honk and/or put on your hazard lights. Need to run a stop light? Just honk. Need to turn right from the far left lane? Just honk and or use the hazards. Need to run into the bank for 10 minutes? Just use the hazards - it will only be a moment. In fact, in Korean cars the hazard lights aren't activated by the itty-bitty button hidden behind the stering wheel - it's a ginormous button about half the size of a dollar right in the middle of the dash. I'm pretty sure this is so any passenger older than 2 can also activate it. "Honey, hit the hazard before you open the door, we don't want anyone to miss the fact that were stopping IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMNED ROAD!" Let's see.... Ah, yes. Passing on the right. So theres a stop light, right? And, two lanes for through traffic and one each for left and right turning traffic. WRONG! In Korea there are only passing lanes. I shit you not: On the way home today I am turning right on red and there are cars moving through the intersection. RIGHT ON RED! The dude behind me thinks I'm not going fast enough (or something) so he gets into the through lane by basically driving sideways down the crosswalk in front of the first car, then goes into the intersection and makes a right turn in front of me. Or, maybe there are only lanes for playing leap-frog with your car. Yesterday I was stopped in the through lane at the line. Some enormous dick uses the right lane to pass veryone waiting patiently then pulls right in front of me and stopped in the sidewalk. Not to be outdone, some mastadonic dick follows suit pulling up right in front the other guy. Only, this second dick isn't in the sidewalk he is damn near in the middle of the intersection. Then he just sits there while a giant truck trying to turn honks at him because hes in the way. And then he just sits there as if to say 'I'm not in the way, perhaps you should go around'. The center yellow line. Am I the only person that knows that a solid yellow means NEVER FUCKING CROSS UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH!?!? I cannot count the number of times I have personally seen the yellow line violated. Be it making a u-turn, turning left across, crossing to pass on the left or just plain being a road hog. and I don't mean I can't caount that high. I mean it's some astronomical number that literally cannot be counted, like a fucking googoplex or some shit. Anyway, I'm sure I've missed some but I feel a lot better now. P.S. This is my habanero plant. I hope it doesn't freeze to death before I get some peppers out of it. Attached Images __________________ Once we know what is, we'll know what needs to be. No wasted speculation, now mind be mo' free. Once you've whittled many paths down to 2 or 3. 'tis then, the path that you will choose, seems obvious to me.