Sometimes I want to quit
 

People are such morons! It's hard to fathom how people can be so opinionated about something they know nothing about...perhaps that's a harsh statement, but you'd think people just wouldn't be so stupid all the time.

Anyway, I'm referring to the comments from this: http://www.popularmechanics.com/auto...html?series=19

"16 year old girls are the worst thing ever, whine whine, 5%, listen to me pull things out of my ass when I clearly haven't done anything I could even LIE and call testing."

Sorry for the rant, but if those are the most simple, cautious things I could come up with to advise people to do and people are going to flip out, then really, I hope gas hits $10 a gallon and then have to get their stupid selves on a bike and then they can learn something about tire pressure.

It has begun...

When people feel financially pressured and personally screwed because of a societal 'necessity' they consume, the general public tends to have no interest in changing their habits/perspectives. They'd rather retaliate with anger, gestures, of committing physical harm to others (and believe me, I've been this side of the fence on this too). Why should they have to change when they have the right to cheap fuel?

It doesn't surprise me that 95% of the people that honk/swerve their vehicle purposefully at me while riding my bike on the road are drivers of trucks/SUVs. They feel that if they're suffering financial crunches, others who adapt for the better should suffer just like them.

"If you can't afford to own a car, then you deserve to be bullied by the rich!"

$10 a gallon won't change a thing. People will just be more irritable, that's all. Fuel has to cost 101% of a person's income for the raging masses to truly give in. I think it was the film "A Crude Awakening" where one expert hypothesizes that gasoline has to reach $75/gallon before people finally give up and go back to human-powered vehicles (heck, some people would still afford $750/month to fuel their Geo Metros).

Don't pay attention to them, it's their problem. Whatever you are doing is helping you and the people that take your advice. The people that argue or don't want to listen is their problem.

It's been my experience that its always the ignorant that voice opinions like that those that take your advice to heart sit there quietly and laugh at the ones that complain ..

Man, sometimes those comments kill me also.

When people ask about my car I always include MPG #'s many many people tell me I'm crazy, nuts, dangerous, stupid, retarded etc. I take it as jealousy, but regardless they see me as change, and the people who hate change the most are typically undereducated, financially overloaded, and certain that they are correct.

Don't take it personally. As far as I am concerned unless they can come up with a reason that I'm doing something wrong (in which case I'll come up with a work around) I'll continue on my way.

I get that attitude from people when I am driving my Metro around. It seems like everyone hates my little car but me. I had an instance where I was traveling 55 MPH on a 50 MPH road going to work and this guy in a Tractor/Trailer starts riding my bumper for miles. A really small passing line comes up with oncoming traffic and this idiot goes for it with 18 wheels! He was barely past me when he abruptly changed over almost putting me into the ditch. I followed this retard to his next stop. I pulled up beside his cab and jumped out of my car saying........

"I am reporting your ass!"
"Your company has an account with us and I know the owner, so consider yourself fired!"

He did not expect a 6' 3" 250LB mullet to jump out of a "Clown car" and rip him a new one and said nothing to me at all.

LOL!!!

You can't please 'em all. Sometimes people just like to hear themselves talk. Whatever you do, don't let snide remarks from some, get the better of you. If anything, just take from the comments the people who agreed with or thanked you for the tips:thumbup:... and also be thankful that you aren't one of the seemingly infinite number of ignorant people in this country.

Just to say, those people are idiots. and I always enjoy the phrase "rip em a new one" It gets me every time.

On non-FE forums and discussions:

Unless people are receptive to change, they will defend their lifestyle to the bitter end.

Step 1: People have to want to save fuel, in order to be receptive to those ideas
Step 2: People need to act on that "want" and embrace the ideas.

Ignorance is bliss, and the Internet is full of the blissful.

Stats show that people will openly comment if they feel strongly about something. Some people that have been positively impacted by the article may remain silent and absorb the sage advice by Ben and those who have Empirically tested these practices in the affirmative over the course. Quietly, those individuals will make a change. The same applies to those uninterested -- they flip to the Sports page.

As for those who insist on being heard in the negative, we should not take it personally. Let us count on those who have a personal introspection on making a change.

4 years ago, I would have been one of those angry dissenters -- because I wasn't ready to embrace the importance of fuel savings. Since then, a paradigm shift has occurred, and here I am.

Let us not be dismayed, but empowered.

RH77