idiot or asshole?

in our simple day to day travels we encounter people that are doing things that annoy us....
there are people who fail to yeild passage to the users of a one lane bridge...
there are people who start to get onto the elevator or subway car before everyone gets off...
there are those that make an aggressive turn just as they are about to miss the exit...
there are those that park in front of a fire hydrant when there are legal spaces across the street...
parking and waiting in a NO PARKING/NO STANDING zone during rush hour...

those are just a few examples of things we see each and every day
people doing something that throws off the rythym of life
somehow their puzzle piece just does not fit... so they force it

I see these people as fitting into one of two categories
they are either idiots or assholes
the majority of the time.... they actions are intentional... which clearly marks them as assholes
most of these assholes are repeat offenders
making these moves daily

last night I came home to find a car in front of the hydrant in front of my house
there were numerous spots across the street
as I came up my front stoop I saw that the person in the basement apartment next door was having a party
a number of women were smoking out front
I had already decided to put a note on the car
even if it may piss my neighbor off
it is about action and reaction.... and hopefully about education and changed behavior

so I wrote a quick note...
much like my blog it may not have made compete sense

I see from your sticker you got into YALE
yet, you are a dumbass parking in front of the hydrant


or something to that effect

parking in front of a hydrant is not about whether or not a police office would chance on catching you and giving you a ticket
parking in front of a hydrant just is not done for the obvious reason
the hydrant is there just in case
in case of a worst case scenario

too many people bend or break the law accepting the consequences of a ticket
not realizing that there are actually much greater consequences than a ticket
excessive speeding? speeding ticket or maybe fatal car crash
running red lights? more of the same
you can figure it out
no need for me to go through the list

that said...
am I an idiot or an asshole for running red lights on my bicycle?
neither...
I am a citizen who is aware of the laws
and I understand that there are accepted parameters for extending the law
just as a car may drive 35MPH in a 25MPH zone
I on the bicycle have re-evaluated the STOP SIGN to work as a yeild sign
yeilding the right of way to other users
granting people their right to safety and their right to move fluidly without stopping or changing their pace for me

so many laws are made and ignored
again I make mention
if people lived by common sense and common courtesy we would not need laws
laws were created to guide people to exist in a world with common sense and common courtesy
but
since everyone is either an idiot or an asshole we need government to monitor our behavior
I would prefer less monitoring
but... beyond that... I would prefer more common sense and common courtesy