What was wrong?

Last Thursday, July 21 I was second in line at the Pentagon to slug to Rt 3. When the lady driver in her grey Honda Civic was pulling up to pick-up from the slug line, I told slug in front of me, "Oh great, we get the mean lady." (This is before the car even stopped. I've ridden w/ the driver before and knew her car.) Well, I didn't have time to explain and to the slug what I meant so when the driver stopped and said 2 for Gordon Rd, the first slug immediately said she'd take the back seat. We got in and spoke and thanked the driver then both went directly to sleep. I awoke exiting the HOV lane w/ the driver hitting my leg as she was getting her soda from the farthest cup holder. Of course, I moved my leg and nothing was said, I readjusted myself and attempted to go back to sleep. The next thing I knew the driver was hitting her brake excessively. She was hitting it often. I wasn't sure if she was frustrated w/ the heavy traffic or what. Then the cell phone of the slug in the back seat rang. The driver huffed and puffed w/ each of the 3 rings. As the slug quietly had her conversation, the driver began shaking her head as though in disapproval. The driver then changed the radio station and turned up the radio a few times. The slug on the cell was apparently setting an appointment w/ the caller. (Not a long conversation type of deal.) Once the traffic finally cleared, the driver put the pedal to the floor. Not that the traffic opened enough for her to travel at such a high rate of speed so she simply hit the brake and changed lanes often. When she got us to the Gordon lot and she whipped us to a stop. I thanked her and the driver replied nothing. The slug in the back thanked the driver and the driver mumbled, "Yeah." The rear slug and I got out and started to walk to our cars. The other slug then asked me, "What was that all about?" I said, "I told you she was mean." Meanwhile, the driver had made a "U" turn to leave the parking lot, but she stopped and rolled her window down and yelled back at us, "Don't ride in my car again." The other rider and I were dumbfounded because we don't have a clue what we did wrong! The other rider didn't care because the woman's driving was so bad. I thought the woman might have a nervous habit because she moves, jerks and fidgits soooo much.

I would simply like to know what did we do wrong. Any ideas?

If I want to brake "excessively" in my own car, then guess what? I get to. (incidentally, I am NOT the driver in the example)
And "huffing and puffing" through three rings and a phone call to set an appointment seems relatively reasonable. Please, turn phones to vibrate and keep calls to "can I call you later?" If the call is that important, make it before or after the ride.

quote:

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Originally posted by gmugrad
[br]You did nothing wrong. Heck next time i would call ehr in for agressive driving. There is no reason for that. Also if the call was a doctor's office then yes I will talk on the phone in someone elses car because it is harder then heck to get intouch with a doctor sometimes.

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You make slugs look bad. Calling someone in for aggresive driving...sheesh. Don't ride in my car.


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2005 Honda Civic Hybrid
Funny, I've never been in a motorcycle only traffic jam!

I turn my phone to vibrate when I get to the slug line. When I get a ride, instead of making the "I'm in a car" or "I've got a ride" call, I just call my SO and let it ring 2 times and hang up so he knows I've got a ride. I would think if you are expecting a really important call to tell the driver upfront and ask if its ok to take the call. I;m sure most drivers would be understanding in an emergency, etc.

First time posting so please bear with me: I've been driving and SLUG'in for almost a year now but I still consider myself a "newbie" however after only a few months on these roads you get to become an expert in your own mind real quick. I SLUG'ed for a while to get a feel of what to expect, my hours (5:30am-4:00pm) don't allow me to SLUG so I drive, after a while I adopted a quasi-carpool (I still drive and take my car but same passengers and they help with gas, prearranged situation, would NEVER expect a SLUG to help out with gas). However, I still pick up SLUGs when one of my carpool can't make it or whatever and this is speaking from my experience from picking up SLUGs:
- EXCESSIVE cell phone use should be highly discouraged (and is from reading a lot of these posts), it's a nice surprise when people have their phones on vibrate I'll admit, but one or two quickie's on the way home I never have a problem with, it's part of life and your life doesn't stop when you get in my car.
- I want my SLUGs as comfortable as possible, I feel it's a give and take situation and it's just as much my responsbility to make it comfortable as it is for the SLUG(s) to respect my vehicle and use common sense and manners. I love having conversations but also respect SLUGs who want to have "personal" time and sometimes I do too, especially in traffic jams and the like.
- I love to head bang BUT a lot of people don't and, again, it's treat people like you want to be treated so the majority of my ride it's on 107.7FM then during the last part I put it on old time rock & roll ALSO I turn my radio to front speakers only to help the passenger in the back not be blared by speakers in their ears unless they ask for it :).
- If I'm offended I will ask politely for someone to discontinue whatever their doing, no, they will not be asked to walk and, no, they will not be ask to not ride in my car again (unless they are breaking stuff or being out of control but that has never happened). Again, some of these "SLUGs" are new and do not know SLUG "rules" and such. It would help to print out the nice handout and put in the back holders of the front seat (I've ridden in some vehicles that had this and that's how I got mine in the beginning)
- I believe it's all about respect for your fellow human being. We both offer a service to each other to get home a LOT quicker than those fellas sitting in the traffic outside the HOV for the majority of the time and you couldn't do this without SLUGs and SLUGs couldn't do it without drivers picking them up. Mutual respect and common courtesy. I usually (try to) say "I'm sorry" when I misjudge something or have to brake harder than normal because of my own mistake and try to give a warning, again, common courtesy especially if your waking someone up from a sound sleep cuz you wouldn't want someone doing that to you.
- A/C: My civic takes a while for the A/C to get going so it is uncomfortable for a while but I have it on and it's usually cool by the time we get a few miles down I-395 so please be patient, I'm sure 99% of the drivers do not have it uncomfortable in the vehcile on purpose so if you ask politely for the air to be turned on or inquire about the air respectfully, 9 times out of 10 I'm sure it'll be adjusted.
- Apologize for the long post, I'm a HUGE fan of SLUG'in and never in my life seen this before. It sucks driving the 55 miles each way but picking up SLUGs has actually made it "saner" for me, lots of interesting people met and lots of discussions about a lot of things, don't get that on a train or bus. Oh, one more thing, I agree with if your uncomfortable about getting into a vehicle please pass on it, trust your instincts and such, don't worry about offending that driver, he/she will get over it or won't think twice about it. No worries mate! If I drive too fast for your comfort level (80mph is my norm), I'd much rater you pass on me and take the next person than to have an uncomfortable and stressful ride up or down the interstate(s), nobody needs that after a long day at work or to begin your workday with.

Glenn
Arizona Man (2 years left and counting, grin)

P.S. Thanks for SLUG'in!!!