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Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

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Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#61

Post by pbhjpbhj »

chopsueyar wrote: post #52
Tichy wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder about the blinking things that seem to have become fashionable. I rarely drive cars, but when I did, I always found blinking lights extremely distracting. They make it hard for me to concentrate, to an extent where I wonder if it is still beneficial to the person wearing them. It's fine if a driver notices me, but I want them to still be able to concentrate. People's perceptions may vary here, for example I…

I also have my eyes when they put on the stroboscope in clubs. Huh?

I think he means "It also hurts my eyes [...]"

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#62

Post by hugh3 »

Confusion wrote: post #25
jrockway wrote: post #11

Police said that Mr. Smith was following bicycle safety recommendations such as wearing light-colored clothing, using reflectors and riding in the bicycle lane. This is a common misconception. Reflectors are worthless. Riding in the bike lane exposes you to great danger -- car doors flying open to the right, aggressive motorists passing too closely on the left. If you take the lane, you're out of the "door zone", and…

As for reflectors; they only work when there is a clear path from an illumination source to the reflector and back to your eye. Sometimes that happens, but more often than not, it doesn't. Firstly, reflectors are designed to deflect light into as many directions as possible. A small beam in becomes a wide beam out. And they succeed marvelously at that. Secondly, any reflector worn by any cyclist or pedestrian will re…

Reflectors do something, but not much. Cycling at night is fricking dangerous at the best of times, and cycling at night without lights relying on your reflectors is damn near suicidal (and also illegal in Florida where this story takes place):

http://www.floridabicycle.org/rules/bikelaw.html

If this dude was really riding without lights in the middle of the night then his fate seems more Darwin Award-worthy than anything else.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#63

Post by [deleted] »

_delirium wrote: post #17
jbm wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You said it. Quote: Dayhoff, his boss at Crab Shack, read the story on the Times website and found himself outraged by unsympathetic comments posted by some readers. "I just can't get over some of those people reacting the way they did," he said. "This guy was a human being. He might not have meant something to somebody else, but he was like family to us. He meant something to us." -- Meanwhile: -- Jeff Lackey, who l…

Not really making a political statement either way, but I've been very surprised at how much small gestures can mean in some situations, and how relative status is. About 5 years ago, some fellow grad students and I had a fairly recent Guatemalan immigrant serving as the janitor in our part of the building. It was basically awkward all around: the janitors normally came in late-ish to vacuum and empty trash cans and…

[deleted]

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#64

Post by webwright »

TGJ wrote: post #3

How aggravating. "I'll go through 10 people before I find another like him" yet he will continue to pay the man 7.25 an hour. Everything you want out of an employee and nothing else and you can't pay the guy better than dirt cheap minimum wage and somehow lament at his death.

A lot of people make this point. I'm not sure I'm ready to pass quick judgement that the restaurant owner should reward loyalty with money. Restaurant owners can be pretty poor and a 50 cent raise would result in the owner having ~$1300 less in his pocket every year. While he appreciates loyalty, he might rather suck up the extra effort of replacing dishwashers than rewarding loyal ones. He could be armpit deep in debt, have a child in college, or otherwise have reasons that money is tight. Or, yeah, he COULD just be a rich asshole (note: restaurants are not cash cows).

The first time I ran a small business, I was shocked at how my thinking turned here. Someone asks for a raise and the money goes straight out of my pocket if I say yes. Which isn't a simple decision if the business isn't a huge profit center.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#65

Post by whyme »

sliverstorm wrote: post #13

The comment on the article reveals completely the lack of intelligence and elitism of the commenter. It may be wonderful to think that the people who man lower-end jobs are somehow less deserving than you, and somehow should be executed. But without those people filling those low-end jobs, our world would fall apart. No matter what you think of them, you need them, whether you realize it or not. And on the other hand…

I often wish I could go back to my "low-end" job I worked at 15 years ago, and yet I still don't believe I'm unhappy. :)

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#66

Post by points »

Sandman wrote: post #40
points wrote: post #34

Um Why is this hacker news?

I agree with you. I guess you're being downvoted because, according to the guidelines, a proper thing to do when you feel that an article isn't HN material is flagging it, not commenting that it shouldn't be on HN.

I was wondering if I'd missed something in the article, but I guess not.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#67

Post by points »

ovi256 wrote: post #57
sliverstorm wrote: post #13

The comment on the article reveals completely the lack of intelligence and elitism of the commenter. It may be wonderful to think that the people who man lower-end jobs are somehow less deserving than you, and somehow should be executed. But without those people filling those low-end jobs, our world would fall apart. No matter what you think of them, you need them, whether you realize it or not. And on the other hand…

I think this reveals something about the commenter's mindset: he probably would never enjoy that job, and he deducts no one else could. Similar to the qualia debate in philosophy, he is generalizing way too much. He's not really guilty of that, it's the way he is. He is incredibly rude and callous though.

I think you're reading way more into this than you should. He just made a stupid obvious mildly funny crass joke.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#68

Post by arethuza »

lemming wrote: post #55
jrockway wrote: post #11

Police said that Mr. Smith was following bicycle safety recommendations such as wearing light-colored clothing, using reflectors and riding in the bicycle lane. This is a common misconception. Reflectors are worthless. Riding in the bike lane exposes you to great danger -- car doors flying open to the right, aggressive motorists passing too closely on the left. If you take the lane, you're out of the "door zone", and…

When I was with my ex-girlfriend her little sister was knocked off her bike, also by a totally reckless driver doing over 80km/h in a 50km/h zone. She suffered serious head trauma, they didn't actually think she'd make it through the night. She did survive but had pretty serious behavioural problems after that, and died a few years later of a cerebral tumour which was almost certainly related. I'll never forget the s…

I'm pretty certain that I am only alive today because of a cycling helmet - I had an accident a few years back while mountain biking where I fell off and skidded along on my side (feet still in the SPD pedals) with my head hitting a gate post.

I woke up a while later with the helmet completely disintegrated - if I hadn't been wearing it I'm pretty sure it would have been my skull.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#69

Post by gcheong »

jimmyjim wrote: post #8
volski wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea I'm sure the manager who probably makes 10 an hour can just start giving people raises at will. How aggravating indeed.

That he complained that he "never even got a card" meant that he was not appreciated as a friend by his manager-- that's something completely beside the monetary wage. They should have been friends, after 10 years together. And even if the manager was earning a low amount there's no reason that in just one year out of those 10 he could not have given him a Christmas bonus. Even a small amount, so that Mr. Smith would…

You're taking a couple complaints and extrapolating that to mean his manager did not appreciate him. You don't know to what extent his manager may have tried to show appreciation in other ways or what their relationship was like.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#70

Post by thevectorist »

Psyonic wrote: post #28
jrockway wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, bikes are basically considered toys. If you're a kid, you ride one on your sidewalk to enjoy a sunny Saturday afternoon. If you're an adult, you buy one that costs $3000 to impress your friends. You put it on the back of your car, drive it to a fun location, and pedal around for a few hours once a month. It's way too dangerous to even consider thinking about maybe possibly riding it to work or something, b…

A co-worker at my last job said she even had people go so far as to throw stuff out their windows at her as they passed while she was cycling... ever happened to you?

As a former bicycle commuter, I have been hit by eggs, sodas, and even a CD. A lot of people just shout things as they speed by, but they're driving too fast for it to be understandable.

I wish I would have got license plate numbers. The cars were usually too far ahead by the time I realized what happened.

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