Perhaps we need RHB Talk Radio

Yesterday I listed to AM 640 radio in Toronto. The host was asking listeners to call in and "tell us what you did when someone parked too close to you, did you leave a note or worse?" Some of the responses:- "I let the air out of their tires"
- "I left a nice 4 inch crease in their door"
- "My friend has stickers I use, they show Mickey Mouse giving the finger and telling the motorist they are a jerk"
- "I keep a tube of crazy glue that really holds the note on nice and tight."

I turned off the radio half-way through this caller's response: "I saw this guy last week park in a handicapped spot and he walked into a drug store. He didn't look handicapped, so I had some tools in the back of my car and I …" Ironically (though not surprisingly) all the callers were male. It seems "payback" is hard-wired ino the male psyche. I felt like calling into the show with this response:

"I have been listening to many of your callers talk about their payback tactics to remind these (as you say) morons about proper behavior. These behaviors would be what I call 2nd gear responses: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is often how we like to behave. I have also noticed all your callers to be men. You know, when we call someone "a good guy" it signifies he is acting in 3rd gear, that is to say he doesn't mirror the actions of people around him. Good guys don't key a car or leave a dent. Good guys calmly address the situation, sometimes with a diplomatic note, sometimes by letting it go. Why? Because it's the right thing to do. And besides, that person who parked too close to you could be thoughtless. Or they could be a woman who just lost her husband to cancer and who was trying to park her husband's large vehicle. She is in the store purchasing some food for her friends who are coming by after the funeral. And because you are a good guy, now she won't won't have to call CAA."

Perhaps this city (and this world) needs a RHB call-in show.

About Dave Howlett