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Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 08:37:32 -0500
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Subject: Re: NO WIND NO RULES-SCARES ME
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Ron Natalie wrote:
 
> Snowbird wrote:

> > IME people who go around assuming everyone else is an absolute
> > jerk who is deliberately trying to do them tend to react in an
> > aggressively defensive manner which is dangerous in and of itself.

> Rather than use the term jerk, how about assume that they
> are stupid or clueless. I watched this just the other day. <..>
> Anyhow, we were watching as a plane on the downwind leg
> there was heading on a collision course for a plane which
> appeared to be flying a crosswind leg for the reciprocal runway
> Well finally the crosswind plane climbs and passes over
> the downwind plane.  Then the who climbs starts to chew
> out the other pilot over the radio for the near miss
> and it turns out he's not even in the pattern for the
> other field, <...> stupidity is one thing, to chew someone out 
> about your own stupidity and violations of the far's <...>

Ron, I guess I'm a little unclear on your point, but this
is a great example of the point I wanted to make.  It sounds
as though the loud-mouthed pilot was carrying around the attitude
that OTHER pilots are jerks (stupid, clueless, exact word doesn't
matter).  So when the near-miss occurred, he was all primed to
ream the OTHER pilot out for being stupid and clueless, instead
of considering what, in *his own* behavior, promoted or contributed
to the situation.

You, observing on the ground, painted a different picture of who
the clueless one was.  But the clueless pilot had a big blind spot
in his clue-radar.

IME, that's exactly what happens when we walk (drive, fly) around 
with the attitude that OTHER people are jerks (stupid, clueless) 
waiting to screw us.  It becomes difficult to assess the situation
accurately.  Been there done that.

The dangerous part IMO is that the conviction that "I'm right he's
wrong" makes us reluctant to give way, blind to our own actions, and
stuck on reviewing the situation which has already passed -- just like
the pilot you could clearly perceive as clueless, who was so convinced
that it was the OTHER guy's fault that he was stuck on chewing out the
other pilot instead of letting go of the issue and concerning himself
with scanning for other traffic and making position calls for the
pattern he was about to enter.

Regards,
Snowbird

