Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Stupid should hurt

So Sunday night, we had a fair bit of rain.

Actually, a LOT of rain for our area.

So much rain that I had to look again at the rain gauge (after starting on my coffee) to be sure that my eyes had seen the correct amount displayed Monday morning.

I left early for work, and stopped by my local range to check that the pumps were working to keep the entrance from being under water (they weren't). I reset the pumps and prepared to leave..

When I had driven down the road to the range (county road) a car had turned in behind me...

Now I had known that with the large amount of rain, and what I had seen on the way to the range that the county road to the range would be flooded. However, even I was surprised at the amount of flooding. The water ponded at the low point was nearly 4 feet deep. My truck is a 4wd Dodge diesel. But this water was close to the max that I can ford even with this truck. I idled across the low spot and proceeded to the range.There was a reason that I had taken the truck instead of the prius.....

Upon leaving the range after resetting the pumps , I had a choice: either go back the way I had come, or try the other way. As there is another low spot that might actually be worse, and as I knew the water level along the route I had come, I went back the way I had entered.

Imagine my surprise when I saw the same red monte carlo that had turned behind me....he had made it almost all the way across the 100' pond across the road.

Almost.

He was sitting in about 2 feet of muddy water. (in the center of the road).

I was able to get beside him, and I told him I would turn around and push him out of the water with the truck.

I did. I thought about leaving him there, but figured he might drown or something.

Got him to the higher point, and got out to make sure that he had a cell phone and could call a tow truck.


The first words out of his mouth were "life just keeps fucking me in the ass...I can't get ahead....it's always something like this which gets me...."

I replied that he might want to think about where the blame lied, as he had seen me drive into the water, and had known how deep the water was. much too deep for his car.

His reply? "I figured if you could do it, I could"

Truck.....7 foot tall, air intake at 51 inches 34 inch tall tires...car at what??? 20 inches? 25 inch tires... Diesel, with no coils to short versus gas with easily shorted spark system. I think he locked up a cylinder, 'cause the car wouldn't even turn over, much less start or run. Water is, after all, non-compressible. If he's lucky, it didn't bend any engine parts.

Fool. I told him that stupid should hurt so that the lesson would be better learned, then left as he began to get steamed up.

Look: Stupid SHOULD hurt. At best, he ingested enough water to lock his engine...at worst, he damaged it badly. He's looking at a hundred bucks at a minimum, plus the tow....Lots more if he bent a rod.

I bet it'll cost him a pretty penny. And I bet that he is incapable of learning either.

But he did it to himself.  Bet he blames someone else though. I wonder if the stupid hurt enough. 


10 comments:

Kevin said...

Yup, the "precious snowflake" generation. Nothing is ever their fault. It's either someone else's fault (in which case they should get paid compensation) or "it just happened" and no one (especially the idiot involved) can be blamed.

Anonymous said...

Stupid is as stupid does....

I have learned that so-called 'common' sense is very uncommon these days.

God, Gals, Guns, Grub said...

In my opinion... it all comes down to PR... Personal Responsibility... either you take care or yourself and your family or you don't...

Dann in Ohio

Devynsdad said...

I imagine that as he relates the story to his friends and family it will go something along the lines of "Stupid redneck in a big shit-kicking truck pushed me out of the water. Then he started giving me shit for trying to drive through it. Stupid redneck."

This, of course, would not only shift some of the focus away from his stupidity but would also give him a chance to belittle the fella who saved his ass.

B said...

I'm more of a hippie kind of look.....

perlhaqr said...

Yeah, but you have a truck, so you *must* be a redneck. ;)

Anonymous said...

Yep: big truck=redneck, never let piddly details like...details, screw up a good (blame shifting) story!

Old NFO said...

Agree with 4G and Perl :-) And in his case stupid WILL hurt... $$$

Unknown said...

Nice job. I'd like to think I'd have done the same thing, but I tend to be too nice.

If water got though the intake valve, I'm guessing - bent piston rod, bent valves, permanently flattened lifters - ouch. Tow, R&R the oil pan, heads, damaged piston/connecting rod, push rods, lifters (assuming not overhead cam), parts/labor - really OUCH. New motor might be cheaper.

At one point in time Stupidity was a capital crime and nature was the judge, jury, and executioner. Then came the Nannie State - and turned it into a virtue.

It's harder for the Nannie State to get people who think, and take responsibility for their own actions to drink the cool-aid.

Mark said...

That is why for high water I drive a 4x4 Suburban, that I have to climb almost a foot up to get into. It works really well in the flooding we get in Southeast TX on the Gulf and the especially well in St. Louis and SE MO when I visit family in winter.

As you said, Stupid Should Hurt. I doubt he learned anything from it though.