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| Subject: Schadenfreude! | |
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Author: Jerry |
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Date Posted: 19:32:11 12/16/25 Tue O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! I have just learned the true intrinsic meaning of schadenfreude! That is, being happy at someone else's misfortune. I'm sure I'm going to be denied admission to heaven when the time comes: Enjoying someone's bad luck to this extent has got to be a mortal sin. Especially when that someone is your own mother! Yes, my very own mother. She who took on the task of teaching me how to drive - and never relinquished the role. She who sits in the back seat so she can keep an eagle-eye on the speedometer. She who reads me the riot act for driving 65 miles per hour in a 65 MPH zone because that allows no room for error and driving 65.01 MPH is against the law. She who is my very own in-car radar gun. She, she got a speeding ticket today! Justice served up cold! I'd give up all of my Christmas gifts if I could have been in the car with her at the time, except if I was with her I'd have been driving and I would have gotten the ticket, which is, I suppose, anti-schadenfreude and that would never do. This has left me in a very precarious position. I so much want to ask her, "Don't you ever look at the speedometer?" the line she has thrown up at me on several occasions. I so much want to throw it back at her, but I don't have a death wish. I currently am sitting in my room typing this post so I am not around her for fear of breaking out in a giggle at the very thought. Now for the pièce de résistance, the cherry on top: She did not deserve the ticket! She now knows what it's like to be punished undeservedly. It came about this way: Our town has a comprehensive program for senior citizens. They have a senior center with an auditorium, meeting hall and a cafeteria which serves up senior-themed lunches every weekday for only a couple of dollars. For seniors who cannot get to the center, they have a meals-on-wheels program that delivers the lunches directly to the non-mobile senior's home. They even have a dial-a-ride program that allows the seniors access to a jitney bus that drives them shopping or to the doctor's or anywhere else they need to go within a 20 mile radius for only $1.50 each way. It's one government program that serves up a workable service for people who truly need it, a remarkable achievement. There is only one glitch: The senior center is located in an out-of-the way spot and, with the parking lot, takes up an entire city block. The road along that block has a posted speed limit of 15 miles per hour. 15 MPH! My god, the speed limit around primary schools where 5-year olds are crossing the street is 25 MPH! If I had to convert this to metric units I'm sure I'd have to use millimeters per hour. The high school's cross-country coach probably doesn't allow his runners to practice on that street for fear they'd all get tickets. I'd be willing to bet that some of the more lively seniors can pilot their wheelchairs faster than that. I know I can ride my bike faster without breaking a sweat. In fact, you have to ride the brake in our car to keep it under 15 because even on idle it wants to get out of its own way. This has has to be the worst speed trap in the United States, bar none! My mom got tagged at 25. She's lucky she wasn't going 30 because the fines are worse for going twice the posted limit. Now for the final straw: The senior center is currently undergoing a retrofit to comply with the earthquake codes. It's closed and fenced off with a construction barrier. There are no seniors within a couple of blocks! I want to buttonhole my dad somewhere where mom can't hear and ask him to tell mom to plead not guilty and see what a judge says. We might even get that trial on the internet. It'd go viral for sure! 15 MPH, harumph! I won't suggest that to mom myself because I couldn't do it with a straight face. Now, I need some advice from the forum members: Can you offer me some encouragement to keep out of this? Getting involved could not possibly end with me keeping my butt white. But the temptation?! My gawd, the temptation! [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| Re: Schadenfreude! | Justin | 21:19:44 12/16/25 Tue |
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 Re: Schadenfreude! |  Lucas (to Jerry (and Alf)) | 04:46:46 12/17/25 Wed |
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| Re: Schadenfreude! | JoaKim | 08:53:22 12/17/25 Wed |
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| Re: Better & Better | Jerry | 17:41:55 12/20/25 Sat |
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