How would you handle this?

[uphillklimber]

x

 

[Greg]

I would have handled it similarly. Teenagers can be truly obnoxious at times. Just part of being a teenager I guess, but I will encourage my daughters to be a bit more respectful of others.

 

[Warp Daddy]

UHK: What you did was right on target. Bad behavior must not go unrecognized .

 

[ski_resort_observer]

I would have grabbed his ipod, removed the tape in it and replaced it with "Christmas with Barry Manilow" :lol:

 

[ajl50]

Why does it matter that it was a young kid on a snowboard. If it was an older man ( say one much bigger than you) who did the same thing would you and those on the board who agree have done the same thing? I bet not. I'm not a big fan of jackass teenagers but I also don't have a big heart for older people who act paternalistic all the time. If it was an older man (or another woman) I'm willing to bet none of you would have said a thing. I've been run into plenty by older jerks and young jerks and guess what- I find the younger kids WAY more likely to say sorry and ask if everything is ok. So...don't give me this "teenagers can be obnox. sometimes" as a justification for asking for an apology. I just think you are all conditioned to think that you are right all the time whenever a teenager is involved. Maybe he did say sorry and your wife didn't hear. Maybe he's just learning. Maybe "I was almost wiped out" was a little dramatic. Maybe he tripped. My point is - I think you all responded the way you did because you have a preconceived notion of a snowboarding teenager that judges this kid before anything happens. Remove that, change the actor and guess what..."oh it was just a little mistake."
whatever...I have to go learn tax.

 

[Chris I]

I would have grabbed his ipod, removed the tape in it and replaced it with "Christmas with Barry Manilow" :lol:

tape in an ipod?!! :smile:

 

[riverc0il]

So I turned and faced these guys and said, loudly: "You mean he ran into you and never even apologized!" He replied, "maybe you didn't here me but I did apologize, I'm sorry". To which I replied "you made sure she felt you, make sure she hears you apologize."

i would have handled the situation completely different and pretty much opposite. folks that have disregard for other people are not going to listen to other people and your statement might actually escalate a situation (especially considering you didn't address the person that made the incident but rather made a comment to your wife intending it to be over heard by the offending party... kind of condescending in my opinion. if you got a problem with someone, i find telling the person directly is a better approach.). personally, in a no harm done situation with a punk kid doing something they shouldn't, i just try to distance myself as far away as possible with no comment. they aren't going to listen or care any ways, if they cared, they probably would not have let the incident happen in the first place.

 

[rob56789]

It was probably just an accident everybody needs to take a "chill pill" and just have fun. I'm sure everyone here has accidently bumped into someone on a lift line or anywhere, accidents happen, no harm no foul.

 

[Greg]

Why does it matter that it was a young kid on a snowboard. If it was an older man ( say one much bigger than you) who did the same thing would you and those on the board who agree have done the same thing? I bet not. I'm not a big fan of jackass teenagers but I also don't have a big heart for older people who act paternalistic all the time. If it was an older man (or another woman) I'm willing to bet none of you would have said a thing. I've been run into plenty by older jerks and young jerks and guess what- I find the younger kids WAY more likely to say sorry and ask if everything is ok. So...don't give me this "teenagers can be obnox. sometimes" as a justification for asking for an apology. I just think you are all conditioned to think that you are right all the time whenever a teenager is involved. Maybe he did say sorry and your wife didn't hear. Maybe he's just learning. Maybe "I was almost wiped out" was a little dramatic. Maybe he tripped. My point is - I think you all responded the way you did because you have a preconceived notion of a snowboarding teenager that judges this kid before anything happens. Remove that, change the actor and guess what..."oh it was just a little mistake."
whatever...I have to go learn tax.

An apology was in order and I would have expected one too, and would have said something if my wife didn't get one, regardless of age and/or sliding device.

i would have handled the situation completely different and pretty much opposite. folks that have disregard for other people are not going to listen to other people and your statement might actually escalate a situation (especially considering you didn't address the person that made the incident but rather made a comment to your wife intending it to be over heard by the offending party... kind of condescending in my opinion. if you got a problem with someone, i find telling the person directly is a better approach.). personally, in a no harm done situation with a punk kid doing something they shouldn't, i just try to distance myself as far away as possible with no comment. they aren't going to listen or care any ways, if they cared, they probably would not have let the incident happen in the first place.

Of course, anything said is not going to have any effect in terms of altering future behavior and it's not really anyone else's responsibility to do that, but saying something to let them know you're annoyed will at least get it off one's chest so to speak. Better than stewing about it the whole lift ride up, or during the next run...

 

[ajl50]

An apology was in order and I would have expected one too, and would have said something if my wife didn't get one, regardless of age and/or sliding device.


Ok...well I don't think that deep down the majority feel that way. I think they assume a great deal about the situation because of the character they seen in front of them and act according to those assumptions.

The chill pill was certainly needed.

 

[Gpaul]

My fuse is REAL short, so it humbles me when I see BIG guys "chilling". I think the martial arts teach to be patient above everything, until life or death situation, and I agree with this.

Hope I can do as I say when it happens to me!

 

[FridayHiker]

I would have said something, but been more direct about it, as Rivercoil suggests. And ajl50, you're right. I might be more likely to let it slide if it were an adult, but I think it's a little unfair to assume that it's because I hold a grudge against teenagers. It's actually because as the parent of two kids (not yet teenagers, but close to adolescence) who are sometimes off skiing unsupervised, if one of my kids did something rude -- even if unintentional -- and didn't immediately address it appropriately, I would ABSOLUTELY hope that someone would call them on it.

Call that maternalistic or paternalistic if you want. I'm not Hilary, and I hate to sound hokey, but I just call it being part of the village.

 

[thetrailboss]

I think an apology was in order. I've seen so many out of control snowboarders this season...Ms. TB was run over by a female boarder last weekend. No apology at all from that one. On Friday a snowboarder was pulling a jump right into the intersection I was approaching. And today I was almost plowed over again and the same guy hit the bigo. I watched as another guy mowed over a five year old kid....and then got :argue: and :uzi: from the mother.

Not a good scene. So yeah, folks do need to chill, but folks need to ski and ride in control and be courteous to others by at least helping that person up and asking if they are OK and apologizing. It leaves a good impression. Most of the folks are good, but the few who either are rude or have no clue ruin it for a lot.

 

[TwinTips21]

Why does it matter that it was a young kid on a snowboard. If it was an older man ( say one much bigger than you) who did the same thing would you and those on the board who agree have done the same thing? I bet not. I'm not a big fan of jackass teenagers but I also don't have a big heart for older people who act paternalistic all the time. If it was an older man (or another woman) I'm willing to bet none of you would have said a thing. I've been run into plenty by older jerks and young jerks and guess what- I find the younger kids WAY more likely to say sorry and ask if everything is ok. So...don't give me this "teenagers can be obnox. sometimes" as a justification for asking for an apology. I just think you are all conditioned to think that you are right all the time whenever a teenager is involved. Maybe he did say sorry and your wife didn't hear. Maybe he's just learning. Maybe "I was almost wiped out" was a little dramatic. Maybe he tripped. My point is - I think you all responded the way you did because you have a preconceived notion of a snowboarding teenager that judges this kid before anything happens. Remove that, change the actor and guess what..."oh it was just a little mistake."
whatever...I have to go learn tax.

Couldn't agree more with this post. I have had an older snowboarding women slam into me and break one of my poles and get up and keep going like nothing happened. I have also had a few teenage boys knock into me, and before taking off they would ask relentlessly "are you ok" and would constantly say sorry. Teenagers can be obnoxious sometimes but not as obnoxious as some adults I have seen on the slopes.

Also one time I hit a small little jump off a rock on the side of a trail. I waited for about 40 seconds until the trail was clear before I hit the little jump. Afterwards a women standing downslope waiting for her children skied over to me and started complaining that "I could have crushed her young ones". The whole time i was very cautious and waited to make sure the landing was clear and she still had to be a bitch.


I think most of the adults who posted in here are prejudice against an age group. This is no less severe than being prejudice against an African American.

 

[bigbog]

......

.....Not a good scene....

Agreed...but I really don't think UHK permanently damaged a future leading Nobel Prize winner's psyche(sp??)!!..:lol:

 

[FridayHiker]

Not sure I agree with the generalization that they're more polite. Like ANY age group, there are good and bad apples. Some are, some aren't.

I'm reminded of a day when I was chaperoning our kids' school ski program last year. There was a HS race that day, and the kids (skiers, not snowboarders) from a HS ski team an hour or so south of us skied up and stopped about 50 yards up the hill from where our ski group was. It was a black diamond trail; there was a jump above our group, and one of their group skied down a bit and got his camera out, while the rest of the kids waited. They saw us, and we saw them, and we figured they were waiting for our instructor to finish up his spiel and for us to clear out before they started photographing their jumps.

Apparently not. While the instructor was still talking, Skier number one started on down, took the jump, got his picture taken airborne, wiped out in somersault fashion when he landed, and came very close to wiping out a group of ten 8-11yos. Why ANYONE would have even considered not waiting is beyond me. Not one of those kids said a word to ANYONE in our group, despite the fact that the kid had come within 5' of the group. An apology, and maybe a "Not the brightest thing I've done all day" would have gone a long way toward changing my opinion of that particular group of kids, but none was offered.

Like I said, if one of my kids EVER did something like that and didn't acknowledge it, I would definitely appreciate someone giving him/her a talking-to. You want to take risks? Go for it. But don't put others at risk.

ETA: I would have been just as ticked off it it had been members of the AARP or the Red Hat Society. Age has nothing to do with it. Failure to acknowledge the event does. And when a teenager DOES cut me off or run into me and makes a point to apologize, I truly appreciate it. And I've been known to mention it to their mother, if I know their mother (not that something happened, but that their kid went out of the way to be polite). :lol:

I think most of the adults who posted in here are prejudice against an age group. This is no less severe than being prejudice against an African American.

Sorry, but this is a pretty poor analogy. Minors are inherently different, as is evident by the fact that they are treated quite differently by the laws and Constitution of this country. They can't vote, many can't drive, they can't sign contracts, they can't be punished as adults, etc. etc. etc. Racial discrimination is quite different, and it borders on insulting to compare the two.

 

[Jean-Pierre Skier]

My take on this is that people tend to over react to the "you crossed my line" or "you knocked me down" thing. Skiing is a sport with plenty of assumed risk. The number of times some gaper freaks out because I ski past them when they've bailed left or right on a trail is innumerable. I've been taken out while standing on the side of the trail as well. However, every time someone bumps into you or skis/rides near you, it's not an assault on your person and your manhood/womanhood isn't at stake. It's a sport, if you can't take the knocks, get off the hill.

On top of that, it sounds as if the incident in question was a "near miss" or barely touching as opposed to a total wipe out situation. If you didn't even know whether or not your wife got tagged, it doesn't sound like that big a deal. Frankly, why didn't your wife speak up directly to the assailant if she felt slighted by the lack of apology?

The kid was probably mortified with embarassment for decking in front of the whole line and his friends. Sounds like he mumbled an apology that wasn't heard. I think we could all use a little zen meditation from time to time. Just because someone touches me while skiing and doesn't apologize in a manner that suits me doesn't mean we need to draw pistols at dawn or that I have jump all over him in a public manner. I say, no harm no foul. Keep skiing.

 

[maplevalleymaster]

I probably would have handled the situation similarly also. Last year, a few boarders ran into a women going down an open trail while they had just merged onto it from a closed trail. It was a fiasco. Ski patrol was there and her husband was screaming at everyone including people who had nothing to do with it.

I had an abnoxious teenager story today. A few boarders were online on the Sachem Quad at Okemo. They went to the line, but one of their buddies wasn't ready yet. They just stood there not letting anyone through for a few minutes. Later, since they were the chair in front of me, they started to bounce the chair.

 

[TwinTips21]

Racial discrimination is quite different, and it borders on insulting to compare the two.

How so? You realize someone is a teenager by their looks, and you discriminate against them because of it. Granted this is on an incredibly smaller scale but it is still the same idea. That being said, I don't think any type of discrimination should be had.

 

[FridayHiker]

How so? You realize someone is a teenager by their looks, and you discriminate against them because of it. Granted this is on an incredibly smaller scale but it is still the same idea. That being said, I don't think any type of discrimination should be had.

Not true. I have no issue whatsoever with polite, respectful teenagers and treat them no differently from how I treat polite, respectful adults. People who are victims of racial prejudice are offered no such benefit of the doubt.