The Surfer
The sun was shining for the first time in a while, so the young surfer guy decided to get out of bed, squeeze the surf board as best he could into his hatchback and head for Barleycove Beach in West Cork, which was supposed to be a great place for surfing.
He punched the address into his Sat Nav and off he headed.
All was going well until the Sat Nav told him to take a peculiar left hand turn off the main road onto a narrow country road with the suspicious grass in the middle that starts to whisper to you that maybe you have taken a wrong turn!
He heads up the hill and down a hill, up another hill and down another hill passing cattle in the fields and the odd house here and there. The narrow road goes on and on and he starts to pray that he doesn’t meet another car going in the opposite direction as there is no way either could get past.
He goes down another hill, passes the entrance to a beautiful ivy covered house and starts to climb another short hill.
The Dog Walker
A guy decides to make the most of the sun shiny day by getting out of bed, putting the lead on his beautiful dog and heading out for a good, long walk.
He decides to take the small country road, which is so narrow that it rarely sees any traffic, other than the very odd car of one of the few people living on this stretch, or the off farmer tending to cattle grazing in the area.
He goes up the hill and down the hill, enjoying the sunshine and the peace and quiet of this route and taking in the stunning views of the rugged, rolling hills that surround him.
He goes up another hill and down another hill with his loyal dog by his side enjoying the outing, stopping here and there exploring all of the different scents along the way.
He passes the entrance to the old brick ivy covered house that doesn’t look like it’s been used in quite a while.
A rare car comes from behind him, so he pulls his dog close as it passes by driven by a young buck with a surf board squeezed into the back. It’s a bit odd that the driver is on this road he thought as it isn’t a very obvious road to take to get to the beach.
Me, Dee, Honey and Maggie
Because it’s such a gorgeous day we decide to grab the two dogs, pack them into the car and head for Schull to do the coastal walk, watch the boating activities and pick up a few bits and pieces in the town.
We were in great form, busy chatting as we left the house full of the joys of this unexpected sun shiny day.
The Rest of the Story…
We drove down the hill to the junction, over the cattle grill and took a left up the hill on the narrow country road. We came over the brow of the hill and were met by a car driven by a young buck going in the opposite direction. There is no way of anyone passing each other so someone had to do the reversing back to a spot where they could comfortably pull in and let the other car pass.
The etiquette, as we had come to understand from driving in these parts is that the person driving up the hill is the person who does the reversing – the opposite can burn out a clutch very quicky, so this is the rule of thumb.
An exception might be when the person going down the hill is very close to a spot where they can pull in.
The young buck needed to do the reversing, and in any case he was very close to an entrance to pull into,
We both stopped and after a few moments he started to do the reversing, while being watched by the lad who was walking his dog.
Driving in reverse for more than a couple of seconds can be a bit challenging (the trick is to carefully use the side mirrors), but the young buck hadn’t quite mastered this skill and he was veering right and left, but still making slow progress.
It obviously got the better of him so he stopped and then started gesturing to me to start reversing. Me reversing back up a hill, a good distance from the nearest pull in spot was not going to work.
He was just about 50 feet from a place to pull in, but to be fair to him he probably hadn’t spotted it. Neither car was moving.
I decided to hop out of the car and walk towards him to explain where the pull in spot was, and either guide him back or offer to do the reversing.
Unfortunately he interpreted me walking towards him as being an aggressive act and instead of pulling the window down for a chat he started getting into one!!
I tried to explain that I was just trying to help, when at this point the dog walker decided to join in. He interpreted our interaction as two people arguing and decided to put his two big feet into the mix.
“Hey fella, just get back in your car will ya” he said in a hostile manner.
I was astounded at this hostility from both the young buck and the dog walker.
I explained that I was from the area, I knew the road and that the best place to pull in was just another few feet back.
“Fella, I’m from here as well – just get back in your car” the dog walker repeated with a fair dose of aggression.
Now I was hot under the collar – “Excuse me, who the hell do you think you are talking to?“
I was ready to get stuck in, not a bother. The lovely joyful mellow feeling of the day from just a minute ago had totally disappeared and I was pumped up.
Trying to count to ten I tried my best to assure the driver that I was just trying to help, but he was having none of it. “I will guide you back” I offered.
“I don’t need your fucking help” he said and once again I had the dog walker telling me in his condescending tone to “get back in your car”.
I couldn’t resist:“From the way you were driving you definitely need my help” I uttered as I walked back to my car.
“What did you say??” …I kept on walking.
The young buck did reverse.
I followed him, waved sarcastically to the dog walker and then I pulled into the entrance just a few feet back that I had been talking about. Both I and the young buck gave each other “loving glances” as we eventually passed, and we all went on our merry ways.
I noticed the sun had disappeared, just as our fabulous mood had disappeared and I could feel the anger and tension pumping through my body.
On the drive to Schull we chatted about the incident, and in all honesty it still hasn’t fully left me.
It concerns me how three strangers all going about their business on a beautiful sunny day can so quickly turn to aggression on a peaceful country road.
It also scared me how quickly I was able to flip to aggression – it wasn’t a bother at all, and that isn’t good.
What is it about our 2026 world that even on a beautiful sunny day we can switch from joy to aggression so easily?
Calm down folks, calm down Greg
Greg
Greg Canty is the Managing Partner of Fuzion, a Brand Communications Agency in Ireland with offices in Dublin and Cork.
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