Who DIDN'T snowball cars when you were a kid.

I did. It was the best fun of a preteens life too. A way to get back at all those grown ups who had put you down all those many years. We would do it from my front yard, because we had this super secretive hedge. I remember once we barraged this guys car who got out and chased us. We ran around the back of my house and inside where my mom had been watching the whole thing. He came to the door all belligerent asking where "the kids" were who had snowballed his car and my mom shrugged,said she didn't know and shut the door. Classic. Thanks for the solid mom. On various occasions we would barrage someone's car and then when they got out to make way for the chase, we would pelt him with so many snowballs that he would just get in his car and split. Ah yes, the snowball, the arsenal of revolutionary, adolescent children everywhere.

We used to go to this old corn field that had been left to go fallow and chuck corn stocks at each other. It may sound benign, but after being in that field fora while the dried stalk would pull out of the ground with this big dirt clog embedded in it's roots. Twirl that baby around and heave it at some body. Oh yes, fond memories. Don't even get me started on "dirt clog" wars.

only snow was at higher elevations. This almost guarentees parental supervision.

Pomegranates served a similar purpose, after being picked off a neighbor's tree.

we threw chunks of ice plant at passing cars. Worked pretty good too--produces a nice wet THWAP! Any of those "freeway" plants will work.

but I had friends who did--one got arrested for sticking a big ol' rock in one of his.

Rocks in snowballs?

Jeebus!

But I woulda if I coulda.

They never saw THAT coming in August

I can only imagine the shock!!

:7

Grownups would be too freaked out to get mad.

Your freezer must have been better than mine. My attempt was a solid Ice chunk by June. Unfair the throw, by my childhood etiquette.

yes.

Guilty.

And I guess I need my pepper spray now...

doing it too. i was a fat kid, so i couldn't get away :D

:scared:

:evilgrin:

don't advocate violence against children, but, if i were 16 and i'd broken someone's window, i'd expect serious consequences :D

Like throwing a snowball was somehow an afront to them personally. So many guys would get and chase us. It was all about the chase, that was why we were doing it.

:silly:

We were in seventh grade and it was either a Saturday or we had a snow day. We'd sit in the bushes of a sideroad and wait for cars to come by and then whap them with snowballs. If the car stopped, we had an escape route that usually worked.

However. One driver we had hit before must have figured out what our escape route was and trapped us. He drove by and stopped before we even hit him. So we took off running and some guy stepped out in front of us from the bushes and grabbed us. The driver came running over, grabbed my friend and shook the hell out of him, yelling at him over and over: "You think it's funny hitting cars with snowballs? Huh?" I thought I'd get the same treatment but the guy holding me said "I guess I oughta do something to you too" and just took a clump of snow and gently dinked me on the face with it.

The guy holding me was actually pretty cool. After my friend darted off in terror with the driver chasing him, the guy explained to me that hitting cars with snowballs could damage the car, chip the paint, etc. Then he said for me to go on home.

I was sure glad that I wasn't the one the driver got. I went home and never threw snowballs at cars again.

Uh, but wait. THAT'S US NOW!

ROFL!

It didn't snow where I grew up.

it's part of being a kid.

When i was in high school, a classmate (didn't take any classes with him but was in my homeroom), shot and killed an 11 year old kid for throwing snowballs at his car! Yep! Shot & killed him.

Car got hit with a snowball. He went around the block. Took a 30-06 out of the back seat. Shot 4 times through the fence. Killed the 11 year old. Wounded his 10 year friend, and shot a bullet through the coat of the dead boys 8 year old brother.

Absolutely true story. You can look it up. 1973. Northeastern Illinois. My dad worked with the father of the boy who got killed. So, not only did the shooter sit about 10 feet from me in homeroom, but i had to go to the wake and funeral to boot.

He's still in jail, btw.
The Professor

That's horrible and over nothing.

We were sitting around talking about what a slime it would take to do that, and how the guy needed to be shot himself, etc. etc. etc. And the guy who did it was sitting about 10 feet away!

Eeeeeep!

Yeah, 11 years old! 11 F'IN YEARS OLD! Shot and killed for throwing a snowball at a '69 Dodge.
The Professor

There be no snow in Palo Alto since... a while ago.

A car travelling at 30mph moves 44 feet every second. Peoples useful reaction times to unexpected events are usually measured in seconds. Older people often react much slower than younger people.

I had the windsheild of a car I was driving at about 45 mph get hit by snowballs. The direct sun on the scattered snow totally eliminated my vision for about a block, and the snowy conditions kept me from being able to brake to a stop. Luckily it was an open, straight road with no obstacles.

Had I caught those kids I might have commited murder. I have no problems with that, as they attempted manslaughter.

So pardon my cantankerousness. But I don't appreciate it when other people decide to remove my personal safety factors.

My .02

Then see how funny killing someone over snowballs is.
The Professor

I was driving a 1969 MGB. Car had just about zero crash protection.And the windshield wipers on that car were kind of an afterthought. Not real effective.

I could have been killed, travelling blind at 45 mph. Or I could have killed someone else with my car. From my understanding, putting me in that situation meets the definition of attempted manslaughter.

All over a little fun with snowballs.

I don't care what kind of car you were driving. If you DIDN'T get killed, then the idea of killing someone over a snowball and a scary incident, is preposterous. If you knew someone who was killed over snowballs, like i do, you'd think it ridiculous too.
The Professor

Sounds like it was unsafe in snowy conditions and was a danger to others on the road. What if there had been a truck passing and it had splashed his windshield, how would he have coped then?

And that makes all the difference. Even in cars with decent wipers, and just in the rain, when I approach or am approached by another car I take note of my surroundings, just incase my vision is impaired. That's all part of being a proactive driver. I drive such that, should an obstacle appear, I have time to see and avoid it.

A snowball out of the blue is an unpredictable event. Am I supposed to drive around on freeways at 10mph, scouting the hillsides and bushes for any imminent attack? Am I supposed to wait till Springtime before resuming speed?

According to you all, yes.

In a snowstorm. Because you're omnipotent. In a '69 MGB. :eyes:

(rant)
Apparently it is a mistake to voice the very real emotions I felt at that moment. I should just bottle them up, lest I be labeled a mass murderer and be locked away for thought crimes.

And I was just asking for it, apparently, by committing the sin of not driving an approved and certified Snow-Tank(tm), with its standard MiracleWipers(tm) running 24/7, just incase, despite the sunny blue skies. (read my original post.)

It can't possibly be true that I drove that car through 4 winters, and would often drive around after a snowstorm because, with a good set of snow tires, it could pass over roads that many other cars couldn't. I must be lying about all thetrucks and Broncos and other cars I helped get unstuck in such conditions. I must be a big fat liar, because everyone knows an MGB is unsafe in anything but pristine, dry weather.

So, my apologies for my arrogant choice of vehicle, which surely forced otherwise innocent youths to accidentally strike the windshield of my car with their fluffy snow puffs. I am a damnable beast for so sorely tempting them. All my fault. I'm certain they would NEVER have thrown snowballs at a decent, law abiding large american sedan being temeritiously driven by two fragile elderly grandparents from Florida if that were to drive by next.

Not that that would be a PROBLEM, mind you, because no one can be startled on a blue sky day by the thump of a snowball smacking ones windshield and the sudden loss of forward vision by fragments of brilliantly sunlit bits of scattered snow while driving down a road at 45mph. (again, read my original post.)

(BTW, their aim was remarkable. It was a long range shot, with them at the top of a tall hill, and my car was a small target. One might think they'd been doing this all day long. But I digress, because this is all about my wickedness.)

So I apoligize. It's all my fault. My experiences never happened, my emotions are unimportant, my car choice was not only unwise but also an irresistable temptation to otherwise sparklingly cherubic little toddlers, just out for a little innocent fun from which they should have learned absolutely no lessons whatsoever.
(/rant)

Truly sorry for the rant. I'll now try to be light hearted and jovial. I'll also read any and all responses, and take what lumps may come.

At the instant I recovered control of my car, and realized what had happened and why, I was primed to do harm. It's a stress reaction to which all people are prone.

Now I actually cool down pretty quick. Even if I could have instantly caught the kids I doubt I would have had time to murder. But for a split second that is the thought that flashed through my brain. If I'd had a "kill those kids" button on the dashboard I would have slapped it.

If you want to understand me, try this: On your next car trip imagine what it would be like to close your eyes for two seconds. Count "one thousand one, one thousand two." See how much ground you cover? See what objects/cars/people you might strike? Try this while driving around a curve. Try it while driving past parked cars. Try it at 20mph. At 60mph. You will find that 2 seconds is a long time at 45mph.

Turn your head to watch a telephone pole as you pass it by. At the moment of passing, stop turning your head and imagine that pole crushing into your car. Imagine not having an airbag. Imagine having cheap seatbelts. Imagine having a fixed steering column that won't collapse when your chest slams into it.

Most people are uncomfortable just SNEEZING while driving, because for a split instant their eyes close. And that's when they know that split second is coming.

A snowball that removes your vision for two seconds without warning? That's not fun. That's endangerment.

Where the heck did you get that idea? And, i don't need a physics lesson either. I know you have to be able to see to drive. I've been doing it for 32 years. I have that part figured out.

But, i don't care how much anger is a natural reaction, the idea of killing someone over a scary moment is ridiculous.

Like i said, i actually knew both the victim and the shooter in this exact same situation. It's not rational and i can't even excuse thinking about it.
The Professor

Do you honestly think you can experience a real risk of physical harm and not encounter an emotional response at that moment?

In life we don't always have the academic luxury of viewing things from afar. Sometimes we are immersed in the moment and, against our better wisdom, emotions override our conscious control.

And just as taking the time to retrieve a weapon from home and kill a child is a sign of mental problems, so to would be not experiencing any emotions at all when someone else puts your life in danger. Both are signs of unbalanced mental behavior.

That's something to keep in mind whenever we do something that affects another person. Even a well balanced person can be driven to momentary rage. And an unbalanced person can be sparked into premeditated action. I've experienced the first, you've witnessed the second. I think only one of us learned a lesson.

And I still disagree with you. Not everybody has the same violent urges, you know.

I hate to tell you this but you "remove your personal safety factors" every time you walk out the door.

My choice. My body. My life.

But YOU don't have the choice to remove MY safety factors. Your right to pursue happiness by playing with snowballs ends when it threatens my right to life.

I do a lot of risky things. I've flow aerobatics in aircraft. I've parachuted. I enjoy such things. But a paramount concern in all my risk taking is to make sure I never, NEVER, put someone else at risk. I have no right to endanger the lives of others.

If you think you have that right, you are wrong.

Perhaps you should shoulder some of the responsibility and drive a vehicle that is safe in snowy situation, not a 1969 MGB? I would never drive a car that didn't have adequate windshield wipers in winter weather, period, end of story. Seems to me that you were putting yourself and others at risk by doing so.

does put people on the street at risk

Lets go for a ride. I'll sit in your back seat. At any moment I'll cover your eyes, and I won't uncover them until you activate your windsheild wipers. Let's see just how comfortable you are on that trip, even if I never cover your eyes, shall we?

Now, let's say we don't do this for just one trip. Lets say I live in your backseat all winter long. Whenever there is snow available, I'm allowed to cover your eyes without warning.

Maybe I'll do it as you're backing out of your driveway? Maybe as your driving through a school zone? Maybe as you're turning a 90 degree corner? Maybe as you are approaching an intersection with a green light?

I don't care if you're driving a Humvee. I don't care if you have Gods own windshield wipers. Having some nutjob deprive you of even one second of forward vision just so he can "have a little childish fun" is going to get real old, real quick.

Driving is serious business. It involves energies that are quite lethal. It's not a place for childish pranks.

Why would you not take driving in snow seriously and go out in a car that is not meant to be driven in snow and rain and has inadequate windshield wipers?

I don't care what you think your driving skills are, that endangers just as many people as kids throwing snowballs at your car.

Car. We could tell the cop thought it was funny but he said she was "Madder than the Dickens".


Someone nailed my car with a paint ball a few months back.

You expect to get chased, so one planned escape routes appropriately. Also, after being seen with hat on one had to remove the hat when walking home.

I admit that I chase kids that hit my car from time to time. They are the neighborhood kids, and it is a big joke. What is not a big joke is the fact that I can't outrun a ten-year-old anymore.

I had snowball fights with friends - does that count?

I remember having these marauding snowball fights that would span several blocks. The best was when your snowball fight spilled over into someone else's snowball fight, people you didn't even know but for that frozen battlefield of childhood adolescence.

You don't do that shit in NYC. You never know who's going to snap.

I had snowballs thrown at me when I walked home from school all the time, as I was an unpopular kid at the new grade school I had just started at. After that, I only threw snowballs in snowball fights with friends, never at people I didn't like.

when someone got in a serious accident from a bunch of kids pelting their car while this elderly woman was driving. Luckily it wasn't part of my group. so while it was fun and a form of rebellion it did come with a down side.

Snow on the hands is exceedingly painful, even with gloves or mittens.

Then I was let go because the juvenile prosecutor refused to prosecute.

snowballs were for friends and siblings, not strangers in cars

Mind you we were totally loaded

I hope you didn't get pepper sprayed! :D

With some guy chasing you yelling "You damned kids!"

Hell, I think snowballing cars should be an Olympic event.

If we make that change, then I agree! :D

I grew up in Southern California.

who ran out into the middle of the street to throw a snowball at my windshield. He slipped and fell, and I had to quickly swerve around him. That was the scariest moment I have ever had behind the wheel. My heart was just *pounding*.

I hope he learned his lesson, but it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't.