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Jackass Scratched My Car (I know who did it)
King Kong
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Ok here's the deal. I kinda know how I want to handle this situation but it just makes me angry.
Background
So I am currently in my second year of an automotive program in a class of about 12 guys. One guy in particular has always been kinda a douche bag. He is moody as fuck, some days he's all laughs and jokes then the next day if you give him any shit he tries to act like Mr. Badass. We usually work in groups of 3 in lab projects and a guy I get along with and work well with is always with him so I kinda suck it up and deal. The typical shit he will pull is when you bring a personal car in to work on he will fuck with it (draw boobs on a window or maybe act like hes letting air out of a tire) but when he brings in his car he freaks out if anybody even breathes on it. We also all have our own tool boxes but often me and the guy I get along with will just grab whoever's box is closest and use that for the days work. Of course if Mr. Badass's box is closest he'll bitch if we use his so me or my buddy will grab ours from clear at the other end of the garage. Same if we need a special tool that maybe only a few of us have, we let people borrows ours no problem but he'll flip out if you ask him. No biggie, whatever. When he pulls his BS I just walk away for a smoke or go wash my hands. I attribute it to small man syndrome and him trying to be the alpha male of the group. My buddy will not work without him so I'm kinda stuck with this guy. (I have also heard he insulted my fiance when she came by the garage one day but this was never really confirmed)
Problem
So as stated above we kinda do little pranks to each other, draw a penis on a car window of somebody's car is a common one. It's also commonly known not to do it on the paint as being automotive guys we are all kinda anal about our cars and that has a chance to scratch. Well as I left school Mr. Badass drew a cock on my rear trunk lid and left about a 3 inch arching scratch. I knew it was him as I got something out of my trunk ten minutes before and it was not there, then was noticed right after he left for the day (he was parked next to me) and I left right after he did. Also this sounds stupid but I know what they look like when he draws them. I'm so pissed about it I want to confront him so badly, however I feel if I do it will not go well and would evolve to a point were I and he would be removed from class (i.e. psycical contact) It wouldn't be so bad but all the shit above plus this has sent me into a rage about him and this is pretty much the straw that broke the camels back. Come Monday I'm at the point I'm going to fucking explode when I see him. My fiance tells me to just never talk or been seen with him as I only have 2 months of class left but I want to confront him so badly.
TLDR;
A guy who is a douche bag all the time scratched my car and I want to pound his face.
Background
So I am currently in my second year of an automotive program in a class of about 12 guys. One guy in particular has always been kinda a douche bag. He is moody as fuck, some days he's all laughs and jokes then the next day if you give him any shit he tries to act like Mr. Badass. We usually work in groups of 3 in lab projects and a guy I get along with and work well with is always with him so I kinda suck it up and deal. The typical shit he will pull is when you bring a personal car in to work on he will fuck with it (draw boobs on a window or maybe act like hes letting air out of a tire) but when he brings in his car he freaks out if anybody even breathes on it. We also all have our own tool boxes but often me and the guy I get along with will just grab whoever's box is closest and use that for the days work. Of course if Mr. Badass's box is closest he'll bitch if we use his so me or my buddy will grab ours from clear at the other end of the garage. Same if we need a special tool that maybe only a few of us have, we let people borrows ours no problem but he'll flip out if you ask him. No biggie, whatever. When he pulls his BS I just walk away for a smoke or go wash my hands. I attribute it to small man syndrome and him trying to be the alpha male of the group. My buddy will not work without him so I'm kinda stuck with this guy. (I have also heard he insulted my fiance when she came by the garage one day but this was never really confirmed)
Problem
So as stated above we kinda do little pranks to each other, draw a penis on a car window of somebody's car is a common one. It's also commonly known not to do it on the paint as being automotive guys we are all kinda anal about our cars and that has a chance to scratch. Well as I left school Mr. Badass drew a cock on my rear trunk lid and left about a 3 inch arching scratch. I knew it was him as I got something out of my trunk ten minutes before and it was not there, then was noticed right after he left for the day (he was parked next to me) and I left right after he did. Also this sounds stupid but I know what they look like when he draws them. I'm so pissed about it I want to confront him so badly, however I feel if I do it will not go well and would evolve to a point were I and he would be removed from class (i.e. psycical contact) It wouldn't be so bad but all the shit above plus this has sent me into a rage about him and this is pretty much the straw that broke the camels back. Come Monday I'm at the point I'm going to fucking explode when I see him. My fiance tells me to just never talk or been seen with him as I only have 2 months of class left but I want to confront him so badly.
TLDR;
A guy who is a douche bag all the time scratched my car and I want to pound his face.
King Kong on
0
Posts
Take a photo, write down when and where it happened and who did it (in case it happens again). Tell your buddy to get Mr.Douche to cough up the money to repair the scratch and make it clear that doing real damage to cars is not funny at all.
It is your property. Defend it. Do not let sissy pants talk you out of it.
(P.S. I look forward to your "So I got arrested..." thread)
I mean, it is an automotive class.
Dan - You've only got 42 posts, but you are aware that "giving bad advice" gets infractions around here, right? :P
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
if you really want to get under his skin, start ignoring him. don't reply when he talks to you, don't talk to him, and basically pretend he's not there.
attention whores like this dude will go nuts knowing he's not being noticed.
Typically a good idea, but then there is the chance he will go to greater lengths to get your reaction (i.e. worse damage to your car and/or your face)
Are we talking College or High School class here?
How old are you guys?
Reason I'm asking is for the legal aspect. I'd get an estimate, If its going to cost you a significant amout of money to repair, ask him to pay for damages (politely). If he refuses, I hear Small Claims Court is fun and easy.
i would calmly mention to him that you are confident that he did it, but have no proof... and if another scratch appears on your car EVER AGAIN, all of his windows will magically be "removed" with a baseball bat the following day, no questions asked
then start ignoring him.... and honestly, i wouldn't put up with shit like that to work with a good buddy... i'd find a different group to work in
You might want to get him to admit to doing this before heading to court. As it stands, there is just circumstantial evidence against him. Nothing definitive so I don't think it would hold up in court.
(I think I have this correct, but I could be wrong)
Hmm...Can you get a handwriting analysis done on a drawing of a penis?
I would say something along the lines of, "Listen. I have the decency not to fuck with your car so you sure as shit are NOT going to fuck with mine. I know what you did and it's unacceptable. The next time you pull some shit like that with me I'm not going to be this nice."
I'd also approach your instructor about it as well. Publically.
Even somebody seeing the guy would be enough- Right now, anyone who walked past his car in a ten min span could have done it.
Please don't give this type of advice, even in jest.
I'm just asking because if he's angry enough, he may do it, and it's a bad decision to make.
You don't want to fight the guy it will just make things worse but you already know that.
I'm not sure what to do besides going to an authority figure. I know that's some tattle-tale type bullshit, but really, this guy should be accountable for what he's done somehow, and I'm not entirely sure of another way of making that happen.
1) Approach him when he's alone tell him that he actually put a significant scratch on your car. Make sure he knows the only reason you haven't reported him is because you have no proof but if it happens again his car may meet with a similar "accident".
2) Accept he's always going to be a douche he isnt going to change and he isnt going to compensate you for the damage he did then vandalise his car back without saying a word to him.
Now option two may seem like a good idea but apart from being illegal it would probably result in an escalating vandalism war between you which could get expensive and lead to worse things.
You only have two more months of putting up with this guy so give him a firm verbal warning then find another group to work with. Whatever you do breaking his face is NOT a option.
This.
It sounds like he acts like he's the big dawg in the shop, and nobody does much to tell him he's wrong. If he can continually get away with treating everyone else's property 100x worse than his own, it's time that someone informed him of just how acceptable that is going to be in the future.
Don't resort to physical contact, and don't resort to reciprocal vandalism. Talk to him about it, and if he continues to be a douche, talk to your instructor about it.
It's only being a tattle-tale when you're under the age of 10. Otherwise it's known as "addressing the situation like an adult."
What I would do is see if there were any witnesses to the event, try and find out what tool he used (maybe there could still be some of your paint on it or at least the shape would be similar) and talk to your instructor. If the instructor doesn't want to deal with it, go over his head to the dean (or principal, whomever is in charge). If you did have some witnesses or other viable proof that he did it, I would sue.
I know that all sounds like a hassle, but dick weed needs to know that what he did was wrong and smashing in his face won't really achieve that result.
Sounds right to me. There needs to be some kind of evidence, either witnesses (more the better), or another case where it was proven he did something similar (that'd still be borderline circumstantial) ... Gotta get something on the guy. Are there security cameras in the garage? It sounds like this may be on campus, so maybe?
3DS FC: 4699-5714-8940 Playing Pokemon, add me! Ho, SATAN!
Just chill out, spend a little TLC on your car and be the bigger man here.
I can't even believe people are suggesting you let this shit fly.
"Hey man, you scratched my car the other day when you drew a penis on it"
"Uh, that wasn't me"
"I know it was you, don't be a dick - it's not a big deal, but the least you can do is fess up and apologize"
Insert mumbling/apologies.
If he tries to get physical, that's when you walk away and tell him it's not worth it.
It involves 2 bags of shrimp.
One (aka "decoybag") placed in a location that will be pretty obvious (so when the first bad smells manifest, he'll think that was the culprit)
The other stashed away as far as possible inside the car.
Yes, I know.
Actually, addressing the situation like an adult involves trying to talk to the person you are having a problem with first. It sounds like in this instance that person is about as mature as the average 13 year-old though so that's not likely to work. This is just more a response to how I see so many people claiming that the "adult" solution to a dispute between two people is to immediately run to an authority figure and have them solve the problem for you, when in fact adults ought to be able to resolve most disputes between themselves through discussion and compromise. But as I said, not likely to work with Captain Puberty(the other guy, not Kong) here.
While you are in the process of getting reparations for the damage he did to your car, it might be useful to ponder the wisdom of engaging in games like this with someone who you know to be mentally unstable.
Actually,the most often given advice here is talk to the person. It's almost becomes a joke at this point. That and telling people to relax and follow their heart/head.
One in the trunk, one in the heating system somewhere. :winky:
That sounds so aweso- uh, horrible. ;-)
Actually, I think ViolentChemistry has a pretty good handle on how H/A does business. :P
The problem here is that you aren't dealing with an everyday, run-of-the-mill situation. His property was vandalized. That's a crime. So, the right thing to do in this situation is to bring it up to the authorities and let them handle the situation. Because according to any sensible understanding of rights-based legal theory, that's precisely the reason you have a democratically-elected government in the first place. It would be nice if people could be adults and handle these situations amicably, amongst themselves, but if that were the case every time we wouldn't a legal system, let alone this forum. Some would argue that if everyone handled every criminal act by bringing it to the attention of the proper authorities, the world would be a better place.
Anyway, not to derail this thread - to the OP: There's really not much you can do beyond filing a police report. Talking to the professor might help you feel better, but I doubt there's much the professor can do, either (or would be willing to do, given his lack of authority in the matter and not having an objective record fo what actually happened). Confronting the guy isn't likely to accomplish much, given how you've described him. At this point, the only way you can get him to man up would be to have someone else talk to him about it and get him to realize that he's literally costing you money. Get an estimate on the cost, including your insurance, and let everyone know about it. No need to be a whiny and/or sarcastic bitch - just mention that you took your car to the shop and, hey, it cost you some money. Then mention that you were really hoping to get X but it looks like you'll have to wait a month. It's rather passive-aggressive, but it's the only way you could conceivably get the message across in any way that will stick, because maybe someone else will realize what he's done and at least let him know that it wasn't cool.
Even if you do the above, I'd recommend just letting it go. I sincerely doubt he will get the message, and even if he does, he won't do anything about it except maybe feel a tiny bit guilty. Don't associate with him in the future, and then you won't have to deal with him anymore. Chalk one up to having to deal with the human race.
Uh-oh I accidentally deleted my signature. Uh-oh!!
Hi, that was me!
You got it slightly wrong.
The second bag you peel back the rubber seals of the windows and jam them through there. Putting them in the heating system is way too much work.
I recommend hiding the initial bag under the seat.
Satans..... hints.....
But just chucking shrimp in various nooks and crannies sounds super-effective.
The people who would argue that are stupid and live in a fantasy-world. Make a D&D thread, as it's gotten beyond relevance here.
"Alright boys, the penis on the trunk? That was hilarious, who can I thank for that?"
If this guy is as much of a showoff/attention whore as you make him out to be, he may pipe up to grab the glory of a prank well done.
That's when you change tone and say "good, then you can pay for the new paint job on my trunk"