THE LAW!
It is interesting...
Well, actually it is not very interesting at all, it should all be very simple. In actuality we should not need laws. If everyone followed the basic notion of common courtesy towards other than we would not needs laws. Now I do not want to start quoting the bible or some commercial for The Church of Christ, but that whole "do unto others" thing does make sense. Think about any crime....pick a crime...any crime...now if you were going to commit that crime but thought first...."hey, I would not want someone to steal my bike" or "man it would suck to work hard, save some money, buy a bike, and then come home and find it stolen" well, quite simply you might slow a step and not do it.
I have had bikes stolen, had my truck stolen, had my house broken into, and I have been held up at gun point. At no point do I think that the criminal put a human face onto my side of the equation. I have talked with bicycle thieves when I managed a bike shop on Capitol Hill...these guys never grasped that there was a human owner to this bike, that this bike cost X amount of dollars, several paychecks, savings, etc....to them this bike was just a vehicle, and not a vehicle of transport, but a vehicle for some quick cash. (which may have bought them drugs or put them through college, but that is not the issue) Now I have never bought a stolen bike, well, I bought one once when I was 21, but I tried to find the owner via the bicycle registration once I got home, but that was not possible, so I got rid of it and swore that I would not perpetuate the "cycle." Bad Karma Bikes are BLOG for another day.
This basic notion of common courtesy is so simple...
not just for the idea of theft (and not just bike theft; see The Bicycle Theif, but for everything, even for driving a car...
The speed limit is one thing, but the thought of common courtesy or respecting someone else's right to safety is so basic, but people just do not get it. People can drive as fast and loose as they fucking care, but please do not put others at risk. Get drunk and drive off a cliff! I don't give a fuck, but please do not harm anyone else in the process. We should not need a sign that says....PEDESTRIAN HAS THE RIGHT OF WAY. People should just yield to those crossing the street. If I had DT's heartrate monitor on we would be able to see that my heart rate is going up. This shit really pisses me off!
The cursing on what was pretty much a cuss free blog is flowing! When I cross the street in front of my house and someone nearly runs me down and says, "cross at the crosswalk!" Man, the words from someone who more than likely is speeding after taking a turn with a red turn arrow while ignoring the sign that says, yeild to pedestrian traffic...right in front of my house no less! GO BACK TO VIRGINIA! (oh, sorry, that is a rant for another day as well, see Ken Burns The Civil War)
I can not contain it!
this article from the owner of KELLY BIKES got me going....
his tale of his father riding down that narrow double lane road is my everyday....
anger overwhelms me each and every day
the bike experience can calm and enrage me
words leave my mouth
I yell things and wave fingers, well, middle fingers
I chase cars down
and I spit on little old ladies
just because they are constantly passing me too fast and too close
it is maddening...
at times I try to read their minds
figure out their motivation
this is making me insane!
I CAN NOT READ THEIR MINDS! AND IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF MY LACK OF TRAINING IN THAT AREA....IT IS BECAUSE THEIR MINDS ARE VACANT!
Most people pass me too fast/too close without thinking. Whether is the Asian woman this morning with the broken muffler or the fucking mormons in their glossless honda civic that politiely asked me to move over as they passed me too fast too close and nearly forced me off the road...
ELDER THIS ASSHOLE!
they are not realizing that passing six inches from my calf is too close and too dangerous
they are just not thinking that deeply
empathy is not part of the equation....
shit....
there are cars putting my life in harms way with roof racks
explain that....
do they buy these things to move mattresses?
ohhhh....I am getting steamed
this is part of the reason I have started to ride the bike paths more frequently...
but then I get on the bike path I there are these jokers that think they are riding for the Discovery Channel
they are lined up in a pace line
zipping past women with strollers and geriatrics with oxygen tanks
sure I ride the trails fast
but I know that if I crash I will get hurt
I think that some of these loser/jokers/and freaks have lost touch with their human frailty as well as others rights to have a placid time as they move down the trail
this forces me to go one step further and take the dirt trail
I try to act courteously
I try to act as an ambassador to my people; what people are those?
crazy I guess.
what was my point?
this BLOG had the inverted effect of therapy....
I can not risk proof reading this
best that I PUBLISH AND POST
grab a soda and get a breath of fresh air so I can make it through the rest of the day
.
It is interesting...
Well, actually it is not very interesting at all, it should all be very simple. In actuality we should not need laws. If everyone followed the basic notion of common courtesy towards other than we would not needs laws. Now I do not want to start quoting the bible or some commercial for The Church of Christ, but that whole "do unto others" thing does make sense. Think about any crime....pick a crime...any crime...now if you were going to commit that crime but thought first...."hey, I would not want someone to steal my bike" or "man it would suck to work hard, save some money, buy a bike, and then come home and find it stolen" well, quite simply you might slow a step and not do it.
I have had bikes stolen, had my truck stolen, had my house broken into, and I have been held up at gun point. At no point do I think that the criminal put a human face onto my side of the equation. I have talked with bicycle thieves when I managed a bike shop on Capitol Hill...these guys never grasped that there was a human owner to this bike, that this bike cost X amount of dollars, several paychecks, savings, etc....to them this bike was just a vehicle, and not a vehicle of transport, but a vehicle for some quick cash. (which may have bought them drugs or put them through college, but that is not the issue) Now I have never bought a stolen bike, well, I bought one once when I was 21, but I tried to find the owner via the bicycle registration once I got home, but that was not possible, so I got rid of it and swore that I would not perpetuate the "cycle." Bad Karma Bikes are BLOG for another day.
This basic notion of common courtesy is so simple...
not just for the idea of theft (and not just bike theft; see The Bicycle Theif, but for everything, even for driving a car...
The speed limit is one thing, but the thought of common courtesy or respecting someone else's right to safety is so basic, but people just do not get it. People can drive as fast and loose as they fucking care, but please do not put others at risk. Get drunk and drive off a cliff! I don't give a fuck, but please do not harm anyone else in the process. We should not need a sign that says....PEDESTRIAN HAS THE RIGHT OF WAY. People should just yield to those crossing the street. If I had DT's heartrate monitor on we would be able to see that my heart rate is going up. This shit really pisses me off!
The cursing on what was pretty much a cuss free blog is flowing! When I cross the street in front of my house and someone nearly runs me down and says, "cross at the crosswalk!" Man, the words from someone who more than likely is speeding after taking a turn with a red turn arrow while ignoring the sign that says, yeild to pedestrian traffic...right in front of my house no less! GO BACK TO VIRGINIA! (oh, sorry, that is a rant for another day as well, see Ken Burns The Civil War)
I can not contain it!
this article from the owner of KELLY BIKES got me going....
his tale of his father riding down that narrow double lane road is my everyday....
anger overwhelms me each and every day
the bike experience can calm and enrage me
words leave my mouth
I yell things and wave fingers, well, middle fingers
I chase cars down
and I spit on little old ladies
just because they are constantly passing me too fast and too close
it is maddening...
at times I try to read their minds
figure out their motivation
this is making me insane!
I CAN NOT READ THEIR MINDS! AND IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF MY LACK OF TRAINING IN THAT AREA....IT IS BECAUSE THEIR MINDS ARE VACANT!
Most people pass me too fast/too close without thinking. Whether is the Asian woman this morning with the broken muffler or the fucking mormons in their glossless honda civic that politiely asked me to move over as they passed me too fast too close and nearly forced me off the road...
ELDER THIS ASSHOLE!
they are not realizing that passing six inches from my calf is too close and too dangerous
they are just not thinking that deeply
empathy is not part of the equation....
shit....
there are cars putting my life in harms way with roof racks
explain that....
do they buy these things to move mattresses?
ohhhh....I am getting steamed
this is part of the reason I have started to ride the bike paths more frequently...
but then I get on the bike path I there are these jokers that think they are riding for the Discovery Channel
they are lined up in a pace line
zipping past women with strollers and geriatrics with oxygen tanks
sure I ride the trails fast
but I know that if I crash I will get hurt
I think that some of these loser/jokers/and freaks have lost touch with their human frailty as well as others rights to have a placid time as they move down the trail
this forces me to go one step further and take the dirt trail
I try to act courteously
I try to act as an ambassador to my people; what people are those?
crazy I guess.
what was my point?
this BLOG had the inverted effect of therapy....
I can not risk proof reading this
best that I PUBLISH AND POST
grab a soda and get a breath of fresh air so I can make it through the rest of the day
.