breath


a cyclo-toon by neal skorpen
www.nealskorpen.com

stolen from
www.cyclelicio.us

hours have passed since my short monday morning commute
mondays can suck
even on short holiday weeks

breath
I must learn to breath
I must learn to count to ten before I react
life can not be a series of actions and reactions
such behavior can steamroll into actions and over reactions

but somehow
when my life and well being are put at risk
then the person who puts me at risk leaves me to blame
well... I get a little irked

so much of this anger comes from the blatant lack of respect and the inability to express empathy

the other day I was coming home from work
after a short post work ride I linked up with a messenger on his way home from work
we meandered through Adams Morgan and then Mount Pleasant
we dealt with the obnoxious car drivers that swarmed around us as we rode a social pace through the city

on Mount Pleasant Street we rode side by side
there were the standard double parked cars and the other nonsense that goes on during the average day on Mount Pleasant Street
we weaved through past the Metro Buses, the line of cars waiting to turn, the cars trying to park, and more double parkers
all the while we were being tailgated by a driver is a pristine SUV

the driver gestured as he drove feet from our rear wheels
I was to the right of traffic
but the person I was talking to was just right of me
forcing anyone who wanted to pass to make the pass breaking the double yellow line
when each of us approached any of the previously mentioned cluster of cars obstructing the flow of traffic we worked our way around
not needing to slow or stop
just needing to alter our trajectory

while the tailgating car had to slow, stop, and work their way around

sure enough...
the car would accelerate to whatever speed it needed to hit all in an effort to return to our rear wheels
never concerning themselves that we were not there obstruction
we were not creating traffic
we are traffic
if they looked forward past the cyclist they would see the blockage caused by the double parkers, the metro buses, etc... etc... etc...

but what really irked me about this close following SUV was that this car was one of the DC tags with just numbers... just numbers under one thousand
in DC the plates numbered 1-1,000 are friends of the mayor
you would think that you would behave if you were so traceable
but no
I am passed too fast and too close by so many of these DC elite

more on this later
lunch break over

back to spit a few more words on the page

sunday morning I took the dog out for a spin
went to cross the street in front of my house
it was clear of traffic coming down the hill
it was clear of traffic coming up the hill
so I stepped off the curb with my dog by my side

a car came around down the hill around the corner at an alarming speed
well... not so alarming because nearly all the cars come down the hill and up the hill at that speed
I slowed and I stopped
because it looked like the car was going to neither slow or stop

for some reason I try to make a point to have these cars slow for pedestrians
rather than pedestrians clearing the path like the driver is the king of siam

the car slowed the car stopped
by this time I recognized the driver and the family in the car

with the car stopped I leaned forward to the driver and asked
how do you like people speeding on your street?
to which he responded... sorry, I do not like it at all

this is the classic inability to understand the big world view
this friend of mine lives a few blocks away on a street equally as busy
he certainly hates the cars that speed by his house
yet he speeds by other people's houses without any concern

maybe that was a moment of enlightenment for him
lets see if it lasts