Weeding Out The Unlucky
By Mitch Berg
Back in high school, I had a friend who, while driving home from her boyfriend’s place on some dark, dank, country road around dusk one night, made a left turn onto a side road.
Through inexperience, bad luck, poor road design or the glare of the sunset, she didn’t see the truck barrelling up the road straight at her as she made the turn. She was killed instantly – about as instantly as it gets, as luck’d have it, not that that made her parents feel any better.
Was she “stupid?” Unlucky? Did she guess wrong, or just plain miss the oncoming truck? We don’t know. The driver was never cited, and no fault was ever really ascertained as I recall because, really, did it matter anymore?
Question: Is it a good thing she never got to “breed?”
The tragedy hit me hard back then. And since I’ve had kids of my own, I’m even more keenly aware of how fragile life is. Bad things happen – frequently to people whose only “stupidity” is being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And when those bad things happen, someone – a father, some kids, a girlfriend – get left behind.
I haven’t laughed about an accident, even a genuinely stupid one, since I had kids.
———-
I digress. But not really.
I’ve never really understood “conservatives'” antipathy toward bikers – and by “bikers”, I mean people who ride bikes. Lots of conservatives ride. I ride a lot from the beginning of April until it gets just too cold; it’s my main commute to work, and it’s one of my favorite weekend diversions, when weather permits.
Leaving aside that it’s a lot of fun, and it’s just about the best outdoor cardio exercise there is, especially for people who are past their mid-twenties and have the knees to show for it, there are a lot of good free market reasons to bike. It’s inexpensive. It saves you money on gas, maintenance, healthcare and taxes, since we’re cutting out miles of government gas taxes as we ride.
Some, like Jason Lewis, complain wrongly that we are getting a free ride. Its untrue of course; gas taxes go mostly to highways, and most biking is done on city streets. Which we pay through various city taxes, including property taxes, which I assure you I most definitely pay. Indeed, given that all other things being equal we pay the same city/county taxes as everyone else, and inflict vastly less wear and tear on the roads than our car-driving neighbors, it’s not unreasonable to say that all other things being equal we pay more taxes on the applicable roads than the rest of you (and that ignored the fact that most of us drive as well).
So it’s all you motorized freeloaders who need to step lightly around the rest of us.
And yes, I know – bikes are identified with a lot of lefty excesses; smug greenies wave their bikes in the rest of society’s faces with gay abandon. “Critical Mass” has turned into an excercise in group arrogance, and would be well dispensed with.
But the fact is, a bike – like a gun – is nothing more than a tool. It’s the rider that counts.
———-
At any rate, a rider was killed yesterday morning in Minneapolis. By a turning semi. While riding (the nerve of the guy) in a dedicated bike lane.
Stuff happens. Sometimes the accidents come to you. Urban biking requires immense care; experienced city bikers have eyes on the backs of their heads, and are not the ones you see riding around with IPods stuck in their ears. The old drill sergeant aphorism is true; anything you do can kill you, and anything you don’t do can kill you. When you’re a city biker, you are always one missed signal, one inattentive driver, one moron in a Jeep trying to reset his CD player or groping for a cell phone, one overly-wide turn, away from being a grease stain; you are only as safe as the sum of the dumbest driver around you and the speed of your own reflexes allow you to be. If you’re smart, you ride very defensively, avoiding dangerous streets (I cringe as I drive down University or Snelling watching people trying to ride in traffic), and places with particularly dangerous traffic.
Especially semis.
Tracy Eberly at the short-for-this-world Anti-Strib quoted the Strib article on the accident verbatim, adding only two editorial elements of his own; the title (“Weeding Out The Stupid“) and the tag (“I Hope He Didn’t Breed”). The victim, unfortunately, was named Donald Dumm. I know nothing about the late Mr. Dumm – his background, his experience at city biking, his knowledge of his route, and least of all his politics. I don’t know if he was riding carefully or not (he was in a bike lane), or whether he took a dumb chance.
I do know, though, that when Tony Snow – former talk show host, White House spokesman and all-around class act – died of cancer a few years ago, a horde of suet-brained leftybloggers partied like it was 1999, acting as if Hitler or, worse, Cheney himself had passed, and drawing glee from it. And I ripped on them for being, really, inhuman.
Leftyblogger and biker Charlie Quimby – who’s never been mistaken for a drooling Kossack – responded to Tracy yesterday.
Tracy is being extremely stupid and insensitive, but I don’t think he deserves to die for it.
Don’t know if I’ll go word for word with Charlie, but in for a penny, in for a pound; Mr. Dumm had friends, a family, a life, and his death – through circumstances that look to have been the kind of sudden, uncontrollable crisis that kills thousands of car drivers a year who pass without the benefit of anyone grabbing a cheap chuckle at their death – isn’t the stuff of cheap comedy.
Especially political comedy.
Especially political comedy that is just plain wrong.
Look – I’ve defended Anti-Strib when nobody else would; during the “Dirt Worshipping Heathens” fracas, I took Tracy’s side against drooling crank Karl Bremer and the bought-and-paid-for Steve Perry and their horde of anonymous, lead-paint-chip guzzling leftyblog droogs. And I’d do it again. Because, more often than not, Tracy’s right.
But one of the most important tenets of conservatism is that of the worth of the individual, as opposed to the class, label or group. When we start focusing on group labels – “Bushie” or “Cyclist” or “wingnut” or whatever – over individuals, we lose. We become like “the enemy”.
And it wouldn’t matter if Dennis Dumm, God rest his soul, were an ACORN worker who was singing “The Internationale” and smacked into the truck because he was laughing at that funny “Somewhere in Texas, a Village is missing an Idiot” bumpersticker yet again.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:51 pm
With or without the bike tragedy, I would have laughed at the name “Donald Dumm” just on general principle.
It’s like Donald Duck’s half-wit brother.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Bicycling is nothing more than a dangerous hobby.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:24 pm
I don’t mind bikers. I mind the ones who don’t “ride very defensively.”
Minneapolis plowed a long bike trail past my place of employment, and on too many occasions I see bikers just fly down the path and through intersections without much of a check to see what traffic is doing. I’ve been them go through red lights like that.
I get on the freeway by turning right through that trail and I’m always looking waaay back because I never know when some idiot biker is going to just whip through like he thinks he’s going to win a battle my truck.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:25 pm
K-Rod,
The folks at Anti-Strib keep chanting that. What is it supposed to mean?
It’s dangerous? Arguable at best (and to the extent it’s true, it’s usually true due to the stupidity of others), and so what? Staying safe is one’s personal responsibility, on a bike or, for that matter, in a car.
It’s a hobby? Again – so what? Being a “hobby” makes the participant “stupid?” Justifies his/her death? Makes it less justifiable than, say, driving (which isn’t even a hobby for most people, but a utilitarian task)?
“Nothing but…” a dangerous hobby? Well, I suppose other people’s hobbies are “nothing but” annoying distractions – I mean, I find bowling and skateboarding and tie-dying annoying and pointless – but really, what does it matter to you, one way or the other?
What exactly is that sentence supposed to mean? I don’t think most of the people who say it even know.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:29 pm
And the stoopid award goes to…
*drum roll*
Mitch Berg
for saying:
“So it’s all you motorized freeloaders who need to step lightly around the rest of us.”
followed by:
“But one of the most important tenets of conservatism is that of the worth of the individual, as opposed to the class, label or group. When we start focusing on group labels… [all you motorized freeloaders]… – over individuals, we lose. We become like “the enemy”. “
Mitch just became like “the enemy”?
Shopping at the point of origin for your goods using only your bike must be very interesting to watch. Not quite like a train wreck, but more like a semi wreck, eh Mitch? The ride to get pineapple is not short.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:31 pm
K-Rod,
Not the same. I’m not superimposing a group’s alleged characteristics onto an individual. Tracy’s post does.
And you’re indulging in some pretty silly strawmen here; “point of origin shopping?” Huh?
Try to stay on topic, here. Just because I’m writing about the Anti-Strib doesn’t mean I’m going to let my comment section go the same way.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:32 pm
I mind the ones who don’t “ride very defensively.”
For those who aren’t paying attention – me too.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Mitch, bicycling is a hobby and can be very dangerous. Why is that so hard for you to understand?
I knew Il Duce’s label would get your dander up.
What did you mean when you wrote this crap:
“So it’s all you motorized freeloaders who need to step lightly around the rest of us.”
“motorized freeloaders“?
To whom are you referring?
Who does or does not fit into that group, Mitch?
May 21st, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I mind the ones who don’t “ride very defensively.”
For those who aren’t paying attention – me too.
That’s where I’m at on this, too. As long as a biker doesn’t do something stupid that puts him/her in my path when I’m at the wheel, it’s no problem. Bikers do have a right to the road and I’m willing to share the road with them, but I see the stuff that Jeff described in his comment all too often, especially on Hwy. 88 in St. Anthony and Nordeast, which has a 50 MPH speed limit. It’s a consistent worry, because I travel that road every day.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Mitch, my friend, stand up and take a bow, because here you have at least one standing ovation. I’d bet I’m not the only one applauding.
Mitch said:
“Mr. Dumm had friends, a family, a life, and his death – through circumstances that look to have been the kind of sudden, uncontrollable crisis that kills thousands of car drivers a year who pass without the benefit of anyone grabbing a cheap chuckle at their death – isn’t the stuff of cheap comedy.
Especially political comedy.
Especially political comedy that is just plain wrong.”
This is … the best of you, the Mitch I enjoy reading the most, the man I have liked and admired over the years. Well done.
You may laugh, but when I read your blog entry earlier about oversleeping, and the one some days before that about mistaking the sour cream for butter, I said a little prayer that you weren’t out there on your bike riding sleep deprived (not unusual for any parent of teenagers), and therefore maybe a little less observant, given your love for bike riding to work. It was recently “ride your bike to work day”, and as part of the coverage for that, some news sources included the information that both bike rider injuries and deaths had increased significantly over previous years. Good for you for being a bike rider; stay safe. I hope your words encourage every person who reads your blog, regardless of political POV, to be more attentive to both bike riders and pedestrians. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to add motorcyclists to that list either.
and to your comment:
“I do know, though, that when Tony Snow – former talk show host, White House spokesman and all-around class act – died of cancer a few years ago, a horde of suet-brained leftybloggers partied like it was 1999, acting as if Hitler or, worse, Cheney himself had passed, and drawing glee from it. And I ripped on them for being, really, inhuman.”
May I add a heartfelt “Amen”.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Mitch –
You forgot the “Stupid” tag.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Great post, Mitch. I watch so many stupid cyclists downtown running lights, going the wrong way, etc. Yesterday I wanted to start grabbing them and asking if they knew about Mr. Dumm’s death that morning, and that he was probably following the rules and still got killed. Safety is key, but it’s not enough. Awareness and caution go hand in hand.
On a side note, I see you’ve gotten on k-rod’s wrong side. Pay attention to his “debate” tactics and remember them next time when he’s arguing your side.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Er… for the subject matter not your post, lest there be any confusion.
Also, isn’t comedy – even political comedy -supposed to be funny? Or at least clever?
May 21st, 2009 at 3:09 pm
What did you mean when you wrote this crap:
Sorry, it was a joke, in the context of noting that bikers pay the same non-gas taxes as everyone else, but contribute (like motorcyclists, another much-maligned bunch of “hobbyists”) much less to the maintenance load on roads. Said as a zing back at the Jason Lewis crowd.
I’ll put smileys around them next time, perhaps?
May 21st, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Stooj –
Krod has no actual or apparent authority to argue for “our side”. Please remember that next time you engage him.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:29 pm
“So it’s all you motorized freeloaders who need to step lightly around the rest of us.”
Mitch jumps the shark. Enjoy your future in the DFL.
The laws of physics dictate that your liberal take on reality is a deadly one. Bikes and cars, trucks, semi’s, etc. don’t mix. No amount of wishful thinking will ever make that any different. Drivers manage to kill other people when they are wrapped in thousands of pounds of steel and yet you chose to pay on this field on your bike?
Stupid is as stupid does. You make the choice, you pay the price.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Mitch jumps the shark. Enjoy your future in the DFL.
No, Tracy, on this issue as on all others, I am utterly a free-market conservative. And I’m fully aware of my “take on reality”, which was why I wrote all that boring stuff about how careful I am when I ride. Did ya catch that?
The rewards vastly outweigh the risks. Since you claim to be a free-marketeer, I figured you can follow that. Being a grownup, I’m plenty capable of deciding that for myself. By you and your commenters’ leave, of course.
I disagree with your treatment of the issue. That is all. Didn’t attack your character, personality, or anything else; indeed, as I noted, I’m both a fan and a defender. I’ll thank you to give me the same consideration. If it’s not too much trouble.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Tracy’s right, of course. People who ski, play rugby, football, ice hockey, golf (especially the bluehairs), sail, ride on roller coasters, ride horses, go to Who concerts in Cleveland, fly in Cessnas, try to cross the street unaware of the drunk guy tearing down the road who doesn’t see the red light, swim, or basically do anything other than get themselves shnockered on Scotch in their dark living rooms all deserve to die, and have it coming if they already haven’t.
Here’s to a risk-free society!
May 21st, 2009 at 3:45 pm
But wait, Foot! Those are all dangerous hobbies!
Dangerous!
HOBBIES!
May 21st, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Nearly everything that Mitch has written about bicycles vs. cars and trucks applies to motorcycles vs. cars and trucks as well. Bicycling is a dangerous hobby. So is putting a boat in the water and going fishing. So is grabbing a rifle and going hunting.
I bicycle a lot, but I will not do it anymore on anything but the least trafficked roads or on trails. On commuter roads you are one 70-year-old grandmother who needs cataract surgery from being a red streak on the hghway.
May 21st, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Ohhh. I forgot fishing and hunting.
Also, snowmobiling, off-roading, waterskiing, hiking, camping, making a bonfire, smoking a cigar outside in drought conditions…
May 21st, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Apology accepted, Mitch.
I agree it is a joke to claim that, in total, a bicyclist or tricyclist contributes “much less to the maintenance load”.
That holier than thou attitude of many bicyclists doesn’t carry much weight when they cut in front of an SUV and become part of the skid mark.
In a state of millions of people, is this really a newsworthy story? Is Tracy’s post really worth getting your dander up, Mitch?
Foot, snowmobiling can be much more dangerous then bicycling. Trust me. I just purchased a 2009 Arctic Cat Crossfire 800 R!!! 🙂
Ted Kennedy’s car has killed more people than my guns.
Light rail has killed even more.
May 21st, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I agree it is a joke to claim that, in total, a bicyclist or tricyclist contributes “much less to the maintenance load”.
If I pay the same taxes, and put on half of the automobile miles, where’s the joke?
A 2,000 pound car going 40mph puts geometrically more wear on the road than a rider on a bike.
Your record (and mine) with guns, snowmobiles and trains is not at issue, although Tracy’s attack on bikers is very similar to the standard lefty attack on guns; “you don’t need ’em, and they’re dangerous!”.
And let’s not indulge in flattery; Tracy didn’t get my “dander” up. I saw a topic, and I wrote. It’s just business. Nothign personal.
May 21st, 2009 at 5:00 pm
“Anti-Strib”? They make me embarassed to be a Republican. They dish it out, but they can’t take it. Good effing riddance.
May 21st, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Dog gone- Politically we probobly don`t agree much, but what you wrote was very well said, for what its worth.
May 21st, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I do know a few conservatives who ride and (apparently) follow the rules but for the rest of ’em, I’ll start giving bicyclists room when they start obeying traffic laws.
And I don’t just have problems with cyclists when I drive– I’ve gotten nearly runover as a pedestrian more than a handful of times (and it would be nice if cyclists would make up their @#%* minds as to whether they’re “pedestrians” or “vehicles”).
I did bike a lot myself in the ’80s (in Bloomington), but it’s become much more of a Luddite “fuck you drivers and your internal combustion engines” statement these days than any form of physical “exercise” and I’m just sick of it.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Bicycles are so 2008.
Build yourself a pogostick with a pneumatic cylinder in place of the spring. Couple it to a small propane-fired air compressor mounted in a backpack. Adjust regulator to suit your travel speed.
No blaze orange vest required. You will be noticed by motorists, even when you are just bobbing up and down waiting for a light to change.
If you are a greenie, I suppose it would be possible to build a version powered by steam and a wood-fired boiler, though I imagine it would be bulkier.
If you are the opposite of a greenie, you could boil the water with a nuclear pile. Think of it! All the way around the world on a pogostick without stopping to refuel! Assuming that you could top off the boiler on the fly with rainwater.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Mitch, have you gone gay?
Not that there’s anything wrong with that…..just askin’.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Hmm, kind of a wordy post, eh? Why not follow Leader of the Republican Party Rush Limbaugh’s example and boil it down to to four words?
Eberly: Cock eating douche.
May 21st, 2009 at 10:09 pm
“If I pay the same taxes, and put on half of the automobile miles, where’s the joke?”
Mitch, you don’t pay same taxes ’cause you don’t buy gas when you ride a bike. Yet, you use roads, albeit at a lower impact rate, that gas taxes paid for. All other taxes you are talking about are just a minute portion of the road maintenance/construction budget. You are using algore math.
OK, now that we got that you all squared away with arithmetic, I think Lewis’ anti-bike rants are directed more towards the bike paths being built around the state with gas-tax money. Also, spending gas-tax money to widen the street to convert a lane, to add a bike lane, is asinine. He has a point there.
I also agree wholeheartedly with you that it is a “conservative” thing to do to let any bicycle rider who wants to take their life into their own hands and take their chances in a game of chicken with a semi. It is an individual choice.
I for one, will never ride my bicycle on a street. Being run over by a stupid b*tch in an old Honda Civic hatchback kinda puts things in perspective. If she were driving anything bigger, I’d be dead. 25 years since, I can still tell weather better then any talking head on local news.
May 21st, 2009 at 11:45 pm
I was taken aback by Tracey’s posting but our urban lefty “progressive”, anarchist”sustainable”, vegan who get rabid about people who smoke or are overweight have turned the entire bicycle thing into a “political statement” in an extremely sanctimonious and judgmental way. I have no idea if my Dumm was political but groups like “Critical Mass” do engender a backlash against bicycling.
That said, I do bicycle for recreation and exercise in my low traffic Longfellow neighborhood. I might take the bike a mile or two to a Redbox, kiosk or the bars less than a mile away but basically bicycling is for recreation and exercise.
As for paying the “fair share” of road taxes basic residential roads would be needed for access no matter what. Cars do very little damage to roads, it’s the heavy axle weight trucks. As for traffic a bike lane takes away a vehicle lane. A prime example is Minnehaha Avenue south of Lake Street. The almost zero traffic Snelling and Dight Avenues are just west but they put two bike lanes on Minnehaha basically turning from a four lane into a two lane road. Much of the automobile fuel tax is used for things like mass transit and bike trails.
As for driving in the city if you live there you don’t drive a car much or the trips are too long to be bicycle practical. Last summer, when gas was pushing $4 per gallon I went more than a month on a tank of gas.
May 21st, 2009 at 11:51 pm
All I have to say is that if bike riders are going to be out there with machines like cars and trucks and semis. They better be careful. When you drive well in a car there are enough idiots on the road that will hit you, or come close.
Accidents happen. Idiots are in vehicles. It is what it is. If you put yourself on the road in a bicycle with machines, your margin of error is much more slim. Or, your risk of being a casualty due to idiots, is greater. It’s just the way it is.
Some dumbass almost broadsided me today coming out of an alley, I was in a car driving down a street. If a bike rider was there, he or she would be dead. That is the way it is.
Some people have a hard enough time avoiding hitting other cars. As we introduce more bike riders, we will see more casualties for the simple fact that people just aren’t used to them on the road.
I like you Mitch, but that was a dumb post.
May 21st, 2009 at 11:54 pm
And you don’t pay the same taxes… You are riding a bike to pay less taxes. I just don’t know what the point was in that post. Maybe you almost got hit by a car on the way home or something and had to vent… It’s all I can come up with.
May 22nd, 2009 at 6:37 am
Swiftee,
No. Why? Are you experimenting?
Just saying – it’d fit with the whole “assless chaps” bit… 🙂
TiSP
I didn’t put it that way because it’s not true.
RiR:
So the point is people gotta be careful out there? I don’t know that there’s an argument about that.
May 22nd, 2009 at 6:42 am
Tracy (is that a chick or a dude?) proclaimed: “Mitch jumps the shark. Enjoy your future in the DFL.”
Wow. Even though he included about 11 self-protective slags on the left?
Note, Mitch, that you can’t write that a bicyclist dying in a traffic accident is sad, rather than funny, without enraging at least half the Mitchketeers. You hang around with some truly repellent people. I know you disagree with the DFL on quite a few policy points, but maybe you do want to consider jumping that particular shark. Better class of people.
May 22nd, 2009 at 6:56 am
Enh. There’s a lot of great people in the GOP, too. The vast majority, in fact.
And even if I did switch parties (and, y’know, gave up everything I believe in the process), I’d go through the same thing next year when I chided some liberal ghoul doing the endzone happy dance over a dead SUV driver.
May 22nd, 2009 at 6:58 am
Better class of people
You mean like peev?
May 22nd, 2009 at 7:00 am
And weren’t you joking about dead American soldiers not long ago, AC? And skeet-shooting fetuses? And making Terry Schiavo jokes?
May 22nd, 2009 at 7:09 am
Don’t think Angryclown was ever joking about dead American soldiers, Terry. Maybe you can find that post. We’ll wait.
May 22nd, 2009 at 7:31 am
Hey, Angryclown has nothing against the military trolling around your low-IQ kids for the next generation of cannon-fodder.
http://www.shotinthedark.info/wp/?p=4638#comment-49175
You didn’t even bother to dispute the skeet-shooting fetuses & Schiavo hits.
I am master of google. I could find Bin Laden if I was not so busy surfin’ porn sites.
May 22nd, 2009 at 7:37 am
Snap.
May 22nd, 2009 at 8:05 am
Right is RIGHT Says:
May 21st, 2009 at 11:51 pm
All I have to say is that if bike riders are going to be out there with machines like cars and trucks and semis. They better be careful. When you drive well in a car there are enough idiots on the road that will hit you, or come close.”
One of the smartest things my mother ever told me, relating to yielding the right of way while driving: if it is bigger than you are, even if you have the right of way, don’t argue about it. You can be right, but no one wants to be dead right. I have a lot of respect for the drivers of Semis; people don’t always drive in ways that respect they can’t stop as quickly as smaller vehicles.
May 22nd, 2009 at 8:23 am
The story has touched nerves in about everyone. I’ll weigh in with my take. A very long time ago, I used to ride my bike to school and work. This was in pre-bike path, pre-helmet days. I think my bike was pretty primitive. No matter. I was married and we had one car. In winter I rode the bus if my wife couldn’t take me. In good weather I rode from 38th and Chicago too the U of M. Never had any really close calls, but I was hyper-alert for car doors opening, cars pulling out or turning in front of me. I had the sense that I was an interloper, like a scuba diver on a reef with sharks, moray eels, etc. I have no idea if the late Donald Dumm could be faulted for his actions in the accident that killed him, but it seems to me that the attempt to regulate and integrate biking with car and truck traffic may lead to times when the biker may be in the right, but dead. In other words, is it safer now for bikes than in the anarchical past when I commuted? I don’t know. Biking is never going to replace driving as a means of transport. The physics dictates that the biker will always lose in a confrontation. I believe that most bikers are aware of the risk and accept it. It’s too bad that biking has been politicized to such a degree. I have been stuck behind a Critical Mass demonstration and I never felt the kind of road rage about cars that I felt towards those bozos. Maybe that’s a payoff for them; who knows?
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:28 am
At the start of the Memorial Day weekend, this seems like a good time to wish everyone a safe holiday, and that the end of it finds you all back here reading, safe and sound.
I am looking forward to spending a lot of time in the out of doors, as a judge at a dog ‘performance’ event, with a lot of very athletic hounds, despite the damn crutches. The neighbors have finally had their usual paddock of sheep delivered, so the return of the coyotes, aka “dog toys”, to the neighborhood can’t be far behind. I hope each of you has a weekend filled with your own unique ‘bliss’.
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:35 am
Say AssClown? Would it be classy enough for you if bicyclists were launched into the air for amusement and sport?
“Pull…blam!”
AssClown = Cock Eating Douche
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:56 am
dog ‘performance’ event
Anyone but me picturing dogs standing in a row, glaring at Simon and Randy, as Ryan Seacrest gets ready to read America’s votes?
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:58 am
I know it’s wrong of me to feel a shot of satisfaction when a bicycle rider gets run over, especially one who apparently was following the rules. But there are so many who don’t, and who don’t get called on it, and then have the gall to lecture ME on what an a**hole I am for driving a car instead of riding a bicycle . . . well, sorry, but it’s just a little too much to expect me to go all weepy when one of them gets his comeuppance. Even if he didn’t have it coming.
May 22nd, 2009 at 10:16 am
one of them
Well, now, there’s the problem, Nate. “One of”…whom? One of the idiots who scolds drivers? We don’t know that.
The part that disturbs me is that so many people think purely in terms of stereotypes; to way too many people, the only kind of bikers that exist are the hectoring, arrogant, preening “Critical Ass” slimeballs, and the dolts who careen through traffic and expect everyone to slam on the binders for them.
The vast, as in incalculably vast majority of “us” are just people who like riding, who follow the rules (our support of Portland Stop laws notwithstanding), who like being able to get and stay in shape and have fun doing it, and who attach no political or social significance to the whole thing. Which is 99% of “us”.
So who got run over? A person, or a stereotype?
May 22nd, 2009 at 10:23 am
I had the sense that I was an interloper, like a scuba diver on a reef with sharks, moray eels, etc.
Yesterday, riding home as this post was “impacting”, I was as keenly aware of my surroundings as you describe (and your description is fantastic) – and also mentally composing a post about that kind of hyperawareness; scanning parked cars to see if there’s a driver who could pull out or open a door into the bike path; being careful at green lights watching for people running red lights; pulling aside to let buses go past; sliding out of the bike lane into the parking lane for an extra buffer between the traffic and I. And this on a “safe” bike route with no trucks and fairly measured traffic. Like a scuba diver on a reef, or a soldier in a contested jungle, or a cop checking his beat in a nasty area.
I may have to write that after all.
May 22nd, 2009 at 11:02 am
Wow, Terry, Master of Google, eh? Bet you also have a doctorate in Tic Tac Toe and highly developed skills in walking and chewing gum at the same time. Impressive!
What you lack, of course, is the ability to realize the subject of that sentence, and therefore the target of the gibe, is “your low-IQ kids.”