and this is why

Go to article one.
Then follow up here for pictures.

one day,
there will be an accident.
an errant driver will be yanked from their car,
and 'accidently beaten'.

then,
slowly,
this same 'accident' will happen across the country.

eventually,
motorists will show some respect,
and exercise more caution,
and more parents, friends, spouses, and kids
will arrive safely on their bike.



About two months ago, after the local bike coalition meeting,
the topic turned to the usual driver harrassment towards cyclists.
I think I almost offended some with my opinion,
until the last meeting when there were more stories shared,
by cyclists who normally (or never have?) experienced such
hostile driver behavior, then there seemed to be an agreement.

Guess it's always a 'NON-ISSUE' until it personally affects you.
THEN you get involved.

Here's one of those life lesson moments.
I've ALWAYS been a passive person.
My size helps me avoid most confrontations.
And I've been a big kid, well, since I was a kid.

In seventh and eigth grade I got shoved around ALOT.
By alot, I mean every hour of everyday.
I didn't realize it's because I wasn't assertive.
Until I finally snapped.

There was this ninth grader.
His locker was next to mine.
He was tall, really tall.
I was big, but he had half a foot on me.
He was THE player on the basketball team,
I was a punk ass skater with a bad haircut.
In between each class, as I stopped at my locker,
he was there,
there to shove me into my locker,
knock books out of my hand,
shove me into people just passing in the hall,
throw my books into the trash,
on and on,
everyday.

Finally,
as he shoved me into my locker,
while his friends laughed,
I snapped. Completely flipped.

I came up behind him,
pinned both his arms behind his back,
and ran him head first into his locker,
repeatedly.
Until his friends pulled me off of him.
He had no idea what to do,
he just grabbed his books and left.

I never had a problem with him,
or anyone,
for the rest of my time at that school.

People are generally stupid in their simplistic
ways of social interaction.
If you were driving along, and in the lane to your right,
there was a big Hells Angel on a motorcycle,
would you drift into his lane?
maybe run your car past him within two feet?
merge into him?
or make a quick right turn into his path of right-away?
Seriously doubt it.
Why?

Well,
because you have an expectation of how that confrontation
will play out.
And you ALREADY KNOW,
that eventually you'll loose,
maybe right then and there,
or later with some of his 'friends',
and it's just not worth your time, or face,to mess with him.
In fact it's worth paying extra attention as to NOT piss him off.

But that dorky guy in tight spandex pedaling next to you?
What's he gonna do?
My hope,
is he pulls someone from their car.
Sometimes you need to treat people like kids,
if they can't share and play nicely,
then maybe they need a toy taken away,
or some 'quiet time'.