Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Why do you hate my freedom?

I came into work this morning with several people pointing fingers at me saying I'm one of "those bikers" that was shown on television - how do I justify breaking the law - running red lights - running stop signs - riding on the road - what did I think of the broadcast - blah blah blah. First of all, I'm one of those elitists that chooses not to waste my life watching television, so no, I didn't see the "newscast," nor do I plan on watching it from the internet. From what I've heard people tell me about this "story," including my good friend Matt at CRC who was clearly upset by it, it was a one-sided view of some guy in a van sticking a video camera and microphone out the window while in motion, asking surprised cyclists why they decided to run a stop sign back there. Wow, what piece of shit journalism school did you attend, Mr. local news-person? Screw the biased "breaking news story" they attempted to cover, I'm just surprised so many people get their news from television and take it with no grain of salt. Did the story report on the other side of the issue? Hell no. Turn on the BBC radio, you'll probably hear about what's going on in the world instead of a "journalist" force feeding their populace what they want to hear. It's the same cars vs. bicycles story that comes up every few months in the local media - nothing new here folks.

Why are drivers so pissy about cyclists? I believe it's because they're jealous of our freedom. Leave your vehicle in your 3-car garage and ride your bike to work, you might just realize it's a terrific way to stay in shape without having to join a gym and spend an hour 3 times a week walking on a treadmill. I ride a 10-mile commute in about 40 minutes, interact with a minimal amount of traffic, wave and say hello to fellow cyclists and pedestrians, all while not getting fat - how un-American it all is.

First we had critical mass stirring up the anger of non-cyclists, now we have local Minneapolis television adding further fuel to the fire. Thanks local television, the next time I have a beer bottle thrown at me from a moving car (yes, that hurt) while being told to "get off the fucking road," I'll know who to thank.

2 comments:

chris alme said...

Yeah, it is extremely frustrating. I feel the rage more and more every day when I'm commuting to work.

Funny though how a while back when they put cameras on stop lights to catch motorists running red lights, there was also an outrage. Though people weren't pi$$ed about the # of cars running red lights, but the fact that they got caught by a flipping camera and how it is un-constitutional...

Patch O'Houli said...

Well said, my friend, well said.