So, yesterday I was riding my bike around for some exercise, as I am apt to do. There is a law in the state of Missouri that says if you are riding over a certain speed (which I was doing) that it is illegal to ride your bike on the sidewalk. It's dangerous to the pedestrians. Most people don't know this, but it's kind of necessary for me to state this.
Anyway, while I was riding on the road, some cars were starting to pile up behind me. They'd pass when they got a chance, but there were probably three behind me at any given time on this certain stretch of road. When one guy passed me, he rolled down his window and screamed at the top of his lungs, "GET ON THE SIDEWALK!!!!" What a freakin jerk! As he sped off, I smiled and waved at him politely, hoping to perhaps show that I wasn't really disturbed by his yell.
Besides the fact that it was entirely rude and contrary to MO law, there is something in this guy's statement that caught me off-guard. How impatient are we in society today that we have to scream at someone who holds us up for a little while? When you get down to the nuts and bolts of it, I probably made that guy about 30-45 seconds later to his destination. That's it. 30-45 seconds! Yet, that is enough time for him to build up enough rage to scream at me. I am just astounded at how impatient our society is these days. We could all use a deep breath, if you ask me.
3 comments:
Well, that guy could have been caught in a traffic jam before bumping into you. He could be living in a big mansion that was one-hour drive away from his workplace, and was reluctant to be slowed down by even 30 sec.
Which brings us to these questions:
Are we working too hard to fulfill our insatiable demands? Should we have a life style change?
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I was always under the impression that it was illegal for bikes to me on the sidewalk when they're traveling at ANY speed. I also used to think it was a pretty well-known law, so it's always made me confused as to why so many people seem to ignore it.
I could use a deep breath.
I'm sure I've told you this before, but I try to savor red lights. It's a chance to just slow down and take a moment to breathe.
Maybe he was just jealous of how you look in those bike shorts... ha! ;-)
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