{"id":484,"date":"2007-11-12T11:38:14","date_gmt":"2007-11-12T16:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.toonesalive.com\/blog\/family\/?p=484"},"modified":"2007-11-12T11:38:14","modified_gmt":"2007-11-12T16:38:14","slug":"The wrong attitude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.toonesalive.com\/blog\/family\/?p=484","title":{"rendered":"The wrong attitude"},"content":{"rendered":"

In yesterday’s Huntsville Times, an op-ed article was published that’s had both Brian and I up in arms. (I originally posted the link, but decided that we could spare the newspaper all the extra clicks, so here it is, in entirety:<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

Free-wheeling cyclists must obey the rules of the road<\/font><\/h1>\n
\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Sunday, November 11,
\n2007<\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n

Huntsville Times<\/strong><\/strong><\/font>\n<\/div>\n

Do all bicycle riders have a death wish, or just the ones I
\nhappen to see? Among a number of other transgressions, I
\nhave noticed time and again that they don’t stop at
\nintersections. They breeze right through. Are they not
\nsupposed to stop at the signs the same as cars? <\/font><\/p>\n

Spray paint some shorts on you, get a little pointed
\nStyrofoam helmet and you are exempt from the rules of the
\nroad – and bulletproof. <\/font><\/p>\n

As long as you don’t make eye contact, the
\nfossil-fuelers can’t hurt you. It’s like the
\njaywalking in New York theory: Never look at the approaching
\ncars; play like you don’t see them.
<\/font><\/p>\n

I waited my turn at a four-way stop on a busy four-lane road
\nin Mississippi. A cyclist zipped past. If she saw the stop
\nsign I couldn’t tell it. She never slowed. She was
\nhunched over the handlebars in that awkward position, even
\nmore than normal, fiddling with something. She weaved around
\nas I came up from behind about 100 yards down the road. <\/font><\/p>\n

Then I saw what she was doing. She was punishing a
\nBlackberry, text messaging someone furiously while riding
\namong a bunch of vehicles, the smallest of which, mine,
\nwould have squashed her like a bug. <\/font><\/p>\n

A half-mile down the road, I saw her counterpart on his
\nbike, answering her texts with a Blackberry of his own. How
\ndo I know they were together? They wore matching outfits –
\nHoney Bear and Sugar Face. A roadside mailbox or an open car
\ndoor would have made the perfect ending to this story. Alas,
\nwishing didn’t make it so. <\/font><\/p>\n

I probably shouldn’t feel this way, but there’s a
\nsomething about many cyclists, an attitude that turns into a
\nsense of entitlement beyond sharing the road. It approaches
\nownership. There can be a piety that’s exceeded only by
\nToyota Prius owners – and there’s a good chance
\nthey’re one and the same. It’s an "I’m
\nskinny and green and you’re fat and emit toxic fumes
\nfrom your tailpipe" kind of thing. <\/font><\/p>\n

I’ve seen herds of cyclists run lights in an endless
\nstream, a Tour de Chance, just daring you to run them over.
\nAnd when it happens? Whose fault will it be? The driver of
\nthe car, of course. <\/font><\/p>\n

Lance Armstrong rode all over France for seven years and he
\ndidn’t stop at no stinkin’ stop signs and traffic
\nlights. He didn’t yield. No speed limit applied to him. <\/font><\/p>\n

If you’re a cyclist, you’ve probably pedaled up a
\npretty good case of righteous indignation by now, especially
\nif you’re doping up for a big race. <\/font><\/p>\n

Just kidding. Settle down before you rip your Spandex.
\nObviously I’m not talking about you – you’re
\ndifferent. It’s the rest of the bunch that lacks
\nmanners. <\/font><\/p>\n

And I don’t hate bicycles or riders in general.
\nI’ve been out in the country and witnessed packs of
\ncyclists pass with a soft whisper as the sleek machines
\ncleaved the air and ran with the wind. It’s beautiful
\nand requires a dedication and determination beyond most. <\/font><\/p>\n

I know cyclists had to fight hard to get any respect on the
\nroad, and I agree they are yours to use, too. I’ll give
\nyou extra room and make all kinds of allowances for you. But
\nthat doesn’t make you above the traffic laws that
\nattempt to keep us from running over you. <\/font><\/p>\n

You have to take some responsibility, too. <\/font><\/p>\n

What if you ran across an idiot in a car who was texting
\nwhile driving and maimed you while you were being an idiot
\nand texting while cycling? <\/font><\/p>\n

On second thought, never mind. Just keep doing what
\nyou’re doing. I believe it’s called
\n"Darwinism." Of course, if you’re a
\ncreationist you don’t believe in that anyway. Ride on. <\/font><\/p>\n

Ricky Thomason’s e-mail: RickyThomason@aol.com<\/em><\/font> <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


Brian sent a civil response last night to both the editor and the writer. Ricky wrote a flippant note back this morning, saying that Brian must not have any regards for his (Ricky’s) job, and maybe (Ricky) should be heading out to look for a bike, since he won’t be able to afford a car any more. Hrmph. Not sure he had any regards for his job to be writing and submitting something like this for publication. <\/p>\n

I mulled the article over through the night and this morning, and with the thoughts that came to mind, I composed this email:<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

Mr. Thomason \u2013 <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/o:p>My family moved here from Davis, California, one of the most
\ncycling friendly towns in the nation. I\u2019m amazed to find such an
\nabsolutely opposite attitude here in Alabama. In California, an article
\nlike this would *NEVER<\/strong>* have appeared, and in my time there, I never
\nheard motorists complain about sharing the road with cyclists. It was
\npart of life and a given that cyclists have an equal right to be on the road,
\nas do pedestrians. Throughout Alabama, the prevailing attitude is that
\nroads are for cars alone. Thankfully, in Birmingham, there is a bit more
\ntolerance for cyclists than it sounds like there is in the Huntsville
\narea. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/o:p>I agree with a majority of your article. And written
\nin the right tone, I think you might have gotten a positive response from both
\ncyclists and motorists, including one from me. But calling for cyclists
\nto be harmed for not obeying the law is ludicrous. There are just as many
\ndistracted drivers out there endangering my life every time I get in a car, and
\nno one\u2019s calling for them to be harmed. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/o:p>As I glanced at your other articles, I noticed that you\u2019ve
\nwritten about the racism in our state. Kind of disappointing to see such
\ndouble-standards, as you\u2019re inciting the same hatred toward cyclists as racism
\nbreeds between cultures. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/o:p>My husband commutes to work each day on his bike. He
\nknows every time he puts his helmet on that he has to be on guard for unalert
\ndrivers, motorists who choose to bend the law (i.e. flooring it to make it
\nthrough a red light or breezing through stop signs), and cars that just plain
\ndon\u2019t see him, in spite of his neon yellow tagged backpack and blinking
\nlight. He\u2019s been on the losing end of a hit-and-run with a driver who
\nmade a left turn directly into him, even though my husband had the right of way
\non the main road. He knows that when it comes down to car versus bike,
\nthe winner is obvious. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/o:p>And in spite of his alertness and safety on the bike, he was
\nworried enough to change his brakes last night and leave extra early to
\nminimize his chances of encountering ill-tempered motorists who might have read
\nyour article. Though I\u2019m inclined to hope that people in Birmingham would
\nnot give your article a second thought because it was so irrational.
\n <\/font><\/p>\n

*******************************<\/span>
Kristine Toone<\/span><\/font><\/em>
<\/o:p><\/font>Birmingham, AL 35216<\/font><\/em><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


I’m pretty proud that this letter doesn’t overflow with my anger that such an inflammatory article could be communicated in such a public forum. I don’t get angry very often. But it feels like he’s just made Brian’s life considerably less safe.<\/p>\n

In a whole different discussion, I’m very torn as to what my feelings\/reactions should be as a Christ-follower? Should I just ignore Ricky and his views? Should I pray that somehow in the onslaught of mail (and possibly reprimand) he’s sure to receive that his feelings are changed? Should I try to get beyond myself and LOVE him, remembering that his malice and slander are equal sins to any other, specifically those that I’m struggling with? <\/p>\n

Ok, now that I’ve completely laid all this out here, I’m going to go try to get on with my day. Ricky and his silly views have eaten up more than enough of my thoughts, emotions and time.
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In yesterday’s Huntsville Times, an op-ed article was published that’s had both Brian and I up in arms. (I originally posted the link, but decided that we could spare the newspaper all the extra clicks, so here it is, in entirety: Free-wheeling cyclists must obey the rules of the road Sunday, November 11, 2007 Huntsville […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pkzLf-7O","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.toonesalive.com\/blog\/family\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.toonesalive.com\/blog\/family\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.toonesalive.com\/blog\/family\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.toonesalive.com\/blog\/family\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.toonesalive.com\/blog\/family\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.toonesalive.com\/blog\/family\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.toonesalive.com\/blog\/family\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.toonesalive.com\/blog\/family\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.toonesalive.com\/blog\/family\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}