STAY THE FIGHT! STRENGTH, EFFORT, AND DISCIPLINE. THESE ARE THE WATCH WORDS OF A WARRIOR -- Kevin Michael Vance
Title - Kevin Michael Vance - writer/musician/purveyor of raw materials
STAY THE FIGHT! STRENGTH, EFFORT, AND DISCIPLINE. THESE ARE THE WATCH WORDS OF A WARRIOR -- Kevin Michael Vance
STAY THE FIGHT! STRENGTH, EFFORT, AND DISCIPLINE. THESE ARE THE WATCH WORDS OF A WARRIOR -- Kevin Michael Vance

www.kevacho.com
©2002-2024
Kevin Michael Vance
Writer - Portland, Oregon


July 21, 2011

Heart of a city

People like to talk about the "heart" of a city, its' underlining pulse and rhythm and life. You hear the term thrown around a lot on cooking and traveling shows. The other day walking home with my mother and girlfriend, I was taken aback by something I find to be the "heart" of Portland, Oregon.

We were all walking down forty-seventh street in the "heart" of the Alameda neighborhood. Forty-seventh, has a myriad of streets crossing it, all of which have stop signs. A car past us, traveling merrily down the road, when suddenly a male bicyclist burst from one of the side streets, completely blowing through the stop sign. The car honked at the offensive bicyclist (as would any rational person, considering they very nearly ran the man over). He proceeded to "flip" the motorist off and berate them audibly, while the three of us stared in utter disgust.

Which brings me back to my original point; I believe this irreprehensible action on the part of the bicyclist is the "heart" of this foul, and congested city. So many times I have seen bicyclists (not to mention pedestrians) put themselves in mortal danger. And for what? To prove that, on some ignorant level they're right? To toy with danger, thwart death? To illicit a response -- any response at all? I just don't get it. What the bicyclist did in the above mentioned description was not just wrong it was illegal. If the car, regardless of how badly he was hurt, had hit him the driver of the car could have sued him; and would have, most definitely, won. The bicyclists in this city think they do indeed have special privileges and rights that supercede any law or agreed upon code of conduct. I have news for any and all bicyclists (and by the way, I have ridden a bicycle in Portland for well over three years) you will not win an argument with a 3,000 pound motor vehicle. I don't care if you're right (however, as far as my experience goes, you are more often than not in the wrong), I don't care if you're wrong -- if you get into an argument with a car, you will lose. So lose the attitude and wear a god damn helmet! You will look pretty fuckin' "cool" if you get into an accident, receive massive head trauma, and then drool and make animal noises for the rest of your life. (That last bit was sarcasm, if you couldn't tell.)


[Add Comment] 0 Comments
   



Astarna Web Development - Professional Custom Web Application Programming