yesterday i worked later than i planned to at the office and therefore when it came time to cycle home it had got dark and i didn't have my lights.
as i set off from St Clements a guy was getting out of his car and just said "lights" as i cycled past. for some reason this kind of thing gives me 'cycle-rage'. of course i was too slow (and cycling too fast) to come back with something witty (like, i could have shouted "...camera, action" or "manners" but didn't think of it in time). so i just looked back and said "what?" to which of course he just shouted "lights" again. i just let it go and cycled off.
i think i'm usually a fairly patient guy. i get a little road-rage occasionally when i'm driving (as my wife will confirm) but nothing too crazy. so why does this sort of thing really wind me up? i guess it could be to do with the fact that there's no chance of a conversation - it's just someone shouting a word at you. anyone care to psychologise?
About Me
- Matt
- i am one of the leaders of a young missional faith community in the city of Oxford, UK, called 'home' (see link below). you can read more about us at our site. i should say at this point that any of the views expressed here are not necessarily the views of the community as a whole! there's the disclaimer out of the way! we have been taken in by the Church of England who have carved out some space - financially, physically and ecclesiologically - for us to explore life and mission in the culture we find ourselves a part of. I am married to Pippa and she is lush. I am now also a proud and doting father to our beautiful little baby girl, Lily-Anna.
2 comments:
Motorists seem quite considerate of me when I cycle. Why, just the other day a passerby expressed concern that I might be on drugs...
Powerlessness, condescension, the fact you can't whizz off in that 'I'm so cool and don't give a damn' fashion as you can in a car?
I was getting quite mad yesterday when I was out on my bike in central Oxford. As I see it, there are three problems: pedestrians who self-absorbedly step out into roads without any awareness of others, cyclists who ignore the Highway Code, and the biggest problem of all, too many buses, so that Oxford High Street is like a bus depot. The buses also have that edge, being so much bigger and seemingly unconcerned about squashing cyclists against the kerb like flies on a squat.
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