I tend to think this is a pretty good rule to live by, don’t boss other people around, because you are not their boss. I know that I don’t.Well, at least most of the time. I guess what I do when bossed is to usually make some rather emphatic suggestion(s).
As a bicyclist myself I realize that some bike riders, like motorcyclists, drivers of other vehicles, and pedestrians do incredibly stupid and illegal things, sometimes right in front of me while I am driving down the street. Because of this you really have to watch what is happening all around you, while following the laws to the best of your abilities, and do your best to keep yourself safe and making the best choices that you can.
Since I have practiced being calm and assertive when on my bike, I am much more in charge of myself and my life when I am on my bike. So I am confident that I am in charge of what I do when on my bike, the choices I make, and the safety of my life and body. No one gets to tell me what to do. No one gets to yell at me and order me around. No one else is the boss of me. I’m the boss of me!
It was pretty hot on Monday and most of Tuesday. But at about nine pm on Tuesday, after it had cooled down some, I finally decided to go out for a late meal at Chipotle and then to do some grocery shopping at Lund’s at their downtown store. Well I had a great meal and a great time.
Let me just say that biking home there was a lot of traffic and a lot of parked cars. There is a weird thing on a few of the downtown streets that are one-way streets; there is a small bike lane on the left hand side of the street, for some bizarre reason, instead of the right hand side. I call it bizarre because it always looks and seems unnormal and unsafe, especially since many cars park on that side of the street and half of their vehicles are parked into half of the small bike lane, making it look and seem and be unsafe. There were more than eight cars parked like this on that block, blocking off the bike lane. I’ve seen this before, and feel confident of my biking skills, and my ability to drive and steer safely, even when there isn’t a bike lane, staying on the right hand side of the street.
As I was driving through the intersection, on the right side of the street, on the one-way street, avoiding pedestrians, bikers, and cars someone decided they were indeed the boss of me and yelled, The bike lane is on the other side of the street!
I yelled a four word response, of which only one of the words wasn’t a swear word. I think he heard every word.
And hey, he’s not the boss of me.
Kate Is Rising 