Opportunity Knocks and Reality Bites

It was raining this morning and I was running late, so instead of riding my bike to work I drove, with the intention of driving home at 10 to pick up the bike and ride to school. When I left work, I was a little late, sure, and in a little bit of a hurry and when I got to the BIG INTERSECTION I only looked left to turn right. I didn't see any pedestrians crossing, so I just looked left, and then went to turn right. That's when this homeless guy named Kevin crunched into the front of my car.

Since I'm not an asshole, I pulled over and we examined his leg (dime sized bruise that may or may not be from my car) and his bike (a fecking Schwinn Frontier All-Terrain) which had about an inch of ding in the back tire rim that was sticking on the back brake. So it's no big deal and he's fine, and he wants to settle it there, and I say "Settle what? It was your fault too, you know." That's when he called the cops (I said "Go ahead") who sent firemen who looked at him, looked at his bike, looked at the reflector that had popped out of the front bumper of my car, and spent more time trying to fix that than they did talking to Kevin. "If there's no personal injury and no property damage, I'm not sure what it is you expect us to do." "Well, she said it wasn't her fault." Dude. So then we had to wait for a cop.

Now, mind you, I never said I wasn't at fault. I should have been looking, but I was damned if I was going to let him yack at me about bike law and take NO responsibility. He was riding against traffic and then he tells me that it was okay to do so because he was on the sidewalk! Dude! But I'm patient, waiting for the cop to come and sort him out, and I'm just not going to push it, until he says "This doesn't mean much to you, but I've never been hit by a car before."

That's when I let him have it. Fucko, I have been hit by a car while obeying the traffic laws and people usually take off, that's why I stayed. And here's another thing, you're a fucking vehicle, which means you belong on the street riding with traffic. Even if you go against it, for whatever reason, there are bike lanes an BOTH SIDES OF THE STREET so you have no business being on a sidewalk where people walk. You don't see cars riding the wrong way on a sidewalk, do you? It's because of a-holes like you that we can't get any decent legislation passed in this town. So don't fucking preach law at me, meat, until you know what you're talking about!

and then I calmed down.

He maintained that he was right because the light was green. cahhhhhhhh why can't we make people take bike tests like driver's tests and make them carry a license? Yeah, and guess what, the cop showed up and told him he was a vehicle and the law was that he had to ride with traffic on the street, so he was wrong.

I said I'd help him get the rim fixed (being a Schwinn that should take 2 whacks with a ball peen hammer), because he had 3 teeth and lived at the mission. Cousin/roommate thinks this guy will try and take me to the cleaners because I agreed to do help out ("It admits fault!"), but since he hasn't called me I'm guessing that the work was free or maybe he's the hobo with the heart of gold and realizes that he had some fault just like the cop said.

But where's the compensation for my mental anguish? boooo hooo hooo. Got to class on time, but was crying in the rain all the way here -- by the way, have I mentioned that the rain pants are so choice.

the end