An Explanation to Some Cops
Roughly half of the people who voted last week are dissatisfied with the
result. The majority of my politically active friends have responded to
their candidate’s defeat with a mix of unfocused rage and desperate
ennui. I’m feeling both of those emotions right now, simultaneously.
It’s peculiar. A fire catches inside of me and instantly explodes
to the surface, I clench my fist in preparation for attacking the door
or throwing a chair. But then I realize that I don’t even want to
move - in fact, I just want to go to bed. I was feeling exactly like this
as I was coasting down a hill on my bike a few days ago.
There were no cars; there were no pedestrians. The only other person I
could see was a biker across the road headed toward me. After coasting
through the stop sign and across the road I heard the guy shout something
at me. The fire inside wanted to insult him or jab him the finger because
I hated everything, my ennui left me only wanting to keep my momentum
so I would not fall over. I did not reply, nor did I stop.
I heard another voice, looked to my left and saw a man getting out of
a car in an adjacent parking lot. But I had already decided to keep going,
and so I pedaled on.
Around 100 meters later, after re-analyzing the situation, I realized
that I had just ran from the police, and I’d gotten away with it.
I felt a new emotion, and it was pleasure.
The laws of my town (and most towns) stipulate that all vehicles must
follow the laws that were originally created for motor vehicles. I had
failed to stop at a stop sign.
It is a bit disconcerting that I ran from the police. My girlfriend was
ticketed at that very stop sign more than a year ago and was forced to
pay a whopping four dollars and fifty cents. I’m willing to pay
a $4.50 fine for a silly arbitrary law, but instead I put the rubber to
the petal and almost got myself involved in a 12-speed high speed chase.
But now that I’ve done it, I realize that it was a significant act.
Traffic laws were created specifically for the control and regulation
of motorized vehicles and so there are inevitably some regulations that
cannot be correctly applied to bicycles. Bikes are just different. They’re
more maneuverable, smaller, less visible, slower, they stop faster, and
are not capable of doing the same sort of damage a car can do.
Assuming that bicyclists enjoy living and dislike picking bits of asphalt
out of parts of their bodes, they will act of their own accord to minimize
collisions. I do not see the need for regulation.
This is not why I resisted my fine. I resisted because I have been resisting
life. Thankfully this act of inaction made me realize what I’ve
known for the last four years, and will probably need to remember through
my entire life. I’m going somewhere, and so is this country. No
matter how many stupid ideas well meaning people try to enforce on us,
the best course of action is to just keep moving forward using my best
judgment. This is exactly what I haven’t been doing for the past
week, and now I realize it.
So now my rage is contained and my ennui is dissipating. I’m doing
what is best for me and my country. We will stay healthy and safe and
strong, and if it means ignoring the law, working my way around roadblocks
or fighting those who stand in the way, so be it.
.
For a full year I wrote a weekly column for a daily paper in Boulder CO. I wrote about being young, poor and green, and the column was widely loved throughout the city. It remains one of the most rewarding things I've ever done.
If you've got some time on your hands...check 'em out.
Colder than the Hinges of Hell
Four More Ounces of Responsibility