02nd Nov 2004
The Right to Complain
Parking my bicycle at work in the parking garage under our building, I heard three guys who work in the garage talking about the election, speculating something about which way Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were likely to go. Speaking with thick NY accents, one asked the another who he was going to vote for, and the other grunted contemptuously. “You mean you’re not going to vote? That means you won’t have the right to complain.”
It struck me, that’s what the citizen’s vote our democracy amounts to: the right to complain.
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And complain I will.
Whereneas in laid back Bavaria, Munich cyclers are really a menace, and dangerous to pedestrians, of all ages.
Bikers use the sidewalk as a rule and expect walkers to toe the straight line, always. Harmless swaying or ambling can get you into real trouble, since bikers reserve the right to swerve by pedestrians with only inches between them.
Knowing New Yorkers, they would run after them, beat them up and smash their bikes, while yelling ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS?
I just do the latter, sometimes.