Monday, September 26, 2005
People are such assholes
You might think that Berkeley, with all its bike lanes and its farmers' markets and its better than average high school, is a great place to live. Well, let me tell you, it's not. It has a high income disparity, lots of pollution, and mean people.
I just went to Berkeley Bowl, where the lines were awful and I wouldn't let a 90-something year-old woman cut me in line because my back hurts so much. When I was walking towards my bike, I saw a woman put her grocery cart partway up onto a median between the pedestrian path and a parking space- blocking all but about 18 inches of the path. I told her that she was making it so someone with a wheelchair wouldn't be able to get to the store, and she said, "Then you move it!" This path is the safest entrance for anyone who is not in a car- pedestrians, bicyclists, wheelchair and walker and cane users, and people with kids in strollers, because it has a different-colored crosswalk that goes from the sidewalk to the corner of the store. I was like, I'm not going to do your job! or something, but she was already in the car. How do I explain to people that I am a domestic worker, so by definition I am already overworked, I am an activist, so I do more than my fair share of trying to help make the world a better place, I ride my bike, so I risk my life every time I try to go anywhere...and then I get rewarded by having to deal with assholes like this.
After she left, I tried to get the attention of the cart-collecting guy, but he said he wouldn't take it- I guess he had too many already (only about 8). So I brought it up close to the entrance and put it in a place where I didn't think it would roll into the street or into the parking lot. Then as I was leaving, I had to go around a big sporty pickup truck that was blocking the entrance to the parking lot and the sidewalk. I almost scratched her car with my bike trailer.
On my way home, I thought about what I should have done about the cart asshole. There are a few options, but not many-- bang on her window and yell at her, run up and slice her tire open and then run away, or sit on the ground so she couldn't back out of her parking space. The last one would fall under the category of "nonviolent direct action," but I think I could have gotten hurt pretty badly. But it's like, to what lengths will a person go to make a point? I think that if it had been a busy public parking lot instead of a busy private store's parking lot, it would have been worthwhile to risk it. It's important to defend non-drivers' access.
But anyhow, I now hate Berkeley even more than before.
I thought about this on the way home, and I think there are a few other things I could have
email me at haydees@gmail.com
I just went to Berkeley Bowl, where the lines were awful and I wouldn't let a 90-something year-old woman cut me in line because my back hurts so much. When I was walking towards my bike, I saw a woman put her grocery cart partway up onto a median between the pedestrian path and a parking space- blocking all but about 18 inches of the path. I told her that she was making it so someone with a wheelchair wouldn't be able to get to the store, and she said, "Then you move it!" This path is the safest entrance for anyone who is not in a car- pedestrians, bicyclists, wheelchair and walker and cane users, and people with kids in strollers, because it has a different-colored crosswalk that goes from the sidewalk to the corner of the store. I was like, I'm not going to do your job! or something, but she was already in the car. How do I explain to people that I am a domestic worker, so by definition I am already overworked, I am an activist, so I do more than my fair share of trying to help make the world a better place, I ride my bike, so I risk my life every time I try to go anywhere...and then I get rewarded by having to deal with assholes like this.
After she left, I tried to get the attention of the cart-collecting guy, but he said he wouldn't take it- I guess he had too many already (only about 8). So I brought it up close to the entrance and put it in a place where I didn't think it would roll into the street or into the parking lot. Then as I was leaving, I had to go around a big sporty pickup truck that was blocking the entrance to the parking lot and the sidewalk. I almost scratched her car with my bike trailer.
On my way home, I thought about what I should have done about the cart asshole. There are a few options, but not many-- bang on her window and yell at her, run up and slice her tire open and then run away, or sit on the ground so she couldn't back out of her parking space. The last one would fall under the category of "nonviolent direct action," but I think I could have gotten hurt pretty badly. But it's like, to what lengths will a person go to make a point? I think that if it had been a busy public parking lot instead of a busy private store's parking lot, it would have been worthwhile to risk it. It's important to defend non-drivers' access.
But anyhow, I now hate Berkeley even more than before.
I thought about this on the way home, and I think there are a few other things I could have
email me at haydees@gmail.com
