Cyclist Beware. I took pause the other day. It was one of those crisp spring days. Not yet warm enough for sleeveless shirts but certainly warm enough to get on the bike for a quick spring check of the neighbors gardens, the winter pot holes and the glistening waters edge. The truth is I am soon to be traveling by bike from Florence to Rome with my college graduating niece and those who know me know that my nearly 50 body could use some strength training for hills of Tuscany. Religiously I have been traveling by bike around Falmouth in an effort to avoid embarrassed riding in the support van along the Italian Countryside.
Last week on a 10 mile excursion, I heard a car pulling up behind me. The tunes were loud and I was cautious. I pulled as far onto the gravel shoulder as I could without endangering myself...then, without warning a metal object hit my cheek as the car passed and loud laughter followed. A bottle cap, no...too light more like a bolt. I heard it clang as it hit the pavement having ricochet off my cheek. I was steadying my bike with one hand, maintaining my balance, while my other reached to calm the sting of my cheek. I looked up to see a beat up car, with apparently 6 young people cruising away from the High School. Looking behind to see if they "got me"... all the time laughing and singing to the radio.
I kept riding. I didn't let their rudeness turn me towards home. I kept going. After all, I am on a mission. I did however, take pause. I wondered as I rode what is happening to our young people that this kind of behavior is "funny", "challenging", "ok"? I have heard about the U Tube beatings, the public displays of vandalism, the peer pressure to "one up" each other with violence. But, I guess, I would like to remain in denial that this is happening everywhere, but Falmouth.
My husbands response when he viewed my bruised cheek with critique was "did you get the license plate number or the make of the vehicle?" Well, no.... I was wincing with pain and trying not to eat dust. Hello! Another friend inquired as to the bruise on my face and after I told her what happened... she said "Well, did you chase them down?" I laughed ... I laughed because even if I wanted to chase them down... I am not fit enough to consider keeping up with a car.
My husband and I are new surrogate parents to teenage girls. I asked them what they thought about it. How would they have reacted if they were in the car with the kids who thought this was funny. The younger one (13) said "OMIGOD, that is awful. How could they do that?" and the older one, (17), said " If I were in the car, I would have laughed too. I would not have wanted the kids to think I was un-cool." Honesty is what I had hoped for but not necessarily what I was prepared for.
I spoke to a girlfriend of mine who is also an attorney and she said she could not believe this generation has no ‘risk of consequence". It didn't matter who I was. This was not personal. This was random.
So Cyclist beware. There is more than pot holes, drivers with cell phones, and sandy corners to be careful of, there is the human being who thinks its funny to hurt you in your peaceful enjoyment of Cape Cod. Beware.
 |
|
|
Now is the time to buy your Summer home on Cape Cod. Prices are lower than the have been in years, supply is high and investors are taking advantage of the opportunities. www.anniehartcool.com
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2008 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
Little brats. I don't know the answer to this one, mine is only 10, but I am sure peer pressure would cause them to all laugh. Sorry about your cheek, that was very rude.
I am so sorry that you were hurt by these unthinking teens. There are a lot of kids who may cave to peer pressure but most know where to draw the line at potential personal injury. You could have lost an eye or fallen and been hit by another car. You should at least report the incident to the police and the high school so they can make the students in general aware that this is serious. We have a lot of things going on around here that the kids think is harmless but the ones who called in the bomb scare the other day have been found and arrested. Fun is fun but they need to be taught where the line is.
There are also a ton more that will do the right thing and not let pressure get to them. Here's to the good kids out there who don't get enough press time.
Sorry bout that> I'm a avid biker too and people or (kids) just don't care anymore. I never would have even imagined doing some of the things I see and hear about when I was a teen. Good attitude though, don't let them get you down!
I'm sorry to hear about that and you are lucky that you did not get seriously injured. Peer pressure is such a huge factor in instances like this. Do you think that if the kid who threw the object was alone in the car that he/she would have done it? My guess is probably not becuase there is no audience to prove that they are "cool" or what have you. It takes a very mature young person to go against the in crowd and voice their displeasure to acts such as this. Unfortunatley in today's society, being popular and part of the "in" crowd is more important to young people than doing the right thing in many instances. Keep your head up and your positive attitude, it is contagious.
That's horrible. I had something similar happen to me and I did almost go after them (I was in a car though) but I was actually on my way somewhere. They laugh now, but in my area a couple of years ago, some teens threw a frozen turkey out of their car and it went through the windshield of another driver's car and the woman was very badly hurt. The teens faced criminal charges (not so funny now, is it kids?) and the woman had to go through surgeries to her face. I would like to believe that the majority of teens would not do this or even laugh at such behavior.
Before entering the real estate world, I worked with inner-city young people from a wide variety of backgrounds. Please know that 99% of those kids would have been upset about the incident you experienced. I'm glad you were not hurt and hope that the kids who thought that thowing an object at a bike rider will be caught before they really do hurt someone.