The Meek Will Inherit the Earth

          “People will do things in cars that they’d never do face to face.”

          These are the words of a friend who worked in road construction for many years.  He was describing a general spirit of meanness which people, perturbed by a slow-down in traffic, were apt to exhibit toward each other or the construction crews.  He went on to say that when people get behind the steering wheel of an automobile the standard of human civility and patience seems to drop a significant percentage.

          I remembered his words after my traffic encounter today.  I was on a bicycle climbing the crest of the hill on Hubbard Road in Bethlehem, and just as I began to pick up speed on the other side, someone in a pickup truck passed me and then turned into a side road no more than five feet in front of me.

          I tried to make eye-contact in his rear-view mirror as I lifted up one free hand as if to say, “What?  You couldn’t wait five seconds for me to be out of the way before you made your turn?”

          For his part, he offered me the standard one-finger salute which by now is surely a sign of a lack of imagination, but which implies that either I was in the wrong (which I wasn’t), or he was just plain mean (which I doubt). 

          You see, I suspect here was a man who, when out of his pickup, is a hard worker, a loving husband and father, and a tithing churchman, but something about the anonymity of painted sheet metal and four wheels turned him into someone even he wouldn’t recognize when he looks in the mirror.

          I know that bicycles aggravate people in cars.  Some of my best non-cycling friends have admitted they’d like to get rid of all those people in Lycra shorts and rainbow-colored jerseys.  The typical complaint is that cyclists slow the traffic and don’t we all know that everyone is always in a hurry.  And, yes, I know that some cyclists are rather arrogant or cavalier on their steeds.  My apologies, but maybe we’d all be better off if we all slowed down.  Apparently, moving fast in cars hasn’t made us a kinder, gentler species.  In my experience, cars just make us all more short-tempered and less tolerant of each other, although my life as a cyclist has curtailed my bad car habits tremendously.

          But consider this, we’re going to be out of oil in another generation.  Bicycles will start looking pretty good by then.  But, if you haven’t ridden since you were fifteen years old, you might have a hard time getting back on the saddle when you’re eighty.  As for me, I plan to be riding until I can’t get out of a chair by myself.

          I’ll always be cautious around people in cars.  After all, sitting on a twenty pound bike, going fifteen miles per hour, I can’t very well argue with two tons of steel going forty-five or better.  I tend to feel rather meek sitting on the saddle of my Schwinn.  So, pickup truck driver, I’m sure you’re basically a decent guy, but please be a little kinder next time, as a favor to this traveler using a more fragile means of transportation.  And, oh yeah, don’t forget - the meek will inherit the earth.  

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