Sun 10 Jan 2010
One From The TrollBag
Posted by Will under biking, crime, disgraceful
[7] Comments
So I checked email this morning and found a comment to a two-year-old YouTube video clip I posted of an encounter with wrong-way cyclists, one of my random and occasional “This Is Why I Hate” series.
YouTube User “Berlitz777″ wrote:
@wildbell I live in L.A. and it really irritates me to see you people riding all over the right hand lane in traffic. I often imagine running you over and speeding away. I think if I ever have the chance to hit one of you on Sepulevda blvd; you know, that long stretch of road near Skirball Center where it sometimes get’s lonely? If I ever have the chance to hit one of you and get away with it — I’m gonna do it. Free Christopher Thomas Thompson.
To which I responded:
Thanks for the comment Berlitz, but I don’t think it’s going to help free Dr. Thompson. It does reinforce the need for me to be triply careful when I ride. I’m pleased you haven’t yet acted on such an irrational and violent impulse to injure or kill someone simply because they ride a bike on the streets that you do, and I hope for your sake and for the sake of bicyclists in Los Angeles that you continue to vent your hate-filled venom online rather than on the streets.
As you can probably tell my considerate reply was through clenched teeth, but one executed successfully because of my personal goal to promote peace — too meet evil, with good.
But don’t go congratulating me for my insane ability to meet fire with nice, because I am no Ghandi. Not by a loooooooong shot, what with my first impulse being to invite Berlitz777 up to that lonely stretch of Sepulveda near Skirball Center where I’d promise he’d have no trouble finding me because I’d be the determined looking motherfucker with the bike on the side of the road and a crudely crafted cardboard sign hoisted over his head of which one side would read: “Hey, Berlitz777! Your Momma Rides A Bicycle!” and the other side: “Berlitz777! Queen Of The Gassbags!”
And the main reason I didn’t go that route? Not for lack of hackle-fed motivation, but rather because taking the hate bait from such chickenshits of the city accomplishes nothing but a waste of my time. So instead of behaving reactively and meaninglessly calling him out, I opt to proactively recognize that he did me a favor in reminding me that he and other 120-pound cowards driving 3,000-pound egos like him are out there somewhere, and to be that much more alert, cautious and considerate when I ride.
7 Responses to “ One From The TrollBag ”
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Yeah, I’m surprised I haven’t gotten any of those yet, considering that I got a few after the conviction.
However, on the off chance your new friend writes back, I understand it’s a federal offense to send threats across the Internet. I wonder how brave he’d feel if that email got forwarded to the FBI?
I watched the video. And I felt something had to be said, because it still didn’t feel resolved to me.
So I opened a youtube account and replied.
(Just a few days ago I discovered Bike Girl’s blog. In one of her last posts she described being tired of fighting, having just been told by a driver that her life meant very little, and that really affected her and left her sobbing on the curb for a long time. One of the best replies in the comments was from an bicycler in Boston, who wrote that a good reply would have been to ask the driver if she had any children, and did they bike? What a great response!)
So I responded likewise, and with a little bit extra. And Berlitz777 removed the comment, and wrote me, saying s/he took back his/her words. I wrote back that I was proud they were big enough to change (encouragement, yo!).
I also had to take down my post, because I quoted his/her extreme words in my post. And I felt it wouldn’t be fair to leave them up… there.
David, I wasn’t aware until reading your comment that Berlitz777 had removed the hateful statements. I’m touched you were moved to address the person directly and that it had a positive outcome, but I’m a little less forgiving. He or she may have been shamed into deleting those horrific words, but it’s a resolution that still lacks… kind of like a gangmember painting out the Xs he’s sprayed across the names of targeted rivals.
Yeah, it would have been better to get into a dialog with the person to see where s/he was coming from and watch any progress. This is what I wrote:
“‘If I ever have the change to hit one of you and get away with it — I’m gonna do it.’
Berlitz777, do you have children? If so, does your child ride a bicycle?
Yo might want to talk to Carmen Bachan. She lost her daughter in this area to a hit and run driver in 2009. Though not a bicycle [sic], but a pedestrian, it was a hit and run with no skid marks, running a red light.
Please, Berlitz, take back those words.”
How could I leave that up? It’s extreme and emotional, and in this time of angry and frustrated bicyclists, I just couldn’t leave that up.
Anyway, keep up the good work. I see you have to deal with a lot of heated/snarky/perturbed/strange opinions. Thanks for that.
Oh, BTW, I read the draft Bike Plan, and saw your comment from waaay back for a suggested route that goes in circles, alluding to the endless bureaucratic process. Aha-ha-ha-ha! Very, very funny and witty.
Hi David,
Forgive my confusion, but I’m guessing that the two paragraphs beginning with “How could I leave that up?” are Berlitz’ response?
PS. I’m glad my Vortex of Bureaucracy Route made it into the comments of the bike plan!
Ha ha ha! The Vortex of Bureaucracy Route. Genius! There should be a traditional ride that takes that route during ‘special’ occassions, for example to ‘commemorate’ the closed bicycle talks with the county.
And no, “How could I leave that up…” were my words. Berlitz777 took his/her comment down and sent me a short message saying it was removed.
Vortex of Bureaucracy Route (chuckle).