So, this started out as a pretty vanilla taking cans to the recycling center trip. I was amused that the photo showed the end of a (long disused) stretch of railroad track just down the street from my elementary school.
Then, less than a block after I took this photo, on a slow residential street, a very angry woman who was having a hard time keeping her mail on top of her car screamed at me (yes: screamed) "IF I WAS A COP, I'D BE HAPPY TO GIVE YOU A TICKET!!!"
I briefly considered my options, mostly stopping to ask "Um... what would you give me a ticket for?" since I genuinely wasn't doing anything wrong, much less anything worthy of a ticket. (Side note: the only thing I could even remotely think of is that she doesn't actually know what California Vehicle Code 23115 says about "rubbish vehicles", since it was absolutely covered and secured in such a way as to prevent anything from falling. I am guessing that she thinks anyone transporting aluminum cans by bicycle is a criminal.)
But I made an almost instantaneous decision to not interact: she struck me as the type of angry nasty aggressive person who might very well pack a personal sized pepper spray.
So I rode on. And went through various possible responses in my head. And tried hard to decide if this was a #driverwhohatescyclists or #driverwhohatespeoplewhomightbehomelesswhorecyclecans sort of thing. In the end, it probably was best to ignore her.
Made me sad for Sacramento, though. Especially since, if we could have had a reasoned conversation, I'm pretty sure I could have explained what I was doing, and why, and that I've lived here at least as long as her, likely longer (p.s. I went to elementary school less than a quarter mile away.)
Then, less than a block after I took this photo, on a slow residential street, a very angry woman who was having a hard time keeping her mail on top of her car screamed at me (yes: screamed) "IF I WAS A COP, I'D BE HAPPY TO GIVE YOU A TICKET!!!"
I briefly considered my options, mostly stopping to ask "Um... what would you give me a ticket for?" since I genuinely wasn't doing anything wrong, much less anything worthy of a ticket. (Side note: the only thing I could even remotely think of is that she doesn't actually know what California Vehicle Code 23115 says about "rubbish vehicles", since it was absolutely covered and secured in such a way as to prevent anything from falling. I am guessing that she thinks anyone transporting aluminum cans by bicycle is a criminal.)
But I made an almost instantaneous decision to not interact: she struck me as the type of angry nasty aggressive person who might very well pack a personal sized pepper spray.
So I rode on. And went through various possible responses in my head. And tried hard to decide if this was a #driverwhohatescyclists or #driverwhohatespeoplewhomightbehomelesswhorecyclecans sort of thing. In the end, it probably was best to ignore her.
Made me sad for Sacramento, though. Especially since, if we could have had a reasoned conversation, I'm pretty sure I could have explained what I was doing, and why, and that I've lived here at least as long as her, likely longer (p.s. I went to elementary school less than a quarter mile away.)
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