Bicycle Austin forum

well, i'll attempt to clarify my perspective, but unfortunately i tend to have problems with any sort of middle ground between "succinct" and "william faulkner"...

as a cyclist (and now, recently, as the parent of a couple of new cyclists) i don't feel it's in our best interests to further alienate those who already oppose what they perceive to be our request for special consideration.  unfortunately we live in a climate and society in which the only interest that isn't a special interest is your own.  i can't do anything about that.  but, even at the most optimistic projections, the cycling community is a very small percentage of the overall population of road users in austin.  and i'm only saying that to further illustrate it's how we're perceived.  and, frankly, i don't give a damn how people in cars perceive me.  but, i'd prefer it that they don't resent me or otherwise see me as a target- either in the literal or figurative sense.

i have no rational answers for some of the issues presented in opposition to bike lanes as presented at the asbury meeting.  it became clear rather quickly that reason played little, if any, part in some of the arguments.  so, how to counter that?  (and i'll go on record as thinking the city mandated feedback process is a dog and pony show- i work with the city every day- and that it's, if anything, counterproductive to just about everything save exacerbating tension).  i believe it's in our best interest, if there is a "we"- as (and please forgive me here) a marginalized group- to be sensitive to, and willing to address, opponents' feelings in addition to, or despite, the amount of logic in their positions.  or the amount of logic we perceive to be in their positions.  i also think it's worthwhile to consider the dynamic of dealing with other marginalized groups and their sensitivities as such.

of course this would all be so much easier if we were dealing in an undiluted environment of logic.  but, we've got what we've got.  perceptions matter.  and i, as somebody who has been on the roads of austin on my bike virtually every day for the past 4-5 years, would rather not be perceived by people in two-ton battering rams as- by default- a menace, an inconvenience, or an excuse to take out misplaced aggression.  and i'd much rather be considerate to my neighbors' feelings, in this particular instance, than to just tell them to "deal with it."  the latter stance is, unfortunately, the all-too-american way many things are decided anymore.  a tyranny of the majority is no way to operate.