Tuesday 13 March 2012

Bikes are Better!

For the last month I have been biking my way around Paris. Everyday to and from university from my house in Saint Denis to Invalides.
                   I take the bike instead of the metro everytime I can: for work, to meet friends.

As a consequence I'm feeling pretty good !

On a bike you see alot more of a city than you ever will crammed in the dark metro underground.
Some of the things I have seen have been lovely: the sun; birds, my first bee of the year, watching spring coming in...

Although somedays I see things that disgust me. Such as today. As I was cycling back to my house from university this afternoon when I was overtook by an ambulance. Normal. Until the paramedic in the passenger's seat opens his window and without even looking throws his empty coffee cup on to the road in front of me. I swerve to avoid being hit in the face by this unexpected flying cup and stop, pick up the cup and without knowing what I'm doing, pedal until I finally have caught up with the ambulance at a red light...

Pulling up beside them I tap at their window, he slides the window opening grinning down from his ambulance at the blonde, flushed red girl on a bike, (who, just to complete the image has a bike basket she has found on the road strapped to her back...)

However my ruffled appearance does not stop me from thrusting back at him his cup with the words:

"Monsieur! Vous ne devrez pas jeter votre tasse sur la rue, numéro 1: vous pouvez reçevoir une amende, pensez à l'environnement!!! ET numéro 2 si vous avez fait un peu d'attention vous auriez vu que j'étais là sur mon vélo quand vous avez jeté votre tasse et du coup vous m'avez failli me taper!!!!!!!!!!!"


Is it normal to have to lecture the french ambulance services not to throw their coffee cups out of their ambulance once they've finished with them once I caught up with them at a red light?

1) Because it's littering and just not acceptable anywhere, put it in the bin for goodness sake!

And 2) BECAUSE IM ON A BIKE!!!!!! YOU ALMOST KILLED ME WITH YOUR COFFEE CUP TRAP!!!!

....Luckily you may be able to save my life as you are a paramedic if I did have an accident, although you drive so badly, you don't look in your wing mirrors, so the chances of you seeing me is unlikely.


The irony is: only yesterday I was stopped by 5 policemen in a police van for having jumped a red light. This is a harmless action I feel, I put no one at danger, compared with carelessly dropping misiles from a fast moving vechicle.

1 comment:

  1. I LOVE YOU!!.. promise me you will never change! (p.s I clicked every button before I found the comment button!)

    ReplyDelete