Beaten and Bruised

So as I wrote about a bit ago, I was hit by a car on my bicycle a bit over a week ago.  It was a pretty rough experience and one that still leaves my back in a decent amount of pain right now.  I didn't get medical treatment at the time though because of insurance and my own pain tolerance/aloofness.  It happened on a Thursday, and while I seemed ok right after, by Sunday when I woke up I decided to head up to Bellevue and get checked out.  I just wanted to confirm that I was ok. 

It was an all day ordeal.  I biked up there from Bed-Stuy (yes, I know, shhhh....) and got there around 11:30 or so.  I was there till about 5 getting checked out.  They were far more concerned with my neck than my back or hip.  I ended up in a neck brace and with a CaT scan of it.  X-Rays of my lower back and pelvis.  Luckily everything checked out and while still in pain I headed downtown towards Occupy's daily #S17 events.   

I was tired and starving.  I hadn't eat since I left that morning.  Figured I'd eat my lunch when I got downtown.  My head was racing.  Moments, events, thoughts on cycling, my body, and how I feel like I'm more of an educator on a bicycle than a cyclist.  I mean I spend the whole time teaching New Yorkers about the laws involving bicyclists.  They are so oblivious....  and then WAM!!!!  IT HAPPENS AGAIN!!!  I wasn't a block past the same exact spot as last time.  The same bike lane, the same stuff.  Woman pulled out in front of me not looking or seeing me and hit the back of my bike.  The bike shimmied and flew out of control.  I somehow jumped off of it and managed to land on my feet (on a positive note I feel like this may have been one of my most impressive athletic feats, and hopefully a pleasure for someone to watch!  But as it was I did something to my knee.  It's been sore since, a little loose even.  I of course didn't really pay much attention to it at the time.  I'd just spent the whole day in the hospital, I was famished, and I couldn't stomach waiting another hour for the cops.  So I spoke with the young lady that hit me, took her information and agreed that she would get my bike fixed.  Looking back on it, it wasn't so smart.  I should have gotten checked out and called the police, but I decided to do things as they should be.  She and I would trust each other and work together.  She didn't need her insurance to go up, and I just wanted my bike fixed and to eat.  I don't think I wanted to deal with the cops again either!

Anyway, is what it is.  My knee is still not right, but I'm working it back into shape.  I got the bike fixed and the young lady responded to my text about it.  I should head up to her work this week and sort it out.  I got her the lowest price I could and feel good about it all.  Like there is trust and honesty in this world.  We'll see though.  I haven't gotten reimbursed yet.  But I think I will.  Accidents happen, and integrity may have surrounded this one.  It does still exist you know!!   ;)

Police Thinking

So I gt hit by a car on Thursday (9/13).  I was riding my bike in the bike lane on Christie street headed towards the Manhattan bridge.  A big black BMW SUV pulled out of standstill traffic and into the bike lane, thinking he'd get ahead while cutting me off.  When he got pinched and couldn't go any further I went around him and pointed to the bike lane and said “so where do we go?” “You're in the bike lane!?” He responded with with an abrasive Fuck You styled aggression filled response you'd only expect stereotyped from Jersey Shore.  I kinda kept moving slowly while responding in a kinder version biking legalese that didn't resemble backing down but wasn't aggressive like his but more matter of fact (those who know me can imagine..;).  As the lane opened a bit I started to go through, only to hear the roar of an engine in my left ear and all of a sudden I got hit on my left side and handle bars from behind (I think).  The wheel turned maybe, I went straight over the bars, the bike I think landed on or my hit back area while the car sped off.  It stopped briefly at the light ahead (as I tried to write down the license plate number), and then turned and was gone.  I lay on my stomach assessing my bits while others checked on me and tried to help me up.  I was amazed, and really just wanted this guy to not get away with it.  I called the 911 and some passers by in a car gave me a little first aid kit.

I refused an ambulance because I felt ok, I had a couple scrapes and bruises, but I'd had worse in football and life.  Of course, by the time the cops got there it was one hour and twenty minutes later and three calls to 911.  By this point my back and hip were starting to stiffen up.  But still I didn't think it was anything to get concerned about.  Really I just wanted to make sure this guy didn't get away with it.

The cop eventually pulls up and firstly wants to know if I need an ambulance.   I'm wishy-washy.  I don't know if I still have medicaid.  I think I do, but never got that confirmed as I lost my address before I got paperwork confirming it.  So I am reticent to get an ambulance as with no insurance and no money I'm screwed.  I can't afford that bill.  So I say no.  If money was no option, yeah, I'd have gotten checked out. But it is.  He pushes, "it's a simple yes or no answer." "yes or no?", as if someone just hit by a car thinks so clearly?  Kind of like, officer, are you an asshole?  Yes or no?  Come on, its a simple yes or no answer.  No you obviously are not. You have friends and family, people you love, things you do that show it.   No you are not an asshole.  So don't act like one right now to me. This was the way the conversation would go.  He then asked for my ID.  Which I had forgotten that day of all days.   He then proceeded to lecture me about not having an ID on me.  That I could be making up names and my life, and this incident.   That I could get a summons for not having a valid ID on me.   What?!?!  um, right....  Anyway, I questioned it subtly in an attempt to just get past it and move on.  Kind of an I don't need a drivers license to ride a bike, I don't have it what info do you need.  Needless to say he just continued on in his police speak aggressive tone.  The authoritative, shut the fuck up speech that they always give you when you ask a question or don't immediately jump as high as the ask you to.  It's like there's cop school where they send them to go learn how to verbally bludgeon people into submissiveness.  It's so sad.  I finally got to the point where I just said to him, “officer I just got hit by a car, it would really be nice if you could show a little compassion”.   He responded defensively and with vigor about how his job was to weed out people faking these claims.   That he had to be certain that I was telling the truth and not making things up.  Claiming it was his job to push me and to make me feel awkward to the point that if I was making my story up that I would waver and give up the attempt.  Basically, that I could just have a vendetta against someone and be filing a false police complaint.   Yeah well, if it didn't take an hour and twenty minutes for you to get there there would have still be witnesses....

Anyway, it was absurd.   To say that this was what he was supposed to do.  How he was trained to push people and to make sure they were in the right place.  As if getting hit by a car is an everyday occurrence and doesn't require any empathy.  Would you treat your grandmother like that?  Your mom?  Anyone you weren't assuming was a criminal?

This to me is what the problem is, and I hear it in the words of every police and law enforcement officer I speak to.  You are a criminal if you come in contact with me, you are a criminal in general until I eliminate that from my detectiving.  ----Pause---- I am writing this in the hospital and they just put a neck brace on me. It's tough to write in a neck brace ----Unpause----  So yeah, police officers always are looking for criminals.  If that is your soul goal, then how you treat people initially is going to come across as such.  It is tragic really.  After he and I got all done playing paperwork games and had developed a more friendly repore, I mentioned to him again that just as a thought that maybe he should work towards finding a better balance between doing his job and showing compassion in this type of situation.  We talked for another 15 minutes and I would consider him a friend at this point.  Yes, I consider everyone a friend, but you know what I mean.  I mean that is the way it always works with me! ;)  But still though, I think I got the message across to him.  He told me where he always is working there and writes tickets all the time for the bike lane.  But as it is, my point in writing this is to say that I think its horrible how cops speak to people.  Aggressive, authoritarian, and as if their authority is unquestionable and inherently legitimate no mater how just or lawful what they are saying.  They do not speak with respect or from a place of dignity for others.  Power over others that is all to often abused - as I felt it was with me after I was run down by a car. Sadly.

Biking Lion

So yesterday I got another lesson in African "communication". We were supposed to all meet to do costings for the brick project. Kaps left at 10 just as Yapo was supposed to show up. Kaps said, "oh, I just have to go get a battery, A go com", "I'm gonna come right back" in krio. I told him we were gonna do this costing, sure, sure, "A go com".

So he comes back over three hours later with a group of seven cyclists from the US. Ummm... Yeah, he knew they were coming, he'd been working with them for two days about this, and stayed with them in Lunsar the night before on his way back from Freetown. But of course I knew nothing about it. That is the way things are here. Except with Yapo!! He is better about it.

Anyway, so there is this company ibike.org that takes educational bike tours in Africa. This group yesterday was doing two weeks through Sierra Leone. They set up stops at schools, orphanages, mines, etc. It actually sounds like a great program to me. Not sure how much it costs though. They had done 38 miles yesterday and were exhausted. They wern't professional bikers, just weekend warrior types looking to see the world. Three from Canada, three from the States, and one from Switzerland. Good people.

So we gave them some lunch, showed them the school, and then met them later for a drink. I didn't go to the school, but sounded like the ChildHelp crew and the kids teamed up to shamelessly ask for donations. They need money, everyone here does, and most everyone has no shame in asking an "opotu" for money.

As it was though, we got no costing done. So we set it up for 10am this morning, with Yapo coming at 9 to get started. Of course as I write this he just showed up at 7:30. Time here has no place!! Lol!!