To Escape by E-Bike
This is an introductory paragraph from a remarkable essay in The Point magazine, which I mean to say more about in coming days:
I spent my breaks in the city park across from my office, eating lunch on the wrought-iron benches dedicated to old machine politicians, people-watching. Pedestrians would trickle down the crunchy gravel path in front of me — young migrant families pushing strollers, old drunks on e-bikes, state workers talking loudly into their AirPods. It had only been a few months since Iād started, and yet I already felt alienated from the work I was, supposedly, doing. Here I was, out in the community my office served, surrounded by people whose lives would go on with or without me.
Did you spot the real hero of the story? Correct! It’s the drunk on the e-bike. He doesn’t bother with alienating work to get by!
Oddly, here’s an aside from Cory Doctorow this week on e-bikes:
E-bikes are insanely great technology. Cheap, rugged and reliable, they’re basically bicycles that abolish hills. Once you’ve gotten accustomed to an e-bike ā maybe you’ve invested in a folding helmet and a raincoat ā you’ll never go back. The advantages of an e-bike commute over a car commute are legion, but my favourite little pleasure is the ability to easily make a stop at a nice coffee shop halfway between home and work, rather than being stuck buying shitty chain coffee near the office.
I’ve never been on an e-bike because my city is small and I walk everywhere and I have no need for speed, but the idea of other people riding them instead of driving cars on the streets I pay for is appealing. It sounds like it could be a nicer life for them too.
Vision of the future: e-bikes with stops for coffee (for workers) or booze (for heroes). I’m starting to feel optimistic about the future again.
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