Ma Vie en Merde

Ever been mowed down by a Parisian biker in the bike path, coming at you with the dinky bell ringing, little light flashing menacingly, and with screams of "ATTENTION!! BORDEL!" sounding in your ears?

Nope, me neither. But that's because I am SMART. I stay far away from the bike path. Some other folks, not so much.

Especially now, with the time of grève upon us, I know waay better than to trespass on sacred ground. I pity the tourists who see a long, smooth, empty bike path and think, "Hey! This is great! More room for my enormous suitcase to coast! No cobblestones! Neat!"

Because, inevitably, the tourist gets forced off the road by a crazy bike rider. I don't really blame the bikers: they have to deal with some serious shit from the motorcyclists and scooter(ers?) who park on the sidewalk and then roar off into the open bike lane until they can dismount onto the street. It makes sense bikers would take out their frustrations on people who stray onto their turf.

My only problem with bikers is when they can't decide whether they belong on the road or the bike path (ex. like in Boston, where bikers will run into you while you're crossing the street, because they bike on the road but don't stop at lights or signs like drivers do). Also, during this time of grève, the bikers have started overtaking the pedestrian sidewalks. Not cool, dude.

Stick with the buses, is what I say! I didn't wait for any today, but I still managed to get on two. The one this morning went speeding past me as I was on the way to the metro, so I basically flat out sprinted back to the bus stop and got on, no hassles. Then, this afternoon, I finally got off the 1 metro at Bastille and took the 65 bus. It was slowly approaching as I got outside. Nice.

I also have to say that, even though this strike is seriously killing my will to be a full-time worker, it's the only time I've ever seen Parisians smiling at strangers. Weirder still, there's much more talking and laughing with strangers than I would have imagined. People know this strike is ridiculous, and they also know what they are forced to do (ex. standing spooning with everyone around you) is stupid. So most of them make light of it. I think it's making my commute a bit easier.

That being said, if one more asshole jams behind me as the doors close, I might cut a bitch. That is all.