If the car is the shumba (lion) of the street, and the cyclist its mbizi (zebra), then the pedestrian is certainly its mhembewe (the buck). And we have in this jungle a continuum of arrogance: The arrogance a driver presents to a cyclist is continued by the arrogance a cyclists often presents to a pedestrian. The woman who almost ran over me a moment ago on the corner of Broadway and Pike had it in her mind that it was me who had to make way for her. And if I did not (I did—I had no choice in the matter), she would have rubbered me with her wheels. That is the law of the jungle.

Charles Mudede—who writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger—was born near a steel plant in Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe. He has no memory...

33 replies on “The Order of Things”

  4. In a degenerate culture such as ours where the military is derided, pot smoking is open and accepted, homosexuality is promoted, and a usurper like Barack Hussein Obama (still no birth certificate) is elected president, it’s hardly surprising that common courtesy on the roads has too gone down the toilet.

  8. Lord Basil, you are overplaying your little troll hand. Scale it back, and someone may actually believe you are as stupid as you seem. You won’t get anybody to engage you, or get pissed at you when you are so obviously a parody of the hoplessly stupid. If people actually believe you are one of those special few fighting tooth and nail against their own better interests for the benefit of a ruling class that holds them in contempt, you may have better luck trolling. I’m trying to help you reach your chosen goal even though I think it’s a stupid one. Cheers.

    Yes Charles, I agree. All parties are animals. Instead of competing for food, we compete for smug superiority and righteous indignation as if they were precious grains and meats during a famine.

  9. This morning, I happened to be driving along N 40th, and waited while a cyclist walked his bike across the street.

    Personally, I think it was your smile, Charles, it probably frightened her and made her try to hit you.

    People are scared of smiling zebbas.

  10. In King County in 2007 (the last year a report is available):

    There were 31 pedestrian traffic deaths. All 31 were killed by cars, zero were killed by bicycles. The youngest was 13 years old, the oldest was over 80.

    There were 7 bicyclist traffic deaths. All 7 were killed by cars. Zero were killed by pedestrians or other bicyclists. 4 of the 7 weren’t wearing helmets. The youngest was a teenager, most were in their 20’s.

    72% of the car drivers in these fatal collisions were male. 84% of the car drivers were white. White males make up 32% of the city, 37% of the county, yet they kill people with their cars at over three times the rate of any other group. 74% are sober.

    In King County, there were 76 deaths by homicide in 2007, compared to 170 deaths by car or motorcycle. There were zero deaths by bicycle.

    http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices…

  14. @10 Who is talking about fatality accidents? Did you even read the post? It’s about drivers being assholes to cyclists, cyclists being assholes to pedestrians, and (as @8 eloquently phrases it) our mutual competition for smug superiority and righteous indignation. Congratulations, Lizzie, you have won that competition in this comment thread.

  17. 10 – if the profiles of drivers involved in fatalities are important at all, why compare them against total population, and not those of total drivers?

  19. @8 absolutely. The point of my post was to get more people to interact with him. Right now, they just laugh and shake their heads. He’s putting everyone off from getting pissed at him by acting too crazy. I’m trying to help him improve his act.

  24. #23, I thought it was a good analogy.

    #14, I don’t care about “smug superiority.” I was pointing out that only one of the three “animals” is an actual problem, and it’s a very large problem and a danger to everyone. I’m pretty sure if you ask a buck, it cares more about a lion eating its family than about a zebra glaring at it.

  25. I only bring forth truth. Look around you God’s sake! Our society degenerated in the 60’s, and despite honorable efforts by President Reagan and President Bush (41 and 43), there is still coarseness about it, and the election of a usurper has only intensified it.

  26. @11 – Lard Boils – as in boils made of oozing lard as opposed to the process of boiling lard – although that too seems applicable. Since few Sloggers remember Basil Rathbone, my Wrathbone sobriquet may only amuse the forgive-me-for-only-talking-to-myself-Lord.

  27. Most cyclist I know are really nice. But it seems the “organized” ones are like repooplicans; Either you’re with us or against us.

  31. In the jungle, the mighty jungle,
    the Humvee sleeps tonight…

    Wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh,
    Wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh,
    Wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh…

    Hush my fixie, don’t fear my fixie,
    the Humvee sleeps tonight

    eeeeeEEEEEEEEEE-um-um-eh-weh…

    etc etc

  32. In 17th and 18th century London, the number two cause of death (behind excessive drinking) was pedestrians being crushed by carts and carriages.

    I don’t know if that was true for Roman cities, but I do know that wheeled vehicles were banned in downtown Rome during the day due to congestion.

    The streets of cities have never, and will never, be civil.

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