Friday, August 22, 2008

Cyclists with agendas

A guy was biking up the side of Telegraph Road, a dangerous endeavor as there are 4 lanes of angry commuters and big trucks blowing dust and small rocks immediately to your left. (Yes, I’ve tried it). The cyclist was wearing a backpack which had a sign with a political agenda taped to the back of it.

I can’t stop thinking about this guy. Did he need the backpack to transport items and thought a basket would appear too sissy, or was the backpack merely the mode of display for the sign? And if he wasn’t carrying anything in the backpack, did he even have anywhere to go? Was he out there biking up and down Telegraph simply to broadcast his message? Is this really the most effective way to get your message across? Hasn’t he heard of the internet? And if you’re really serious about your message, then a sign that looks like it was created in Word and printed out at home scotch-taped to the back of a Jansport is probably not going to get you taken very seriously.

He reminds me of the guy who goes out on his lunch hour to try and get Kwame Kilpatrick impeached. I saw him at the intersection of Woodward and 12 Mile, standing there in his suit and tie, holding a sign that simply read “Impeach!” (I’m not even sure it had an exclamation point). It seemed so random. Then I read about him in the paper a few weeks later. Apparently he chooses a different corner every lunch hour and just stands there with his sign, doing his little part to move due process along.

I wonder if Governor Granholm ever drives on Woodward?

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