About a month ago, an officemate of mine passed away in a road accident. Like most days, he chose to bike to work that day and was hit by a car he was waiting on the lane to cross. It was between 7-8 am, and he was about a kilometer away from the office when he passed.
I did not know Chris, and I wager he was a far better man than I am. We do share several stark similarities. Both of us have been in the same company for 10 years, we both have a 5-year old who likes Spiderman, and we both have a baby on the way.
The way people are – we should not just be pointlessly disconnected. The grief is real, and even those who did not know him will be able to relate, sympathize or even drive change. His death has started a stir in the city for more share-the-road advocates, eye-openers for drivers to become more mindful of bikers.
I’ve been wanting to bike to the office for some time. It’s a laughable 5km distance and I have to ride the car alone with no one to carpool with. But true enough, our roads, the world-record-breaking traffic and raging drivers are not ready for bicycles. And I’ve been moved, thinking that nothing will ever happen if we just leave things as how they are now if we literally just burn more fuel into the system.
And so I got myself a helmet, borrowed my brother’s bike, and set myself pedaling to work on some days. I also added cycling to my cross-training. It’s just a start.
My eyes opened not only to a driver’s mindfulness, but to the serenity and hidden stories, sounds, and smells of a city that I often take for granted when I drive past through it the air-conditioned enclosing of a car. Now I can really pause for a few minutes to see the sunset. And every time, I also honor Chris.
Now let’s get this company to incentivize employees who bike to work, and have them start installing showers.
