Always Look Both Both Ways

This was definitely inevitable.

Long ago, I concluded that bicycles and electric bikes are much more dangerous to pedestrians than cars, buses, trucks, tricyles, and the other assorted forms of transportation. While cars, buses, and trucks have noisy motors and honk incessantly, bikes and e-bikes are silent. Tricycles simply go to slow to be dangerous and they usually have an old metal pot they bang on to signal their coming.

All gussied up in my new dress I bought while back in America and some wonderful high heels, I proceeded out into into the gusty Friday morning. Running five minutes late like usual, I spied the #6 bus down the road and didn't want to miss it, so I quickly looked right then left then took a step forward. I immediately collided with an old lady on a bicycle going the wrong way down the road, spun around, fell down, and gave everyone in the street a nice peak at my undies thanks to a timely gust of wind. Stunned, I smoothed my dress down as the old lady chastised me and pedaled away. I picked myself up with as much dignity as I could muster, gathered my belongings, and, since I had missed the bus and was feeling utterly embarrassed, took a taxi. I examined my minor injuries in the taxi: scraped hands and a nasty bruise on my calf.

Maybe it was the dress, maybe it was the wind, maybe it was the urgency of catching the bus, but for some reason I forgot that when I looked both ways before crossing the street I needed to look at both sides of the road both ways.

Ai ya.