I Watch Everything

Here's what you can do with a bike you cannot do with a car. You can see and hear everything around you. In your car you have your a/c, radio, cell phone and you're doing at least 25mph. You miss everything that's going on on either side of you.

Now on a bike, you might get it up to 20 mph if you're pushing it w/o blowing your heart out. Also, you see and hear everything as you pass everyone and everyone's house.

So, what have I found tooting around Pawtucket and Seekonk? I find nice homes and rather shitty ones. By nice I mean “kept up.” By shitty...well..guess.

Tonight I rode by some three decker tenement house with the sound of a shrieking kid inside. Ok fine, all kids shriek at that age but I suppose the large thump sound and even higher shrieking that followed ain't part of the playtime. Passing by another house I could cleanly hear, “Goddammit! Joshua! Get your fuckin' ass in here!!” That was followed by a “I don' wanna...!” I was out of range by then to understand what the kid's screaming then became.

This was funny. I was approaching a red light with one car stopped at it. As I got closer I could hear a couple in it SCREECHING at one another over God.Knows.What. Ah...love. The light turns green and the guy in it just guns the engine slamming his beloved into her seat.

It's not all bad you know. I just found some glaring examples of what goes on in my general neighborhood that I didn't know about prior to getting this bike.

On the flip side I saw a Dad, teaching his little girl how to ride a bike w/o the training wheels. He was following her, barely touching her back as her legs pumped away saying to her, “I won't let go! I won't let go! I won't let go!” Good, one parent I saw tonight building confidence in his child till the day he can let go of her and let her ride on her own.

I pass a few teen couples most nights, who are out for a walk. I go by them, looking overheated, spent and with my sweaty hair sticking up oddly. They however smell wonderful. I can be hit with her/his cologne/perfume about 20 feet before I approach them. They never notice me. Why should they, they've built a world of their own that's a hell of a lot nicer than the one around them.

As the sun sets, I see that bluish glow from houses I pass as people settle into a night of TV watching. Or, you see the neighbors out, talking. A few homes I pass are those of master gardeners. Their lawns, beds and bushes look like they belong at golf course. Even at night I see a few who will get that last hour in of gardening before going in.

I then can finally go home and see my home for what it is in comparison. Lawn cut? Check. Beds weeded? Check. Lights on. No. No one's home. Loud as fuck German Shepherd inside? Check.

In a few minutes, music will be drifting out of my windows. Passerby’s may see a shirtless guy making a dog run back and forth from living room to den chasing a tennis ball. Later on, my house will be the only one of two on this street with lights on at 12AM. This guy's up late some may say. Yes he is! He's watching Letterman.