Cynics Unlimited

Cyclists and motorists share a special relationship on the streets of most cities, and that relationship is one of mutual disdain. For every cyclist you hear complaining of inconsiderate motorists hogging the road, there is a disgruntled driver harping about reckless cyclists who don’t mind the rules of the road. Pedestrians provide a sense of balance by assailing both groups.

So what happens what you combine a fiercely idealistic cyclist with a boorish motorist … in Toronto? Apparently a good media event. A Toronto motorist tossed food from his moving car on the pavement near Kensington market. Offended at the deliberate act of pollution, bike courier Leah grabbed the food and tossed it back in the car. The male motorist quickly got out of his car and physically assaulted Leah by throwing coffee on her, which was answered by the courier scratching the motorist’s car with her key. Several bystanders had to break up the melee. The police soon caught up with the motorist but so far no charges have been laid.

Photographer Adam Krawesky captured the altercation and posted it on CityNoise.org for the pleasure of 149,000 viewers (and counting). Opinions on the CityNoise site were harsh and sharply divided:

“i would love to kick the s**t out of that bully. he is the kind of guy who would go after a smaller person, not to even mention a girl. sob.”
-CityNoise comment in favor of the cyclist

“Yes, the motorist was wrong to litter, and I might have done the same as the courier. No, he shouldn’t have dumped his coffee on her. However, scraping his car with a key takes it to a level far and above anything else. That sort of damage costs several thousand dollars to repair. I can totally understand why he then flew into a rage and stomped her bike”
-CityNoise comment in sympathetic to the motorist

What to make of this? On one hand no one likes litter and it is nice to see a resident stand up to those many residents who simply don’t care about our city. In reality, however, Leah should have considered the possibility that a big, boorish male in a car who brazenly throws garbage on the street in the middle of a crowded market wouldn’t think twice about giving a defiant female a couple of shots (or at least damaging her bike). So, despite having moral advantage in this situation, Leah essentially brought this on herself.

Some people have criticized Krawesky for photographing the altercation instead of intervening, but this criticism is short-sighted. Drawing media attention to bad behavior or bad situations can be potentially more effective in rectifying the situation than any amount of physical intervention or histrionics. The videotape of the Rodney King beating did more to bring awareness to the plague of police brutality than 100 activist preachers or rap songs could ever accomplish. Nick Ut’s award-winning photograph of a young Kim Phuk running nude down a road, covered in napalm, horrified Americans enough to turn mainstream opinion against the Vietnamese War. Sometimes simply drawing attention to a situation is the most powerful way to alter its course.

To be sure, a fight between a motorist and a courier is nowhere close to the magnitude of a war crime or police brutality. However it did provide many of us with a guilty laugh, and hopefully with all the negative publicity, the Neanderthal in the car will think twice the next time he decides to express his temper on someone else’s property.

To view the entire photo set and user comments, please visit the CityNoise forum:
http://www.citynoise.org/article/2770/by/hool