So I was writing a piece about the cycle wars, just for fun. Had the thing pretty much wrestled to the ground, quiescent if not roped, and I decided to go for a ride. Not proving anything, or tempting anything. Just a fabulous spring day, apartment to look at, and that nice cycleway to take me directly there. What could be better?
And what did I find (besides a whole bunch of wildly overpriced apartments)? Not one but three complete or near-complete blockages of the cycleway. First, a bunch of half a dozen cycle cops having a natter (funny). Second, a hardware truck from Merrylands (where?) that I’d already noticed running a red light. (Marginally less amusing).
And then, just when I’m starting to channel one of those vigilante cyclists who goes round filming every jerk and misdemeanour (like Doug Gordon’s Brooklyn Spoke or Ian Dutton’s Guerilla Bike Lane) , a third – a massive plainclothes furniture removal van parked completely across, so that I had to get off the bike and walk.
“Nice place to park,” I said, thinking to leave it there. But his reply, as he pulled a mattress from the truck and shouldered it, made me stop and take his picture.
“I can’t stop the traffic,” he said.
“Exactly what you are doing.” (Me)
“I haven’t got time. I got work to do.”
“Yes, me also.”
“Ya got any complaints, tell Clover Moore. She’s such an educated woman.”
That’s ‘educated’ used as an insult. Only in Australia.
It was entirely unmarked (do they use these trucks delberately so they can piss people off with impunity?) but the delivery papers in the front showed it was from Domayne Bedding in Alexandria.
Hrmph.
Hey, I’m all for advocating bikes and bike lanes, however the use of snobbery and/or ignorance with the comment “Merrylands (where?)” really doesn’t come across all that well in this piece. Google where Merrylands sits in our lovely city (I’m sure you already know), as well as possibly curtailing the use of implied stereotyping of the western suburbs next time. Maybe leave that for the shock jocks you’re deriding in the same article.
OK – fair point about Merrylands, although it was a big truck being driven hoonishly through narrow, inner-city, pedestrian (and bike)- filled lanes, which is how we like them, right? And he did bust a red light.
I thought it was very useful. I immediately knew the type of driver and their care factor for other road users.
‘although it was a big truck being driven hoonishly through narrow, inner-city, pedestrian (and bike)- filled lanes, which is how we like them, right? And he did bust a red light.’
Don’t try to change the subject. You might have had reason to be annoyed with him but that doesn’t excuse sneering at a whole community.
Tom Sharpe would satirise you savagely.
BTW: What’s with the photo of the number plate, what are you trying to achieve there?
I think it’s pretty obvious. More money for Clover Moore to fritter away on bikelanes perhaps. Oh and a Trucky’s whole day’s pay.
Someone who lives in Redfern sneering at Merrylands? Delicioso!
Street justice – only ok when a whiny inner city lefty dispenses it
Fair critique Craig. For all the social, planning and infrastructure problems blighting Western-Sydney, suburbs such as Merrylands really don’t deserve to be dismissed in such an oft-hand fashion. You’re better than that, Elizabeth.
Try not to make yourself an easy target for the rabid Alan-Jones set. If the removal truck had blocked vehicular traffic, these lobbing personal insults at you here would undoubtedly be the first to complain. Their hypocrisy is only emphasised by that fact that it’s illegal for the removal truck to block the cycle path as it is for it to block the road. Of course, beneath the petty insults, what we have here is a group of people with a grand sense of self-entitlement. That by virtue of being enclosed within a motorised metal box, they are, amongst all road-users, deserving of a privileged status on our roads (or indeed cycle-paths).
Maybe they should have delivered the bed Ms Farrelly on a bike, do you think (I refuse to call anyone a Dr who doesn’t hold a medical degree). Typical ivory tower academic attitude to working class people in Merrylands who fund your bloated salary at the University of Sydney. Why has your hero Clover “Choker” Moore not provided adequate parking for residents and delivery persons in the inner city? Do you suggest that 80 year old infirmed pensioners hop on their bikes to do grocery shopping and visit their doctors (real ones)? Typical hypocrisy from the self-annointed ruling class that has poisoned the state and the country. Go have your chi latte and vegan burger and have a bitch with your basket-weaving mates.
See what I mean?
To be fair to the “Alan Jones” set, the linking of this post has actually made people visit this blog and leave comments.
Previous post with the most comments had 3 comments… 3! Clearly no one was reading Ms Farrelly’s blog, or didn’t care to comment.
Any internet traffic is good traffic.
“(I refuse to call anyone a Dr who doesn’t hold a medical degree)”
I’ve got some bad news for you son – you have it backwards. The “Dr” title used by medical practicioners is only “honorary”, as opposed to “earned.” That is, they have less entitlement to the title than someone with a PhD, for whom it is earned.
lol…. that’s priceless. It’s actually the other way around Mr Idiot.. the medical fraternity have those titles as an honorific. (And I suspect you meant “chai” latte…..)
“Village Idiot”. You said it! Hope you’re pleased got that off your chest; however, (and sorry for the reality check) parking across a bike lane is illegal. No doubt you’d take an equally sanguine view of this bloke just blocking up the road.
Possibly motor users deserve a “privileged” status as they have to cough up annually just for the “privilege” of using the roads they fund?
yes, the Peddlies seem to forget this – Motorists are the ones that pay for the roads. Sure there should be room for Bycyles but to whinge over having to get off your bike for 20 seconds because a truck driver trying to do heavy lifting and obviously a lack of parking spaces in the city for people to do their jobs safely is a bit much. A bit of give and take is required by everyone.
Car registration fallacy. See the comments below.
So you would have the driver park in the traffic lane and make life difficult for hundreds of motorists rather than inconvenience one precious cyclist?
The sense of entitlement comes from paying registration fees and fuel levees.You might as well go kayaking on the harbour(very green) and complain that a ferry or cruise liner won’t give way to YOU.
Big things have right of way over little things:the laws of physics demand it.
Again ‘car registration fallacy’. See below.
I’d suggest the opposite. In a civilised society, the strong should protect the weak vis a vis EF’s point about the demarcation of responsibility between cars/bikes/people and for good measure animals and children.
Idiot……..ferrys in the harbour have a legislated right of way. All other marine users need to abide by the very specific rules and no size does not confer a right of way. /shakes head
How do you know only 1 cyclist passed through in the whole time the truck was parked there?
I’m a cyclist that hates the bike lanes, with the idiot pedestrians that walk in front of you, cars coming out of side streets & driveways, car doors being opened etc they are bloody dangerous, safer to be on the road. But I still agree that NOBODY should be blocking the cycle lane, they should be fined just like any other illegal parking.
You pathetic pompous old fart!
Pathetic, sure (aren’t we all). Pompous, maybe. Not sure. Old – well, halfway (but not as old as a dinosaur). Fart? There, sir, I quibble.
Have you sent the photos to your local constable, or were they too busy talking on the cycle way?
cheers,
Maarten
The police would do absolutely nothing. They are not known for their enlightened attitudes to cycling & cyclists
Jaesus! You need an ENLIGHTENED attitude to deal with cyclists.?Is that the saddle or yourself up there?
Grow up…took what…an extra 30 secongs.
My thoughts exactly… no one likes a whinging tosspot
Indeed, the temerity of any cyclist believing that they can compete with Sydney’s drivers. The roads, along with the whinge are their exclusive domains.
Some people have to work for a living ..others only have to write about others working …tough life luvvie
Blocking the bike lane id not only illegal, it may for instance cause children to have to veer out onto the roadway when they are unfamiliar with it. It’s dangerous. It shows a typical ‘it’s all about me’ attitude of many of Sydney’s residents and unfortunately, drivers.
Oh yes. The children. When all other arguments wane, bring out the little guns.
Little guns? You mean like cyclists need to obey the same road rules as everybody else, which you fired off with your B B gun below Paul?
Yes cyclists need to obey road rules as do all those mobile phone-to-the-ear or failing to stop motorists. The fact that motorists are at the wheel of a 2 tonne lump of lethal metal places added onus on them, which is why in many European countries, motorists are trained to be extra cautious around cyclists and pedestrians.
” … motorists are trained … “? Oh dear. Hello, that analogy is as misplaced as it is stupid. Australia is a car country first and foremost due to its size, that’s its history. It’s cyclists who need to be trained.
@James
I’d have thought all road users should be trained, but hey, maybe that’s just me!
Advice from a 74 oldie if you give up whining about stupid minor thing you will find a much more pleasant and stress free life style.
What Child would be riding on their own in the middle of the Sydney CBD?
Who says they are on their own…..more idiots the place is jammed with them.
I agree, Grow Up and get a life! Just because you are on a pushbike doesnt mean you own the bike lane or any other bit of the road! The truck driver pays his rego and insurance to use the road, what do you pay?
Late comer to the party I see. See the responses to Luke directly below regarding the ‘car registration fallacy’.
Who gets to a party early? Losers, that’s who… unless you are the host.
^ supermundane; love your work.
Thanks hesfb. It has been fun. Enjoying your razor sharp responses as well here.
Tax
You are a selfish fool. SO you ride a bike to work, rah, rah, rah. until such time you pay road registration, you hvae no point – and I think it somewhat high minded to publish a photo with the car registration – you are a fool. THe sooner Moore is dumped and Barry O’Farrel takes charge of roads, the better for all – excepting of course you indulgent pushers.
The fact that believe the words ‘road registration’ (whatever that is precisely) constitutes an argument demonstrates that in fact it is you who doesn’t have a point. I’m sure it won’t stop dragging up that discredited red herring again however.
For the record – and pay careful attention now – the construction maintenance of roads comes out of general tax revenue, meaning that all taxpayers, including those hoity-toity cyclists are paying for the roads. The roads are not paid for through car registrations. The roads are therefore public. Perhaps we tax-payers should begin to express outrage to the government about people being allowed to effectively store their private property on tax-payer owned public infrastructure? Why should people be entitled to park their cars on public roads, which belong to all of us?
Regardless, notwithstanding the fundamental factual errors in your argument you might need to work on your comprehension skills somewhat. I’ll give you a clue. Elizabeth wasn’t even riding on the road!
So supermundane, what does our car regsitration pay for? It can’t, gasp, be paying for the roads could it? Luke has a good point. Until the bike riders start paying some form of registration to use the roads they shouldn’t be making demands – they should be only too grateful that they’re allowed on them.
Again the cycling haters drag out these discredited arguments. Registration pays for registration and that’s it. It raises approx. $600m per year, almost all of which goes to administer the scheme itself. The NSW government alone spent $4Billion+ on roads in 2009-2010 – just where did the extra money come from? I’ll give you a hint; general taxation. Then add local roads, all constructed and maintained by local councils. Those are paid for by local residents rates and borrowing which is financed by rates. So, taking the cyclist haters arguments to their logical conclusion, if you don’t live in my LGA, get off MY roads
But seriously, the roads are there for everybody, not just car and truck driving cyclist haters. Get over it. Cyclists are here to stay and growing in numbers every day.
From what I’ve seen daily it would be good if cyclists started obeying the same road rules everyone else is required to obey.
Well said Stuart.
Lime Lite, we cyclists have no need to grovel to you and thank you for something that is a legal right. Cyclists on the roads predates the invention of the motor-car, bitumen roads exists due to the efforts of cyclists and above all, cyclists are legally entitled to use the roads.
Of course you can thank us for opening more space for you in your car on the roads. One more cyclists means one less motor car, which means less traffic for you to contend with.
Remember, next time you’re backed up on King Street that you’re not stuck in traffic, you are traffic.
Stuart, $600 million to administer Vehicle registration in NSW , Ridiculous . You can also add fuel taxes (State and Federal) to the income for road maintenance.
AFAIK fuel levies are the major funding of Oz roads and all roads are legally a ‘right of carriageway’ upon which cyclists are on thin ice under common law
I was wrong. NSW Gov income from registration was actually $333Million, not $666M for FY 2011-2012. So half what I’d seen that actually had incidentals included. So, that’s not much to run a huge scheme across all motorised vehicles in NSW. http://www.budget.nsw.gov.au/budget_papers_2012-13/bp2/2012-13_budget_paper_2
and to those who claim that certain taxes are ‘directed’ to certain types of spending. That’s crap. 25% of NSW Give income is GST and than 37% from ‘taxation’ …. it’s a big bucket of money but fuel excise is not broken out and is certainly not all spent on roads. Lastly, many cyclists also drive and therefore pay fuel excise along with all other taxes that go to funding all public services, like schools and hospitals. Roads are just the same – a public resource for all top use, event he unemployed and non car owners.
Stuart, you are missing a very important point here. Motor vehicle registration includes a little thing called Compulsory Third Party Insurance (CTP) which is there to cover injuries inflicted on others by the vehicle driver. Bike riders have no such CTP so what happens when they knock someone over? Either they pay the medical costs and compensation to their victim or they jump back in the saddle and peddle furiously off into the sunset leaving their victim to look after themselves. How about CTP for bike riders??? Civic responsibility and all that.
Motor vehicle registration does not pay for the roads. It is just another tax. It just goes into the big pot of “consolidated revenue”.
@Limea ite
That’s a joke, right? Please remind me to doff my hat to you next time I cycle past, for your incredible, motorised, largesse!
Typical of some hideous elite to grandstand on grammar. So I’m a truck driver whom you treat with contempt because I don’t have some trendy leftist Arts degree after my name. Pompous git.
I don’t consider myself elite and until now I had no idea what your employment was, nor do I care or consider to be the measure of a person. What I see from your response and others here, is an inverse snobbery (see your trendy leftist arts degree comment) and a concerted witch-hunt here against so-called left-elites, especially if they’re women. What I see is those who really hold a privileged status in Australia, feted and molly-coddled by politicians and media alike crying victim. Woe is me! Grow up and grow a pair. Australia has become the biggest pack of self-pitying whingers around.
You might consider too that my own spelling and grammar has been commented on by individuals on ‘your side’ of the argument. Grandstanding on grammar isn’t the preserve of hideous leftie elites’.
Your position is based on a prejudice against tertiary educated people, intellectualism and reflects a common reverse snobbery that is constantly reinforced through mainstream media (your Alan Jones, Telegraph , Sandilands to name a few). What’s more, the Liberal and to some extent Labour parties adopt this attitude believing by doing so they will garner support of “real” Australians. This manifests itself through middle class welfare, which personally makes me sick.
I think you need to get a life and a new job! That poor truck driver/delivery person working hard for his weekly wage, please have a good hard look at yourself!
Far be it for me to speak on her behalf but all the evidence suggests that Elizabeth is doing just fine in both. Nice of you to be so concerned I’m sure
Umm… her job is pretty embarrassing… just sayin’
Really? Pray tell, what is it that you do? Because if we’re going to throw stones everyone should admit how fragile their own (glass)house is.
International playboy/spaceship captain
And a pot stirrer… I stir pot.
@ joey joe joe
you stir pot? well i lay pipe… for the ladies hehe
So the level of a persons income gives them licence to park wherever or however they like? Regardless of who it inconveniences? Would you feel the same way if you were double parked by someone?
Wow. You are some nasty spiteful piece of work. Conceited, superior, rude, bullying, smug … There just arent words to describe how loathsome I find this post .
Or I yours
Only a Green would think she could attract sympathy for publishing such drivel. Soon you will be just another wailing oppositionist voice in the ghetto after ransacking the national treasury. Can’t come a minute too soon.
So many cliches in so few words. Well done you!
Wow Elizabeth, seems you’ve really stirred a hornet’s nest here. Either that or your blog and this post have been cited on one of those websites where all the ‘right’-minded Australians gather to have their rightness mutually affirmed by other ‘right’-minded people just like them.
<3 this comment!
Elizabeth? Is that you commenting on your own article under a different name? Surely that could be the only explanation! No well adjusted, NORMAL person could sit there commenting again, and again, and again ad nauseam….?
Seriously though, get a life. Worry about REAL issues that apply to cyclists, like people talking on mobile phones while driving, or dangerous overtaking, or learning some active survival skills.
Being a whiny, petulant, entitled little so-and-so is not a good look.
Deviating 3 metres to go around a truck is not much effort. Not even close to the amount of effort needed to bitch about it on the internet.
Not Elizabeth. Just a late-30′s Australian male currently on the other side of the world, experiencing a bout of insomnia and amused by the cretinous non-arguments posted here. Makes for both amusing and depressing reading.
Never said I was normal or well-adjusted Mick. Sounds horrible anyway but fear not, as normal and well-adjusted is apparently your thing, you’re unlikely to ever meet me in real life anyway.
Ad Hominem, super, Ad Hominem.
And so, so satisfying!
Let’s not lump all Greens with this type of behavior. Hopefully some of us in this circumstances would have seen past our general frustrations to understand what the dude doing his job was going through.
Some of us are of course caught up in their own world. Regardless of political stripe.
What a pathetic, self important twit you are Elizabeth. I can’t believe that as a journalist you’d be stupid enough to publish an exchange that would have had any decent Australian cringing with embarrassment.
Bill, I figure you didn’t participate in critical debating while at school all those years ago? You know, where two teams of three students engage on an issue with one team taking an affirmative stance and the other, the opposing stance. Teams are adjudicated on the logical soundness, clarity and cogency of their relative arguments, their capacity to engage with the topic at hand and with their opponent’s arguments and their demonstration of critical thinking in framing their relative arguments and counter-arguments. Above all else, participants must avoid ad-hominens. Resorting to ad-homs rather than engaging with the substance of the opponent’s arguments is a fail in debatting.
Hope this helps!
Debating doesn’t pull the chicks. Never has, never will.
May not, but it just might perhaps give you a fighting chance when you find yourself in an argument with them.
At least, when being justifiably critical and/or even condescending, I have the courage in this instance not to hide behind a pseudonym. And as for debate, I can assure you this isn’t one; Elizabeth’s behavior was less than edifying as I’m sure any truck driver, precious luvvy or even supermundane person can appreciate.
Back in my days it wasn’t called “critical thinking”. It was called “debating”. Your ability to undertake same has been prove to be non-existant. All you do is abuse anyone who disagrees with Miss Farrelly.
I’ve not levelled any personal abuse at anyone actually – my might have called their arguments ‘cretinous’ but I’ve not called them ‘cretinous’. That would be an ad hominen. Of course feel free to cite where I’ve called anyone a name and I’ll gladly retract. I have however, seen plenty of ‘pompous tosspot’, green fantasist’ et al levelled at Elizabeth.
I’ve addressed people’s ‘arguments’ insofar as they can be called that, with the seriousness they deserve.
Yes, you’re right Uncle Joe. You have put up some cogent and reasoned arguments. But mainly, I think, you’ve having the wrong argument. This Discussion has not been about the rights of cyclists it has been about her conceit. Elizabeth’s post was obnoxious. And it’s not her first time. She is a snob, she is rude, she is arrogant and, in this case, she has been very precious. She’s perfectly entitled to be so. She’s a good writer. I just don’t think she’s a particularly nice person. have a look at her form – it’s all there in the public domain. Finally, if you are that publicly rude to so many people, how nice do you have to be in return?
And more to the point, it is about power. Elizabeth very publicly sneers at a whole suburb and at someone doing their job. When you sneer at the place where people live you are really sneering at them: their family, children and friends, their homes, the lives they have made and will make for themselves, their values and beliefs, history and future. She is entitled to her views. She is entitled to voice them. But if you are going to be so egregiously arrogant you should not expect people to have a civilised debate about it. They get one shot to express their disgust for her. She gets to do it every week.
Oh, and calling arguments cretinous implies the person is a cretin. Pompous comments such as “listen carefully now” don’t help either.
Don’t feel too bad for Liz. She’ll be laughing over a glass of Red before the week is out. No doubt these comments will be printed out and given the once over by her and her friends. There’ll be anecdotes galore about the time they drove through Merrylands and almost bumped into a bogan.
“Resorting to ad-homs rather than engaging with the substance of the opponent’s arguments is a fail in debatting”
Of course if you’re snide and make derogatory assumptions about your opponent’s level of education, that’s not ad hominem. That’s legitimate debate! Tis wonderful.
A man doing his job parks across an inconveniently placed bike lane and suddenly the inner urban left are out abusing him, taking photos and making snobbish stupid remarks. This is just the beginning. I await the changes to media laws and policing so that morons like you can have him sent down for the crime of interrupting an imbecilic SMH writer on her way to purchase her morning latte.
And people wonder why Fairfax share price hovers around 50 cents.
If being cyclist wasn’t crime enough, Elizabeth Farrelly is also the destroyer of Fairfax and is allegedly hell-bent on ushering in a new totalitarian state. Books won’t be burnt under Elizabeth’s draconian regime, only delivery-trucks containing paper-copies of the Sydney Morning Herald or The Age.
The crime wasn’t ‘being a cyclist’ her crime was being a pompous prat. As someone said below, heave you ever tried delivering a mattress on a bike?
I don’t know, maybe he could have parked a mile away and towed the mattress the last part behind a bike. Or parked in the middle of the road. That would make you happy, wouldn’t it?
Wow – you really are bored
Or lost $320,000 per hour for the last year
“…on her way to purchase her morning latte…”
I admire how so many anti-cyclist replies to Elizabeth’s article seem to imply that she was out for a cruise on her bicycle, for the sake of going for a ride. Re-read her original post… she was out inspecting apartments. If she wasn’t on her bicycle, she’d have been in a 1.5 tonne motor vehicle, taking up significantly more road space, polluting, burning nonrenewable resources, and taking up a car space at every destination.
Cycle lanes are not intended for lycra clad racers: They’re intended for ordinary people trying to get from A to B, such as yourself.
Nothing stopping you from buying a bike and saving yourself a fortune in motor vehicle costs.
well that’s torn it Liz old girl, I suspect you are about to get a lesson in what the wonderful internets does to people so lacking in self awareness as yourself – enjoy, you will probably never be this popular again.
They’d better have your pajamas stocked the next time you fly, or God help them…
hahaha
LOL!
You arrogant conceited woman. Show some tolerance. Take a holiday anywhere else in the world and see how people have to behave in the congestion. Your whinging statements are a total fail. !!!
Thanks for the tip.Need a Bed room make over and will check out a business that doesn’t need 2people to move a mattress.
Are you for real? What did you hope to achieve in publishing this man’s registration – this man who was working and earning a living in a job of which the type would be totally foreign to you and your ilk. How inconvenienced were you – oh, um about 30 seconds worth and you had to get off your bike, shock horror and there are people all over Australia and the world losing their jobs, under the threat of violence and THIS is what you blog about? Please get some perspective.
and this would be the type of person who would scream abuse at a cyclist for ‘holding them up’ for way less than 30 seconds in traffic, no doubt. The guy should park on the street. Children use these bike lanes and may have to use the road instead hen they have no road smarts. The haters will hate though.
Haters Stuart? I thought Elizabeth was the hater of truck drivers trying to earn a living. We are as supermundane would say are debating the subject, the only hate message seem to be from you or do you class anyone debating you as a Hater. Supermundane take this person in hand and tell him about your debating classes.
Now now Peter, this is getting unseemly. People will talk, tongues will wag don’t you know?
Sorry to disappoint you Supermundane there is two Peters using this blog . Peter 6.39 and 9.50 am , although I totally agree with him is not I..
I’m a cyclist who gets annoyed at lots of rude or thoughtless actions by drivers, pedestrians & other cyclists but you take the cake, sweetheart. Sadly, I’m too stupid to come up with my own insults, so I’ll just quote ‘Piggy’ Muldoon – ‘You need the services of a good taxidermist!’
What a rude and viscious idiot you are- publishing the registation details of a working man who was lugging a mattress -by himself- to a delivery- while you were inconvenienced for what? 1 minute!! good grief! Get some perspective woman and have some understanding for the working oiks you so obviously despise!
The poor bugger’s delivering a mattress *by himself* in the early hours. If you were really bothered, you could have helped him it and the truck would have been gone faster. Win-win.
Instead, you act the supercilious snob.
Shame, the poor darling. How thoughtless we little people are. Thank goodness for people like you who go to such lengths to make sure we feel even more ashamed of ourselves. What would we do without you? Wowser comes to mind.
This is a good illustration of the current clash of ideologies between green fantasists who live off the fat earned by blue collar realists – you are angry because a man is working (you would apparently prefer him to be riding a bike on the way to a basket weaving course). He is angry because you are stopping him from working.
Here is an idea – why don’t you go and complain to Clover while you both share a tofu infused green leaf tea, and then meditate as to how you will make the world better.
Just consider all those delivery men kept in employment delivering tofu infused green leaf tea to green fantasists (if it weren’t for the green fantasists and their predilection for tofu infused green leaf tea would they even have jobs?) blocking the the cycle paths used by Clover’s green fantasists while delivering tofu infused green leaf tea!
Oh what a conumdrum!
I completely agree with Ben. Why doesn’t this person make his time more constructive. I wouldn’t be surprised if the writer of this article is fellow ‘earthian’ Bob Brown. I don’t think I would have been as kind with my words as the delivery driver. I hope the Chai Latte calmed you down after your scenic bike ride
Interesting post describing a typical experience. Also the absolutely expected replies – there sure are a lot of haters out on the roads. Irrational and without empathy as you suggest, and apparently so angry or ignorant they are unable to argue.
I found this article interesting especially keeping in mind that in New York drivers are far friendlier than in Sydney.
Presumably a degree in urbanism, for goodness sake, gives one the right to abuse people who have a real job. Get yourself a real job madam, or a job as a madam, to prove you’re not a complete f*ckwit. Fairfax already has enough morons – you might want to join the ABC – no, wait.
You owe the trucker an apology. If he loses his job, although in the real world that’s unlikely, you owe him a living. Stupid arrogant cow. On yer bike!!
Degree in urbanism? Are you daft? Try doctorate in Architecture.
(also note: being a journalist is just as much a ‘real job’ as being a delivery guy).
Check her About Farelly page. Her PhD is in Urbanism.
Farelly, by the way, has form in this sort of thing. She thinks only the elite should vote, complains about ‘Silverbacks’ being rich and powerful (different to her own power and wealth, of course) and once had to travel to a suburb where all the houses looked the same and there was no public transport.
She’s a pompous, supercilious, snob. Fair enough. But you have to wonder why she still has a job at the Silly: sure, she’s w good writer, but she must annoy a lot of her potential audience. I say potential, because most people wouldn’t bother thread her articles. Just a smaller and smaller audience who don’t need to be convinced anyway
Doctorate in Architecture… lol
Don’t laugh at education; it only makes you seem stupider.
I’m a native of Seattle and I’ve encountered this sort of thing myself. I don’t mean to be rude, but your response to being inconvenienced and the fact that you bothered even to write about the incident makes you sound awfully mean-spirited. It must be difficult to deliver unwieldy things in urban settings. And it’s far more valuable—not only to others but yourself—to treat others the way you’d like to be treated than demand that they treat you the way you want to be treated. Sometimes, being kind involves overlooking what inconveniences us. Sometimes, not getting your way, if you can take it with a grain of salt, helps you become a more relaxed and charitable person. Other people are always more valuable than getting our own way.
Yes Richard, you have summed it up pretty well.
What if that was her mattress being delivered and she was in a hurry?
So Richard, you want the blogger to treat other people the way she would like to be treated, but it’s OK for the truck driver to NOT treat other people the way that he would like to be treated?
I’m assuming of course, that he doesn’t want to find his path impeded by cyclists blocking the driveway, footpath or road. Why is that that what’s sauce for the goose is not in this case sauce for the gander?
I saw no evidence of the blogger “demanding anything” – she made a remark to the truck driver that drew his attention to the fact that he was blocking the cycleway (and the footpath – BTW how would someone in a wheelchair or with a stroller negotiate their way around the truck?). He said he couldn’t stop the traffic – she pointed out that he was stopping the traffic.
Of course he has a job to do, and it’s not an easy one. Does that put him above the law? I think not.
What will you do when something really goes wrong for you in your tiny, shiny Bubbleworld? As opposed to this mundane nonsense?
I suspect the only bubble is the shiny petroleum bubble occupied by many of Elizabeth’s detractors here.
Hey supercilious how is the air up there on your soapbox? Big words for you today. That thesaurus is really getting a workout.
BTW debating in spelled with one ‘t’.
Dear Lizzie/supercilious-I have a feeling you are one in the same-please let the world know how you expect this delivery guy who upset you so much to actually deliver the mattress and what would you have written about if he had been delivering it you?
And how trite (there, another one for you) of you to go to just efforts to point out a spelling error. A gold star for you.
Me? I’m just hanging out, having a laugh at the predictable flood of self-righteous real Australians that have somehow managed to make their way here. Long-time reader of this blog otherwise, which means I *could* be Elizabeth!
CD, you’d have gotten a second gold star if you’d found where in a previous post I’d spelled, conundrum, ‘conumdrum’.
Apparently I can’t even get the spelling right with the old Rogets right there in front of me. Hopeless.
What are the chances of there being two arrogant pompous prats defending low class manners and nasty spitefulness. “Supermundane ” is a pathetic sock puppet if ever there was one. Elizabeth you need help.
You know Charlotte, I believe it’s quite possible to disagree with Elizabeth and express it without resorting to personal abuse, ad hominens, sexist put-downs, irrelevancies and red herrings, and tired cliches about inner-city elites et al. Actually I believe it’s quite possible to disagree and express why one disagrees with Elizabeth civilly. Strange concept I know for the likes of you.
When people are incapable of disagreeing and debating civilly and rather resort to verbal abuse from the safety of their keyboards as far as I’m concerned all bets are off and they’re fair-game for responses in kind. and that includes you deary! (See what I did there?)
Scratch the “progressive” veneer off a Green and you have the same old nasty class privilige. How petty do you have to be to “shame” a working man just doing his job, probably for not that much pay and with a jerk of a boss. This is a WORKING city Ms Farrelly, people have to bend rules to make the place function and the last thing they need is a purse-lipped journalist dobbing them in like a Kulak.
I note that you couldn’t make your objection known to the man without phrasing it in a passive-aggressive manner, very telling.
Show some respect for this city, please.
The trucks are often unmarked because they are continually re painted owing to being covered in graffitti on a daily basis.
Keep in mind that what we have here is a professional from one of the wealthiest areas of the country admonishing a working class man for not conforming to her expected social mores, and mildly inconveniencing her leisure while he’s in the pursuit of a few dollars to feed his family.
A perfect illustration of the greed and self-entitlement unleashed on this country by John Howard and his neoliberal ideology. I don’t know why people complain about fairfax lacking conservative writers because we have a prime example right here.
Please, she’s not a conservative, she’s a Green supporter. And an unreconstructed pompous prat to boot. The difference between a conservative and Farelly’s arsehattery is that a conservative thinks individuals a capable of making their own choices in life and Greens think that they should be telling us what to do and that they know best.
Hence we have a Green philosophy that says no to roads and people and high rise development and cars and coal powered fire stations and nuclear and big business, and cars and 4wds and other bogan activities. And yes to refugees (just not in their neighbourhoods – you know, people, high rise and roads and all that), and windmills on other peoples land, but not their beach front and trips to Prague and Paris (they buy carbon offsets don’t you know).
The Greens – arrogant, bullying fantasists.
Wow. Australia is so backwards and behind the rest of the world. I can’t believe we are even having this debate against cycling. It’s here to stay, so adapt, you aggressive, selfish, homicidal drivers. It’s healthier, better for the environment, and reduces traffic. How would this truck driver (and all the rest of you making negative comments) feel if a bike decided to park in the middle of the road, completely blocking you from driving past? and then refused to move?
Why is it considered OK to block the progress of bikes, but not pedestrians or cars? Why are people so aggressive towards cyclists, whether they are on the road or a shared pavement? It’s like they don’t belong anywhere and people would just prefer that they do not exist. They have every right to be on the road.
It has got to be the only place in the world where people actually aggressively fight against cyclists. It’s ridiculous. It’s times like these that make me miss Amsterdam so much.
how would you like delivering a mattress on a bike?
Seen it done in Copenhagen, along with cupboards, chairs et al. I was there only last week in fact.
Well i’m glad that you have the income to be able to afford to admit such egregious amounts of carbon, but if you look at the pictures this dude had many mattresses in the back, and this was just one of a number of deliveries.
i’m glad you had an enlightening time in Copenhagen but please spare us this tut-tutting of truck drivers from a person evidently well committed to the climate holocaust of international air travel
honestly, the hypocrisy
Mate, I said nothing about climate change. I was referring to the the small matter that petroleum is finite. Easy mistake to make when you stumble out of the gates in your haste to form an argument.
Also, you might notice that I haven’t criticised the truck-driver doing his job. Instead my comments have been directed primarily at incorrect statements concerning the law, the rights of cyclists versus motorists and generally ridiculing the more idiotic remarks here for my amusement.
As to the rest of it. Really you no nothing about me. Par for the course I guess for someone who has managed to falsely accuse me of two arguments that I haven’t made. I’ve not defended Elizabeth’s stance on the delivery guy. I’m an Australian, grew up in Western Sydney and come from a strong working-class background. I’m now married to a Norwegian and happen to live in Norway. I travelled to Copenhagen by train, which is possible (go to sj.se for more info). I rarely return to Australia nowadays, buy local where possible, I don’t drive a car and I live in a small 60 square metre flat so I believe that my contribution to climate change, while still too large, is still fairly small.
I’m also about as pro-worker and left-wing and I’m a signed up member of the local communist (Rødt) party and a union member.
honestly, the stupidity
The comment was facetious. I wasn’t advocating that said delivery guy actually mattresses by bicycle.
I have actually taken a mattress home on a bike (in Amsterdam). Though that is not the point, or what I was suggesting that the truck driver do. I think he should park where he should be parking, on the side of the road in a designated parking space, instead of illegally in a bike lane.
In all probability there wasn’t a parking space or loading bay nearby that the driver could use. I’ve never delivered furniture for a living but I assume doing so in an inner-city area is very difficult. The driver was probably under pressure from his boss to get things delivered on time, and also from customers who might be the type to scream blue murder if their delivery is running late because the furniture guy is trying to find a park.
In my opinion EF’s reaction to what was a minor inconveniece was a bit selfish. Some patience and understanding goes a long way in the big smoke.
As Julia would say “what a lot of hyper-bowl”.
How do you suggest the matress should be delivered?
On a bike?
Every single one of the bikes at my local bike shop was delivered by a truck. They were not wheeled from the factory.
By your new definitions:
“Aggressive” = Phrases such as “I can’t stop the traffic”, “I haven’t got time. I got work to do.” and “Ya got any complaints, tell Clover Moore. She’s such an educated woman.”
“Selfish” = Working a hard job with long hours, for not much pay, so you can keep food on the table for your family.
“Homocidal” = Anyone daring to argue with a cyclist.
And this one was the best: “How would this truck driver feel if a bike decided to park in the middle of the road, completely blocking you from driving past?”
The difference: A cyclist who does such a stupid thing is risking serious injury or death as a result. As a conveyance, bikes have many benefits. In the face of multi-tonne missiles on four wheels however they make a poor life-saving device. This was the truckies point anyway – he had a safety choice to make – block the four-wheeled missiles so a few cyclists wouldn’t have to hop off and walk their bikes for a few metres, or block the bicycle lane. What did you expect him to do?
Aggressive/Homicidal: Car drivers regularly trying to kill/intimidate me on the road that I am legally entitled to ride on and getting disproportionately angry about people’s legitimate choice to ride bicycles in Sydney.
Selfish: Car drivers who are unwilling to share the road, thinking they have absolute rights to the road to the detriment of cyclists’ rights, and that cyclists should just not exist.
Aggressive/Homicidal: Bicycle riders regularly trying to kill/intimidate me on the shared pathway that I am legally entitled to walk on and getting disproportionately angry about people’s legitimate choice to walk in Sydney.
Selfish: Bicycle riders who are unwilling to share the shared pathway, thinking they have absolute rights to the shared pathway to the detriment of pedestrians rights, and that pedestrians should just not exist.
i.e. bicycle riders are hypocrits.
How is Islamsterdam these days? are women still allowed to drive? Must be hard riding a bike in a burka..
That’s it. You tell em love.
Of course you could have taken a totally different course of action by walking around and being nice to the guy instead if whinging.
Gee Elizabeth I hope when you move into your shiny new inner city apartment that you are looking for that you are willing to pay the removalists a few hundreds or dollars extra so they can park legally and walk your worldly possesions that few extra hundred metres into that new apartment with the bike lane out front. PS I love riding bikes too.
Being a bike rider myself, I’m fairly sure a quick head check would have prevented being hit from behind, while you took a half second detour around the rear of the truck.
Instead you get involved in a dispute in the middle of the street, start taking photographs like some spoilt teenager, then have the self obsessed, “Gen I” gall to publish them on the intertubes?
Seriously, getting involved in road rage incidents of this type is a really good plan if you want to end up in the emergency ward, or getting charged with assault.
Ok. So he was parked over the bike lane. Ok, so you had to go around him. The point you are missing is that he had a delivery to make and had no “safe” place to stop. He chose the lesser inconvenience of blocking the bike path (forcing bikes to go around him) over blocking the road (forcing cars into oncoming traffic or blocking the road entirely). His only option was to not deliver the mattress. Imagine that it was your delivery…. Would you have preferred the shop to say “sorry, we can’t make delivery’s as we have no place to park. You’ll need to arrange your own transport”? Or you get the phone call “Your delivery is here. Well, actually it’s at a loading zone about 2kms down the road. We’ll leave it here for you, ok?”
Give and take. Swings and roundabouts. I drive a car, I ride a motorcycle, not convenient to ride a push bike. And yes, car drivers have tried to run me off the road because they don’t use mirrors. And yes, push bike riders have run red lights on me. Hate the player……
What an incredibly stupid woman. Get on your bike and leave Sydney, we will be all better off.
This lady does the cycling fraternity no credit. Everybody has a right to use the public roads; that’s why they’re called “public”. In using those roads a little give-and-take is essential. The delivery driver “took” some extra space for a short period to deliver a very large, heavy object. Farrelly should have “given” a little consideration, understanding and courtesy, and just walked around the vehicle. Cost: 30 seconds. Result: No hissy-fit, no agro for either Farrelly or hapless driver. Both go about their duties. Instead Farrelly chose to verbal the driver (what kind of response did she expect, one wonders) then use her power of the media to write a childish, inane comment. Thankfully, most cyclists have substantially more courtesy and better manners than Farrelly.
Thank you – more Cyclists/motorists with this kind of attitude would make life so much easier and more pleasant.
Such intolerance for a fellow human.
If you saw him struggling alone with a big mattress why did you not offer to help instead of publishing his rego plate in an attempt to get him fired.
You seem proud to state that you are a left leaning person. Yet you show no tolerance to someone struggling while making their living.
Thanks for your wonderful article, ‘Bike haters parked in the Jurassic’ in today’s Herald. I particularly loved your comments around ‘smiling and saying thank you’ on a bike.
BikeWise deliver ‘city cycling’ for City of Sydney, North Sydney and other neighbouring councils. ‘Gracious cycling’ is at the heart of what we teach. We believe that it’s an integral thread to effective on road cycling. Being gracious is as much about being in control with a clear head space as it is about being ‘nice’ to other road users. We teach people how to negotiate for space on the road, how to encourage/persuade good behaviour from other road users and how to be a great ambassador on the bike. People come away from the course feeling really enlightened about the road. We think we change the way people see and interact with the traffic by putting them on the front foot with ‘graciousness’.
If you were ever keen to see if for yourself, you are able to sign up for free on the City of Sydney cycling website here: http://sydneycycleways.net/courses
Best wishes,
Patrick
Patrick Jones
Director – BikeWise
Isn’t it an offence to use a carriage service to menace? You may well be charged with a crime for this post.
Oh you poor little suffering Doctor princess pet – you had to get off your stupid pushbike because a ‘male’ was busting his gut by himself trying to earn living – get over your stupid shallow self, wankers like you with your absolutely useless degrees and doctorates wouldn’t work in an iron lung, you have NO idea of the average Australian’s struggles and obviously you couldn’t care less.
Shove your bike where you sit on it wanker.
Super – a Communist? Like Mao or Stalin? Nice. I find it kind of funny that Communists and Greens are always going on about the evils of Capitalism and the USA and consumption et cetera and they’re always doing it while they’re on their way to somewhere else ( what are the odds that Farrelly fly’s economy?), or buying a Pravda, sorry Prada handbag.
They live in million dollar homes (just ask Our host) and sneer at bogans who live in McMansions. They love Arts Grants, but think only the elite should get a say in where the money is spent (people’s choice awards, please, how common).
If we were giving out prizes to ideologies based on how much human misery they had caused. Who would win?
No I’m more of an Anarcho-Syndicalist actually. I used ‘communist’ merely as a shorthand knowing that few would know what an Anarcho-Syndicalist is but perhaps I should’ve been mindful of the misconceptions and baggage that comes with the word ‘Communist’. In short I don’t have much time for authoritarianism in any form; be it corporatist or excessively statist and I believe that our delivery guy here along with his co-workers should ultimately collectively own the means of production rather than be subjected to wage slavery. Anyway thanks for playing Peter.
So you believe that power corrupts. And you don’t see Elizabeth’s abuse of power here and in many of other articles?
Funny, I had you pegged as some sort of industrial lawyer for a union and not someone who actually gets his hands dirty. That 60 sqm of yours I thought would be $1000 Euros a week studio in an arty part of Oslo.
Goes to show, you never can tell.
Fair enough, so he can park where he likes then.
Keep up the good work. ABC may soon have a spot for you on the Drumstick whwere “useful idiots” are more than welcome.
Before the ANU spokesman corrects I meant WHERE.
We have awarded you the CRETIN OF THE WEEK.
Wear it with pride!
PS Onya bike!
The royal we I presume?
My God, you are precious. Get over yourself already dear!
Why only call medical types “doctor”? They don’t have a doctorate. They have two bachelor degrees.
I feel so sorry for your plight. While I am desperately trying to find vaccines for my child in a lawless part of Mali wracked by civil disturbance, trying to shield my family from attacks by religious fanatics and walking one kilometre for water each day in this remote part of the country, I recognise your much greater suffering and encourage you not to be distracted by my plight.
It’s awesome you have access to the internet in such a turbulant part of the word! And even more awesome that you took time out of your day to make such a insightful contribution to a personal blog.
I’ll give it to you Ms Farrelly, you’re letting most of the negative comments get through. Most Greens, IMHO, have glass jaws and would have shut up shop by now.
No doubt there will be an article in here for you somewhere – something about the great unwashed, the evil right, people who live in places with charcoal chicken shops, et cetera.
Can’t wait to read it. By the way – from 3 comments to close to 100 with one article! It must be satisfying knowing so many people are now enjoying your erudition.
how do you know that?
I ride my bike to work in Brisbane. This sort of situation is far from uncommon. But I’m confused, why did you have to stop and walk your bike? Couldn’t you just slow down, look over your shoulder (or get a mirror, I love my mirror), signal to your right and temporarily use the traffic lane? Afterall, you’re entitled to do so.
I’m not sure where else a removal truck is meant to park, so I think you picked the wrong battle. The gaggle of velocops would’ve been a better target, as they were setting a poor example of sharing the bikeway and safety.
The poor deary couldn’t ride around! That might mean going into the actual traffic, and the frail old dear couldn’t do that, could be dangerous. Farrelly is the most odious, pompous tosspot in the Fairfax stable, a really snooty, stuck-up greenie. She’s everything that’s wrong with those papers these days.
I’m emotionally labile (read: hungover), but the viciousness of this thread is so bleak. So depressing. So Australian.
I’m tearing up at work.
The comments or the article? Hmmm, ‘labile’, sounds like something a health care professional might use…in the head space area…
Drunk at work, so Australian. Whoops, I didn’t mean that. That would be nasty. Irony much?
*sigh* I miss living in Europe. Australians are so backwards.
Oath.
Get over yourself Ruby. This is not about cycling or hair shirts. It’s about a self important prat to stuck up to ride around a
Delivery truck.
You’re permitted to use your work email to issue personal abuse? Peter, I do hope you’re not representative of a broadly-held attitude by the Victorian Police towards citizens who happen to ride bicycles.
No. I was at home today. The posts were from my .hotmail address. Auto fill? Mod, why is there an email address attached here? I can some grief coming!
What a snobbish person!! Education does not automatically imply any class! So in your view, the truckie should have humped the mattress a block or two so you would not be late for your latte!!! What a crock.
“Education does not automatically imply any class!”
Not according to Marx and his delusional sycophants.
I can’t stand Andrew Bolt, Tim Blair is even worse, but on this occasion, I think they’re right. Personally I feel sorry for the working stiff, not for your momentary inconvenience.
It’s just a same that they’re evidently incapable of arguing what might be a sound point cogently because there is in fact a good argument, which you allude to, that can be made against Elizabeth’s post here – an argument that renders all the frothing, cliched personal abuse unnecessary.
The question is Elizabeth, what if it was your mattress being delivered and you were informed about all the costs you’d have to bear to do things urbanly appropriately and absolutely by the book-
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Business/TrafficManagement/TemporaryFullRoadClosure.asp
Can I politely suggest somewhat Moore than a ‘Hrmph’?
Wow ::chuckles:: that went well, didnt it? Actually, delivery trucks may block lanes, traffic and pathways during a delivery, just as you are entitled to use the traffic lane in these circumstances.
It’s easy to understand why Fairfax posted such dreadful results today because this article just sums it all up…….elitist, arrogant, out of touch, superior, zealous, socialist, the list goes on. All the hardworking Australians like this fellow are sick of being ridiculed and scoffed at. What’s with posting the rego number of this man? Isn’t that a breach of privacy in a personal vendetta?
Elitist and socialist? That’s quite the combo. And no, it’s not a breach of privacy, have a look at the National Privacy Principles and ponder how little a right you actually have to this elusive ‘privacy’.
Sorry Doc you are just too precious and giving this fella a hard time while he is just trying to do a heavy job is just rude on your part. Surely there needs to be a bit of give and take on all sides particuarly when a truck driver is just doing his job lifting a heavy matress and driving around the CBD in a trick can be difficult and stressful especially with lots of bike riders around. So you had to get off your bike for 20 seconds to get around a truck who was temporarily parked in your lane inconveniencing one or maybe 2 cyclists instead of many motorists and his health. Why not whinge at your Clover who has failed to adequately provide enough loading zones for people to do their job safely? You may not like trucks and their gruff attitude to people who annoyingly whinge at them doing their best to ruin their day but where would you and the rest of us be without trucks? They can be a pain but they are a necessary pain. And we have all got to be a little patient and understanding to our fellow road users particularly those with the more difficult jobs around the CBD. Oh yeah – you Cyclists want to be treated as equals on the roads? Pay rego.
So, where would you have him park, you old commie bat?
“Merrylands (where?)”
The big brained “academic” is unaware of the suburb’s location? No, it’s just an opportunity for an insular, inner city leftist to showcase her superciliousness and breathtaking hypocrisy. Merrylands is but one of the many (once fine) suburbs that comprise the South Western area of Sydney, an area that has become the dumping ground for the failed experiment of Multiculturalism, foisted upon us by Marxist addlepates like Ms Farrelly.
“Progressives” sneer at the mess they create from a very safe distance while berating, from high atop their moral pulpit, the people who bear it’s misery but woe betide the person who causes them the slightest inconvenience. It’s only natural, I guess, when one is completely intoxicated by their own virtue to be utterly incapable of even the tiniest shred of humility.
What Edward said! Excellent post, thank you Edward.
But not just any big brained academic (who doesn’t know where the suburb is), a big brained academic with a PhD in ‘urbanism’ no less.
Brilliantly said Edward.
Educated: spent a long time at school.
Intelligent: possesses an advanced intellect.
Can you guess which one applies to Professor Urban here?
Oh Elizabeth,
Give and take.
I’ve been on both extremes.
Take it as it comes and hope for a peaceful outcome.
I’ve lost jobs because of stickler ‘bikers’ and stickler ‘truckies’.
I do think town planning is important and reducing pollution is important.
Sounds like an episode of of hysterical woman syndrome to me. Drink plenty of water and try some light exercise, such as bike riding.
Nice to see sexism rearing its dirty head. Why don’t you crawl back into the 1800s ‘Patriot’?
Not sure what a phd in urbanism is all about but, if it leaves one ill prepared to deal with a typical urban encounter I would doubt its worth.
Crickey! People need to relax a bit. Getting back to the biking issue rather than this overreaction to EF’s throw away line about Merrylands.
I’ve just returned from Spain, where bike lines abound but there isn’t this hard nosed intransigence so evident here, from either the cyclists or pedestrians. Cyclists don’t always use the assigned lanes, pedestrians sometimes walk on them but i didn’t see any of the usual animosity particularly common in Sydney. I hold myself as much to blame in this regard as the next cyclist, but Barcelona has taught me a thing or two about a live and let live approach, for which I am grateful. Hope it lasts. Frankly, I think the trick there was that everyone was pleasantly drunk, which is a whole other topic.
it’s just plain mean to do this to the delivery guy, try a little give and take, a bit of human kindness, btw supermundane is what is known as a troll, he / she is having a lot of fun posting flames, it’s fun but a little bit pathetic to get your jollies in baiting people. I don’t see this as a debate cars v cyclists, but a sad attempt to bully the truck guy by posting his number plate,shame on you.
I think ms farrelly was just pointing out a minor run in that showed the pretty typical indifference and negativity towards cyclists (and pedestrians too) that you really do see everyday in this city. Reading the above comments and the crazed anger out towards anyone whos not in car there doesn’t exactly give drivers a better name. Just sayin.
Well, as someone who despairs that inner city suburbs are full of the likes of you-good on you for standing up for what you believe in. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t revolve around you on a bike. Sometimes things do need to be delivered (and sadly, if bike lanes need to be blocked they have to be- better than blocking a road-see, you can get off and wheel it). You will get lots of posts because of the likes of Tim blair- but honestly, get some perspective! And if you don’t know where Merrylands is, stop spending so much time on your smartphone
A couple of points I think are worth noting:
1. He’s a delivery guy, wrestling with a mattress by himself. Even if he hates bike lanes, I’m betting he parks as close to his destination as possible, to minimize the mattress-lugging distance.
If the bike lane’s as close as he could get, so be it. If he could’ve been all the way up the driveway, I’m sure he would have.
Both you and he were inconvenienced – only he moreso, judging by your response.
2. If I’m driving and there’s an obstruction blocking the road ahead of me, I’ll slow down, do a mirror check, a head check, and then go around it. If there’s no one around, yes, that might take me into another lane, or even a bike lane.
You had the option to check if the road was clear, wait for it to clear if it wasn’t, and then ride the 2 metres into the road and around the truck.
You decided instead to stop and berate the delivery guy, and take a photo of his registration. Why did you choose that option? Did you ride around the truck afterward?
Doesn’t seem like you were in much of a hurry.
Oh, and Elizabeth? When you’re not safely stashed away in your Darling Point apartment-you might realise that your head is in the clouds. The problem with inner city suburbs is solely because of the like of you. You want everything your own way but you contribute nothing apart from nebulous blogs and constant whinging. They were so much better suburbs before the like of you moved in there, Elizabeth- you deserve all the hatred that the Tim Blair blog has thrown your way, You – and you alone, are what’s wrong with inner city Sydney suburbs
How do you know the author lives in Darling Pt? How do you know she doesn’t contribute, as you say, to inner city suburbs? How do you know she is responsible for all the city’s (relatively minor) ills?
I believe she lives near me, not saying where but it isn’t the pointy end of the E.Subs. She does contribute significantly to intellectual debate and ideas. And she is not the She Satan as your last accusation implied.
Just as the poor truck driver who also contributes much to scociety is not the ‘He Satan’ Elizabeth makes him out to be.
Has anyone suggested menopause as a possible explanation for this behaviour? And I’m not referring to the poor old driver.
No not menopause, paused men was the problem.
She doesnt make him out to be any such thing – she merely says he was parked illegally and she called him on it!
It’s “doesn’t”. I hope that helps, after all one good turn deserves another.
Well that went well Liz.
You will have this one thrown in your face forever.
LOL
Shudder to think, but some people even ride on roads without bike lanes! How do they do it?
What’s this about Tim Blair Elizabeth ?
I’ll go check it out.
Wait for me.
Shit Liz,
It’s fkn The Zombie Land Blog!
You crazy or what.
PLywood and corrugated Iron Liz.
Oh and chainsaws if you’ve got two stroke.
I’ll round up a possie but there is no way we gonna be able to beat them.
They breed.
I have no idea what you are saying.
Don’t worry Andrew, neither does he!
Thanks Mark.
Grow a cerebellum.
Andrew M,
The TB Blog and some others largely cater to the braindead, zombies as some call them.
They use some big words and get them wrong as well (eschatology etc). Still we are catering for a reading age of 12 – 14 or has it increased?
My comment above was jocular and an aimed barb at the level of journalism from TB and his cohort Andrew Bolt.
mmm.. didnt quite hit the mark did it dino, never mind try again later..
Jon Crow,
Got a response from you.
But it didn’t hit hit the mark ?
Better luck…
That article was just mean and spiteful. I hope that after reflection you make an effort to find that working man and apologise.
The smartest people I know are uneducated, at least not highly educated or credentialed. None of them live in the city. The drivers response deserves some coverage. “Tell Clover, she’s an educated woman”. What a wonderful sledge. He could have said “Get Fkd” but his subtle response is a credit to him.
I or any of my mates, male or female, would have got off their bike and offered a hand. Why? Because the bloke was blocking traffic, pedal lane, driving lane, it’s of no consequence. The job had to be done. Best to knock it over as quickly as possible and clear the path for all. Yet Dr Farelly chose to make a deal of it and use her privilege of having a media voice to belt a bloke on wages, much inferior to hers I’d suggest, and be spiteful enough to publish pictures etc. Ever tried to hump a mattress? Their bloody heavy!
It is a pain when you’re trying to get from A to B as quickly as possible to be interrupted so I do understand where Dr Farrelly’s coming from but as a Doctor of Urbanism one would think she’d be better equipped to deal with inner city supply chain issues and perhaps could of come out in support of the driver and lobby government for an inadequate parking system that made him block the path in the first instance? Just saying.
I think this elite city ‘me’ attitude is really poisonous and cuts into a whole heap of issues. Suggest a trip to the country and get a grip on how a community helps and supports each other. I’d also be interested reading Doctor Farelly’s updated views after reading these comments.
It’s ‘they’re’
Even for a self-professed fan of non-education, that’s embarrassing.
Really, “hesfb” ?
Is that all you’ve got?
That’s just miserable.
I bet there would be no problem if that mattress had been for Farrelly.
I’ve come late to this posting, but thoroughly enjoyed the ranting ignorance. The fact that nearly all comments have completely missed the point is testament to the fact that too many don’t bother reading.. carefully.
I believe the point to the posting was not that he had blocked the bikeway (which by the look of the pics might have been avoided had he just driven a little further up the driveway) but that our learned friend could only provide an insult in retort. And he used “education” as an insult. I suspect that if he had responded with “sorry, wont’ be a moment”… nothing would have come of the incident. So much for manners.
If she hadn’t said “Nice place to park” in what was most probably a sneering tone of voice going by the feel of this and other articles she has written, then he would not have had to reply and would have calmly gone about earning a living.
The fact that she acted like a self-important teenager that has been inconvenienced and took the time to take photos and post them on the internet shows her to be immature and a snob. She implies that she hasn’t got time and has work to do yet takes more time to walk all around the truck taking pictures.
As others have noted, it is very funny how so many left-leaning progressives have so little empathy for their fellow man…….unless of course they think like them or are the less-fortunate……from another country……..and don’t live in their suburb.
Let them eat cake…
Back of JACK,
Get your own copyright!
Sorry Liz, you are an absolute wanker. I suppose you would have preferred it if he moved the truck out of the way so you could get passed then moved it back to unload? You have got no idea about people that have to earn a quid do you!! I feel quite ill about dickweeds like you.
So it’s only about ‘me’ isn’t it Liz.
“That’s ‘educated’ used as an insult. Only in Australia.”
True, but please don’t be under any illusions. Europeans would consider you a pestiferous little idiot as well. No one with sense and compassion acts like you do.
Well, speaking as a European, I don’t consider her either pestiferous or an idiot.
What goes through my mind, as I read this trail of comments, is the poor behaviour of the majority involved and their apparent lack of any ability to reason. It all seems to be pure tribalism, characterised by unreasoned responses to apparent slights, and with some of the posters seemingly enjoying not the debate (such as it is) but the hysterical reaction they generate.
There are many people commenting from a standpoint of near-complete ignorance; not only that, they appear happy to jump from mistake of fact to unsupported conclusion. Woeful.
There is a lot of bluster in your response but no actual content. So let me give you some. Here are just a few reasons why she’s acting less than honorably:
1. She needlessly created confrontation. Her passive aggressive “nice place to park” set the tone for a confrontation. There are MANY other ways to approach a total stranger that aren’t aggressive and sarcastic. And they usually have a better outcome.
2. She shows zero empathy for his situation. Indeed, in the original blog post, she makes no mention of whether there were other places to park nearby. And yet, this information is critical to knowing his degree of wrongdoing. If there was a loading zone 10 metres away, he is in the wrong. If there is nowhere close by to park except the largely unused bike lane, he is not in the wrong. He had to deliver, and if there was nowhere nearby, he actually acted correctly by minimizing disruption. She appears not to understand this.
3. She uses a public platform to try and get him in trouble with her mob, violating his reasonable expectation to privacy. He didn’t assault her, swear at her, damage her property, or do anything untoward. He simply parked across a bike lane. Indeed, she was willing to let the matter rest after her sarcastic, passive aggressive comment, but got incensed that he responded. So – follow the logic – she posted this NOT because he blocked the bike lane (she was willing to let it go), but because he didn’t kowtow to her view of the situation.
In other words, she picked the fight and lost, and like a nasty, impotent little coward, she tried to get him back. And it backfired on her.
Surely the above is obvious to you? She has not been abused out the blue, but has instead been responded to in kind. She has then chosen to whine about it in her newspaper column, trying to link it with other “grand narratives” and come out a victim. It’s what you expect from a child, not a responsible, intelligent, empathetic citizen.
That enough reason for you?
Get a life darling.
Oh…the horror!!! Having to go around a delivery truck blocking the bike path for a few moments. This may be the poster moment for what I call a “First World Problem”. On the scale of problems and difficulties, this does not even register as a minor inconvenience. We should all be so lucky.
Seems to me that it is less the particular incident that we should be concerned about, but the general attitude it signifies.
The delivery driver seems content to obey only some of the rules, which might be true of many of us, but which rules to obey? Who decides? And if I choose to ignore rules that I find inconvenient and, in so doing inconvenience you, will you object?
I’ll not bother going through the logic, because either you can figure it out yourself, or it will be over your head, or you are simply not amenable to reasoned argument.
That depends, Mark. It’s a little like Lying. We tell our kids that lying is wrong. Except that sometimes its not – you know, in those social situations where telling the truth might cause more harm than good.
Most of us would know that parking across a bike lane is illegal. Ŵe shouldn’t do it. Most of us would also realise that in this particular case a little white lie probably causes the least harm – how practical is it to park on the road, around the corner, two miles away in order to affect the delivery?
I actually thought the driver’s comment was quite clever. A witty, pointed comment on the difficulties of managing the social and economic tensions of a modern, working city. How does an educated women manage to balance all these conflicting needs and wants?
The reaction to Elizabeth’s article has not been about bikes and trucks and riders and drivers and workers. It has been a reaction to her conceit and her rudeness. She could have said what she wanted to say in a different way. She chose not to.
A fair and reasoned reply. Thanks for that.
I don’t necessarily agree with your conclusion, but at the same time I can’t say it is wrong. So I’ll leave it there…
Just to add a bit of balance (not particularly related to this post but anyway):
You’re an exceedingly good writer (as your awards cabinet probably reminds you), and one of the most informative (not to mention enjoyable to read) public voices in Australia. Keep up the good work!
If I am not mistaken, the truck Ms Farrelly refers to is not the same one as the one from Merrylands which ran a red light.
To be fair, the hapless mattress delivery chap had a reasonable point in that, this city really is a nightmare for parking but I’m not sure it can be pinned on Clover.
All I can say about bike riders is that I employed a visiting German backpacker for 9 months last year and when offering him the keys to my car to make a few deliveries, he threw his hands up in horror and stated he had never ever been so terrified of car drivers despite having driven on the Autobahns.
Those who ride bikes in this town are terribly brave and need that little extra space they have at the side of the road. Don’t blame them, put the blame on those buggers from 100 years ago who gave us these narrow streets.
Live and let live. It works.
Hi Liz
This is in response to your piece in today’s Herald.[30.08.12]
I am sorry you had to endure the Blair haters. Look Elizabeth, in my experience there are a whole lot of people out there that have the social conscience of a street dog, even worst they are so involved in their little suburban life and being righteous of their way of life that any other notion, or view, must simply be wrong.
Not only that, but “the other side” is totally responsible for all the evil that exists today. These people really haven’t got a clue what new ideas, way of living or directions are really all about. They are stuck in their own little enclave of rigid thinking and limited life experience.
Problem is, especially in today’s media controlled Australia, this enclave is becoming the norm. People power Ms. Farrelly, never heard of that one ?
History is full of it, just imagine this lot being led by politicians ruthless enough to cash in on this trend.
I tell you the sad thing about all this. Here you have Tim Blair, your mate Miranda and their brand of journalists, or lets be honest here, opinion makers.
That these people, who have your education Liz and are certainly capable of seeing the big picture, are putting out the crap they do, in full knowledge that they resonate with the great unwashed, is the biggest disgrace of it all.
I liken them to sell the punter a great looking used car in the full knowledge that it is a lemon, just to make a sale for that is your occupation.
Word of advice Ms. Farrelly
Get out of the blogging game. It all started of well but by now is being misused by people that find screaming at the neighbour across the fence boring, so they hit the internet.
It is sad that it went this way but by my observation blogging is only good when you have had too may drinks and are ready for a laugh.
Rainer the cabbie,
Do you really think your view of “the other side” (presumably, anyone who doesn’t agree with your “new ideas, way of living or directions are really all about”) is accurate portrait of the diversity of non-Left opinion in society? You also say:
“Not only that, but “the other side” is totally responsible for all the evil that exists today.”
If you think about the kind of evil that exists, ranging from far left totalitarianism and murder in China, through to far right war mongers, through to Islamic women who cut their child’s genitals, through to Pakistani women who arrange marriages to old horrible men, through to the incredible evil of the Left wing, well intentioned but hopelessly naive pacifist placating of evil people (now and throughout history), through to Labor, left wing narcissists foreseeably drowning boat people with weak laws, through to African militias hungry for power, do you really think that “the other side is responsible for ALL the evil that exists today”?
Or is possible you haven’t thought things through very well, or experience much of life?
Sorry Andrew, sometimes being a migrant with English as a second language gets in the way.
If you reread my comment, the sentence ” Not only that, but “the other side” is totally responsible for all the evil that exists today.” should have been attributed to the mindset of your average suburban conservative, your Tele devotee and blinkers on both eyes individual.
Thank you for giving me a chance to correct my mistake.
As to your rave about what is wrong in this world, fair enough, it certainly is a big planet.
I was referring to the right wing propaganda machine set in motion since the election of the Labor Party and how they convinced the punters that we live in a far left/Green controlled society, with Stalinist tendencies.
Nothing could be further from the truth, we have a working government that is trying to introduce new ideas, some good, some bad, but certainly better than anything we saw in the Howard years. Restoring a balance comes to mind.
P.S My life experience, the things I saw and lived through do outweigh your pampered suburbanite who seems to have an entitlement attitude and is not broadminded enough to have the decency to put themselves in someone else’s shoes.
Well said, Rainer the Cabbie. Hear hear.
G’day Elizabeth,
Firstly, I’m on your side. Secondly, as someone who rarely comments on forums other than my own, the web is turning into a world of powerless people trying to feel as though they are powerful by commenting with anonymity. First 2 rules of any blog.
1. Accept all and any comments, no matter how derogatory
2. But set it up and moderate it so the comment is accepted only if the commenter leaves their full name and contact details..
No.2: tends to weed out most of No.1. Best wishes from a minor fan. Please keep up your contributions to the SMH and intelligent comment generally.
Well said Steve.
I saw your piece in the SMH and came here to comment. It happens that just this past weekend I was explaining to my son the well-known expression my dad used to use: “illegitimi non carborundum”. And I recommend it to you, Elizabeth. Let them vent their spleen, keep writing, and don’t let them grind you down.
I lived in the UK for 7 years before returning to Oz a few years ago. Have cycled Enmore to the city years ago, and a couple of thousand kms to and around London. Coming back to Oz and getting on a bike again here is a shock – at how deliberately aggressive drivers are here toward cyclists. In the UK there were the fair share of fools who weren’t watching, but I don’t recall ever being swerved at or abused. In fact, more often than not I found that traffic would hold back for a safe place to pass when cycling (as fast as possible) along a narrow English road. Good on you Elizabeth for taking yourself out on two wheels; no-one ought to have to put up with the abuse or physical intimidation. I love having back here to live, but I despair at some of the things that seem to have happened to the Australian character.
“Nice place to Park” So maybe you weren’t being rude, but most people I know can spot facetious a mile away. I’m not sure you got the reaction you thought you deserved, but you got the reaction you should have expected.
And the anonymous truck? Sure it was. Until you posted a picture of it’s registration and told us where the delivery was from, the store and the suburb. You managed to slip in a shot at an entire suburb and, by extension, the people who live there.
So what have you learned? Not much by the look of it. You are clever, Liz, I’ve said that here before. But you are also pretty mean. And other things.
So, how do you call a pompous prat a pompous prat in a nice way? Maybe I should look at Deveny for advice. Or Behrendt. Or…
Honestly, this whole bike-lane argument is getting so boring.
Read the RTAs report on how Clover’s bike lanes have done next to nothing to add to traffic congestion and how they are in the right spot. Use them to see how population they are.
#TheVillageIdiot – you can call me Doctor, because I’m a “real one” and support the health benefits of cycling lanes. And the reduced particulate pollution (= increased lung cancer risk), noise pollution and maintenance costs.
Elizabeth, you are right that only in Australia is “educated” an insult. The rest of the world is busy getting on with evolving. Not conservative Australia. The rest of the world’s great cities are getting on with bike lanes and council-provided bike programs, such as Paris and London. Yet Clover fights ignorance and agendas.
I think part of the problem is that the Australian male conflates his car with his sexuality. Why else spend 60 000 on something that 20 000 would achieve the exact same job (A to B)? Threaten his car and you threaten his, well you get the point. Thus this argument has nothing to do with rationality, but identity.
Cue insults about being an intellectual….
You, an intellectual? With all those generalisations in there, unsubstantiated arguments, conjecture and personal opinion, you had me thinking you were the exact opposite of an intellectual. Perhaps you are confusing being “from Europe” with intelligence?
it’s not cool to attack the man; address the subject instead. It wasn’t the best comment from ‘Mark’ (not me – some other guy), but it didn’t deserve that sort response.
Ok. Your comment was full of generalisations and stereotypes. Sorry about the from Europe bit. Some men like cars. Some are even from Australia. For some it might even be about there you know…Is that steroeeotyping? And why spend $20000 when you could spend $3000 (or less). Why buy a smart phone when you could buy a, well, dumb one?
Why be facetious (nice place to park), post his number plate, place of business and a sneering shot at Merrylands?
Do you really think all this angst is about bikes and bike lanes, drivers and riders?
Completely agree Peter. The Merrylands slight and publishing his license plate moved the article from making a possible point about urban congestion, into a sneering aside on anyone unfortunate enough to not be of EF’s elite tribe.
Also, I have lived and worked in the Middle East and can assure Dr. Farrelly that her “only in Australia” remark about educated woman being an insult is a very, very long way from reality. But that truth wouldn’t be convenient would it?
Peter – Intellectuals don’t have personal opinions?
Generalisations? There was only one, and I clearly flagged it as opinion. RTA report is neither an unsubstantiated argument, conjecture or personal opinion. Lung cancer rates increase the closer you live to a main road. Not my opinion, but a published study. Diesel fumes increase risk of lung Cancer (affecting, ironically enough, truck drivers the most).
Yes, there’s more to these comments than bikes vs cars, but the agro provoked any time an article is posted about bikes is astounding and frustrates me. And I don’t conflate Europe with intelligence. I merely made the point that this argument was put to bed a long time ago in Paris and London. Does that make Sydney behind? Probably. And many of us just don’t understand why it’s such an issue here. It’s certainly not rational. I personally think identity has something to do with it. Pardon me for not expanding the nuances of that in the limited space I had.
OK. Just got my Marks sorted. There are so many Peters and Marks here. A pretty big assumption, though.
Those from Europe comments get me a bit upset I have to admit – the unstated, self loathing, assumption is that they’re so much more advanced than us. That Australians are backwards and slow.
The problem with the Europe argument is that we are dealing with different cultural expectations. European cities were laid out centuries ago before the invention of cars. Australian cities weren’t. I read a study many years ago about the behaviour of drivers in cities when conditions change. People do become less tolerant when their normally smooth run is interupted. They are more tolerant when their expectation is for chaos and interruption.
I’ll say it again: this argument is not about bikes and bike lanes. It is about one persons presumption to sneer at so many people. (sorry hefsb I’m getting tired and I may be repeating myself.)
So forgive me, too, Mark, if I didn’t explain myself clearly or mistook your intentions. Typing on an iPad is not the easiest.
Hey Elizabeth,
I’ve always enjoyed your SMH articles. Sad to see so much name calling. Please keep up the good work.
Elizabeth, just read your article in the SMH. Ignore the haters, the deliberately mis-informed – you are better than that. As a car owner (and thus pay my registration) AND a bike rider AND a rate payer in the City of Sydney, I’m delighted that Clover has embarked on the bike lane program and am hoping she’ll be voted in for another term to continue her good work. The more people that ride bikes, the better.
This discussion of EF’s article has been heated and ill directed. Amusing for the individuals writing, annoying for almost everyone reading their comments. If we are going to end up conducting a significant amount of debate on the internet using blogs, tweets and social media, we all need to get better at it.
As for the original article – EF I’m very pleased to have more debate about bikes, so thank you for promoting that. Sydney must continue to get better at handling them, and any debate, even one with very unreasonable participants, is better than none. Hopefully people get to think about their comments (sometimes only after they have sent them) and can then have a more considered opinion.
Mark (motorist, cyclist, pedestrian)
Hi Elizabeth. I read today’s SMH story from you and I am so sorry you have been attacked as viciously as you have been. That any “journalist” (if you can call Mr Blair that) would fuel the fire to such an extent against a fellow journalist is despicable.
Sydney motorists hate of cyclists and inability to share the roads continues to astound me. Perhaps bicycle riders should consider a day of protest, where we all refuse to use the bicycle lanes, and let the motorists see what the impact on traffic would be like if the cycling lanes were removed now that cyclist numbers have grown.
The title is crass but this post makes the case for strong moderation of comments:
http://dashes.com/anil/2011/07/if-your-websites-full-of-assholes-its-your-fault.html
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Hi Elizabeth,
Read you Opinion piece in the SMH this morning and commisserate, not just because I am a cyclist who also resents the blocking of bike paths, but for the abuse you have copped.
Your difficulty is that you are clearly in the right, you see, and both the truck driver blocking the path and all those who took a swipe at you kmow damned well that he was in the wrong. There is no one more indignant that the wrong doer who has been caught out and asked, ever so politely, to admit it. It is a matter of pride, basically. it would be a simple matter for such people to say, Yeah, Lady, I’m in the wrong. Sorry, but that asks for a minor step down in pride and there are a lot of people who would rather substiture a surge of self-affirming rage than cop a hit to one’s pride, especiall if tbe person who has caught them out reminds them of Mum/school teacher/Wife.
I enjoy your articles
Best Wishes
James
Elizabeth, I fully support you on the matters of the illegally blocked bike lane and how the anonymity currently allowed on the Internet is being abused. Note that anonymity allows for sockpuppetry so there are actually far fewer misogynists and nutjobs out there than there really are.
Being new to the blogoshpere commentary brigade having been a “lurker” for some years (don’t you hate that term?), I’d like to say that it’s sad to see so many people who feel the need for personal attack. Maybe this shouldn’t surprise – the behaviour of our federal politicians over recent years is not exemplar and a lot of the output of “social media” in its broadest sense seems to continue to be the unspoken counterpoint to the “cognitive surplus” brigade notwithstanding their argument that one needs to look past the detritus of human thought bubbles.
I am sure we all have pet subjects that allow us to get all righteous and indignant, and it is worth remembering these before launching into an invective filled commentary that may say more about the commentator than the commentatee.
A small selection of mine, for instance, are people who park cars in spaces set aside for motorcycles (yes, I ride a motorbike) or people who think disabled parking bays are somehow fair game because “I’m only popping into the shop for a minute” (yes, seen this happen and the unthinking able bodied person being queried getting all righteous and angry with the person in the wheelchair politely pointing out the inconvenience they were put to and asking them to be more thoughtful in the future) or lycra clad loonies who think it’s okay to swoop an unsuspecting pedestrian (yes, I’ve been on a cycle behind such loon and watched him not use his bell or courtesy “BIKE!” call and swoop the lady walking ahead of me after he’d swooped me).
While it’s so easy these days to unleash the beast and spew electronic invective one wonders at the point of doing so. Clearly Dr Farrelly and the truck driver both wanted to occupy the same space and time. Clearly the truck driver was wrong irrespective of whether he was “earning a living” or not, or whether the transport policy of the City of Sydney is good, bad, or indifferent.
Yes, it would have been a better outcome if Dr Farrelly had simply moved around the truck as it appears she had already done with cycle cops and one other truck. But as equally importantly it would have been a better outcome if the truck driver had not blocked a cycle lane in the first place, and Dr Farrelly’s quip is in fact no different to the blast of a car horn because a taxi has stopped and is blocking a road or the blast of a motorcycle horn because some moronic unthinking car driver is too busy texting on their iPhone while driving to look at what they should be doing.
No, it is not okay to post abusive comments irrespective of your reason for doing so. It demeans you and kills off yet another little bit of Dr Farrelly’s desire to try to make a tiny difference to the world and put herself and her opinions out there in doing so.
Like e-mails, it’s a far better approach to splash out some bile into a draft on your desktop and then read it again the next day before sending it. It’s surprising how the need for angst over these kinds of daily vignettes seems to evapourate into meaninglessness after a Bex and a Good Lie Down.
While I haven’t followed every one of Dr Farrelly’s op pieces in detail, of those I have read I have yet to see one that could be considered to be in the “shock jock” category and therefore deserve at least some form of rising emotion. So for those who feel it okay to be abusive – set up your own blog and put yourself out there for the world to judge. And then come back in 12 months time and offer an apology to Dr Farrelly.
Here endeth the righteous and pompous lecture.
Hey,
Hang in there.
And try to remember that the anti-elitism vein that runs through society runs much further back in time than the internet (and the telegraph), and those that would stir the hatred of the masses usually fall to their whims.
-signed, an inner westie latte sipper.
Don’t expect high fives when you sip your tax payer funded latte’s and promote refugee industry, climate change industry and multi-cult-urism.
It’s sad that so many people seem to be consumed by hatred of those who are different, be they bike riders, refugees, or just supporters of a different football team.
It would have been easier for Elizabeth to just ride around the truck (if safe) or just get off and walk. It’s the lack of respect expressed by the driver in his response that provoked further action. When you ride a bike regularly, you get used to compromising most of the time, but occasionally you want to respond, even though you know it is futile.
I’ve riden bikes in Australia (for over 50 years) France, Spain, Japan and China.
Nowhere but Australia have I experienced the attitude that cyclists have no right to be on the road. In those other countries, motorists go out of their way to make cycling safer, and the law reflects this. The traffic is often chaotic, but co-operative, and everyone gets where they need to go. That’s not to say there are no accidents, but the attitude is much less confrontational.
When I returned to Australia after spending some time in France, I was struck by extent of futile speeding in Australia, cars accelerating to 80kph in a 60 zone, just to get to the next red light quicker. French drivers seem to be much more relaxed about whether they will lose 10 seconds on their trip.
I do feel sorry for the truck driver, though. There was a time when he would have had an offsider to help with the unloading and make the whole job faster and safer. Now “workplace flexibility” means that he is probably an owner-driver, with his sub-contracting rates driven down to a razor-thin margin, and working under high stress so that Domayne can offer free (or cheap) delivery. He could have been driving a smaller truck or van, too, which would have been much more suitable for deliveries in inner-city areas. Might mean more trips to get the deliveries done, but these large delivery trucks often leave the warehouse half empty anyway. A few more loading zones would help too, particularly if they were enforced to keep the trendy SUV drivers out.
i thought it was a fair piece. true, there may not always be adequate parking for deliveries, but that doesn’t give him the right to block the cycleway. normal people wouldnt do it to a footpath, so why do it to a cycleway?
stand strong and keep up the good work
Elizabeth has only touched on one of the many issues about footpaths that are growing worse in and around Sydney. Footpaths are regularly taken up by restaurants, gardens, parked cars, permanently parked caravans, shop goods that don’t fit in the store, sandwich boards, chipping and more. Some of these are legal, some are not. If council chooses to sell the footpath .a block of land, they do (usually to a superstore) If they choose to turn it into cycle way and leave no footpath, they do. The right to a footpath needs to be clarified legally, with the rights of cyclists included. This is not an argument about road use. We all need to walk and cycle more for our health but this is being denied us.
I’m for the truck driver.
Taking pictures of his truck??!! – while he’s working!
It comes across as ill-mannered.
Hi Christine,
If the truck driver really was having to shift mattresses on his own then someone somewhere is at fault. For instance:
a) His mate called in sick
b) Domayne only provide a truck and driver for such deliveries
c) He sub-contracts to Domayne, runs his business on the cheap and can’t afford to have an offsider
Any of the above may be true, but it doesn’t excuse the truck being parked in the wrong place. Just think it through. We can all quote other examples of a truck driver doing the wrong thing – remember the one whose brakes failed on the F3 a few years ago? Killed a couple of people.
So it seems likely that your support for the truck driver is because you think the offence trivial. If it had been a blind person whose route along the footpath was blocked would you feel the same? The offence is identical. Could you be moire specific about what it is you are supporting?
Regards, Mark H
That might be a fair syllogism: truck driver’s brakes failed and killed two people. Person delivering mattress was a truck driver. Ergo, the truck driver is a sinner on par with a bloke who killed two people.
Is that your point? That, and what would have happened if he had blocked a blind person on the footpath?
Here’s a thought bubble for you: delivery driver is delivery a piano. Gets to the address. Can’t legally park. Finds a spot 2km away. Starts to push (with his two mates). Runs into a school group coming the other way. 30 seven year olds. They can’t get round, the path is too narrow – someone has to get in the gutter. Trouble is, there’s a bike path there.
What to do? Could you be more specific about what level of unlikely we should go to? See my other comments about what I think Liz did wrong.
“That might be a fair syllogism: truck driver’s brakes failed and killed two people. Person delivering mattress was a truck driver. Ergo, the truck driver is a sinner on par with a bloke who killed two people”
Not the conclusion I was drawing, apologies for misleading you. Truckies have a tough job, often working on their own, under pressures of time or money, and any mistake they make is likely to be in the public eye. But do the pressures of the job make them less responsible? Probably not. Does it mean that there are times when they are placed between a rock and a hard place? For sure, and all the more so in the somewhat tight environment of the inner suburbs. So maybe the answer is to use a smaller van and a larger crew when delivering to such areas?
In the end none of the above is relevant in the specific case of someone being parked in the wrong place. But it’s not a world shattering issue, and it’s attracted rather more attention (yours and mine included) than it deserves.
My conclusion (for what it’s worth):
- Driver parks in wrong place.
- EF and driver have unproductive, but largely unremarkable exchange. Both miss the high standard of discourse the rest of us would have had.
- EF takes pics and posts story (with odd snipe at Merrylands)
- Molehill becomes mountain as we all join in.
So I’ll take my own advice and stop commenting.
Regards, Mark
“Molehill becomes mountain as we all join in.”
Well, it was high time “lefties” who live at tax payers mercy get some attention. I have followed politics/media for a very long to know that the actual racists/elitists are largely leftists/Atheists. They will stop at nothing until society is transformed to their utopia – like the Atheist Communists in the 20th century.
Okay, Mark H, would you be specific re examples of the instances where you put photos on display of a deliverer parking where he shouldn’t? No? – of course not, you wouldn’t be so silly. It’s a head-tossing sort of thing.
A certain type of individual does it – and it’s not a good look.
So I’ll add to “ill-mannered” photographer, the words “petty”, “self-important” and “foolish”.
Regards, also
Well said Elizabeth. The truckies and tradies think they have the right to treat everyone else like dirt. And well said today (30 Aug) in the SMH – any abuse was totally rude and unwarranted. Keep up the good, well-aimed comment!
You’d be a dead set poofter, wouldn’t you!
LOL.
Don’t let the idiots get you down. There will always those who let others think for them.
As a regular cyclist, who also pays rego and insurance on 2 cars, I’ve developed a graduated approach to responding to deliberate anti-cyclist behaviour.
1. Response to low level antagonism ( eg being cut off, but in a way that leaves u able to avoid an accident): something along the lines of ‘you must be very important to be in such a hurry’. My objective is to try to get the driver to reflect on their behaviour, without inflaming the situation.
2. Response to mid level antagonism ( eg verbal threats): take a picture including number plate;
3. Response to aggression (eg contact by the vehicle): report to the Police, and press them to take more action than just talking with the driver. Experience is that having a witness is necessary to take this course, absent an injury.
More generally, the tone of many of the responses probably provides an insight into the day to day environment facing many minority groups (eg certain immigrants). Hard to believe so many of us are living ‘hard scrabble’, and unable to show a bit of tolerance!!
Would not want to be a dark skinned immigrant riding ! (even though they are probably doing a job no one else wants – visited an aged care facility recently?).
And now we’re all racists. Nudge, nudge. Here’s what I do as a cyclist: I assume that all those drivers are out to kill me. Why? Because they’re prone to the same mistakes I make, they fail, they don’t see the riders, they dream, they have bad days at work, they drive distracted, they learn of the death of a loved one don’t concentrate. They double park. They open doors without looking. They answer the phone when they shouldn’t. They cut me off.
I got hit while riding my bike once. By an old man. It was his fault. I rang the police later to ask them to tell him that I wasn’t angry. They took his licence off him anyway.
Most of the time, when I see people on the road like me I try to put in context. I try to see people like me. I don’t ride all the way home and tell my story on the Internet. If I did, I would hope I didn’t write it the way EF did.
Ms farrelly,
You are a selfish, self absorbed, inward looking skid mark on the fabric of society.
Please emigrate elsewhere.
happy cycling, shithead.
S
“Elizabeth Farrelly still blogs at leflaneur.mobi, but the window for comments is closing fast.”
Wow! so you only like free speech when it suits you and your stinking leftist ideology? There are reasons why I call it stinking:
“Another red flag: while liberal men did indeed hold up those picket signs, they didn’t do anything else to protect me. In fact, their social programs enabled bad behavior and bred chaos in urban America. And when I was accosted by thugs, those leftist men were missing in action.
What else should have tipped me off? Perhaps the fact that so many men in ultra-left Berkeley are sleazebags. Rarely a week goes by that I don’t hear stories from my young female clients about middle-aged men preying on them. With the rationale of moral relativism, these creeps feel they can do anything they please.
What finally woke me up were the utterances of “bitch,” “witch,” and “monster” toward Hillary Clinton and her supporters early last year. I was shocked into reality: the trash-talk wasn’t coming from conservatives, but from male and female liberals.
I finally beheld what my eyes had refused to see: that leftists are Mr. and Ms. Misogyny. Neither the males nor the females care a whit about women.
Women are continually sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. If under radical Islam women are enshrouded and stoned and beheaded, so be it.
My other epiphanies: those ponytailed guys were marching for abortion rights not because they cherished women’s reproductive freedom, but to keep women available for free and easy sex.
And the eagerness for women to make good money? If women work hard, leftist men don’t have to.”
The above excerpt was from “Wilding of Sarah Palin” by Robin of Berkeley –
A frequent AT contributor, Robin is a psychotherapist and a recovering liberal in Berkeley.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/the_wilding_of_sarah_palin.html
Dr Farrelly,
I don’t always (or even often) agree with your views, but I greatly admire your courage, as shown in today’s Herald piece, in the face of the appalling onslaught of the crazed your blog has elicited. Also share your concluding view. if there’s anything one can do?
Michael Layden
Elizabeth,
You are an attractive, educated woman. I suggest that you behave like one. First class is a way of life, not an airline ticket. Life is full of annoyances. Get over it and stop being argumentative and adolescent.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Know-it-all
Dear Elizabeth,
Enjoyed reading your piece about the hatred that is allowed to fester and spread thanks largely to anonymity.
Please feel free to check out our website, and send us anything you feel has crossed the line.
http://www.theantibogan.wordpress.com
Hang in there Liz. Love reading your stuff. Great response in Herald today. Have to accept that the world has its share of cowardly morons like Blair.
These people are getting so worked up about you commenting on a guy who broke the law then got aggressive with you?
I see what you mean about the anon hate. Not many of the cowards willing to put their real name to their mindless bile.
“These people are getting so worked up about you commenting on a guy who broke the law then got aggressive with you?”
Please Karim, re-read Liz’s articles and point out where the driver (the law breaker) “got aggressive”. I think you are seeing something that does not exist.
Good work Liz. Keep up the good fight.
And I do like your articles in the SMH BTW – you’re my favorite opinion writer – its great to hear someone tell it like it is. One word of caution though, beware what happened with Catherine Deveny when she did the same at the Age repeatedly, telling it as it is rustles feathers.
Lots of first names, some with surnames, some with letters and some with nom de plumes. Some called Karim. Do you want names and addresses? Phone numbers?
Do you want people to post things like “nice blog” and “I agree with you” and “just wanted to say I support you and think you did nothing wrong”?
That’s what she only had three people commenting. Who was she convincing? No one. Her regular audience were already convinced. No opinions have been changed or formed. No one is any wiser. Certainly not EF who has not had the good grace to say that her post was graceless. Now she’s elevating herself to the level of martyr. Her admirers resorting to hagiography. Only Super (in my recollection) has come close to calling it how it is. And now he too is so embittered by the anger here that he resorts to feeling sad for all the idiot Australians, and returning like with like.
These things are so predictable and so Sisyphean. I’m ready to quit the field too. So let me finish: I’m sorry for being mean. I’m sorry for being wrong. EF has not done or said anything wrong – she was right to post his details, say what she said about Merrlands. She says she wasn’t being rude when she said “nice place to park.” I’ll take her word for it. I’m sorry for calling her pompous. I’m sorry for calling her conceited. I’m sorry for presumptively calling her Liz and repeating myself. I’m just sorry I got involved
Peter, most of the ugly comments are anon. Regardless of whether you agree with the post or not it’s not OK for people to cowardly attack her in such a viscous manner. I wonder if the responses would be so vile if “she” was a “he”.
So when this urban doc and $limate believer calls people bogan, does she have their gender in mind? These Cate Blanchett types are a burden and a threat to our society. Let me know when these types live next door to migrants or refugees. Hypocrites!!! Stop preaching and try being a truckie for a day.
Did Tim Blair pay you to write this article? … Tell me … I just gotta know!
With sincere apologies to The Mixtures.
Riding along on my bicycle honey
When I noticed you
Riding down town in a hurry honey
When your truck blocked my view
You looked so sweaty
As you unloaded your truck
And I was so petty
That I thought “Oh F…” “F…” “F…”
Well I got off my bike and I tried to be smart
But you were busy carrying a bed
You looked like a bit of a bogan honey
“Blame Clover Moore” you said
You looked so dirty
As you were struggling along
So I got real shirty
Because you were wrong, wrong, wrong.
Round, round, wheels going nowhere fast
Annoying truck that I can’t ride past
I gotta write a blog to give this sweaty jerk a blast
Cos he made me get off my arse
Now nasty Tim Blair is trying to be funny
And being an old bully too
But I’ve climbed back into my comfortable bubble
And I’ve decided what to do
I’ll keep being petty
As I go riding along
Cos my name is Betty
And I’m never wrong, wrong, wrong
Round, round, wheels going round, round, round
Down, up, pedals, down, up, down
But I got to get across to the other side of town
Before another annoying, working class yob parks his stupid truck on MY bike path because he’s too lazy to carry a bed from the western suburbs! I mean how selfish can people be?
‘But he became immediately aggressive, insisting on his right to block the lane (but not the road) and dissing bike lane-loving lord mayor Clover Moore for being “an educated woman”.’
As taken from her piece on the SMH site.
Got referred here from the SMH. For anyone patient enough (or masochistic enough) to read to the end here… Does ANYBODY think that if it was Tim Blair riding the bike (yeah, haha, run with this though) and the truck driver was delivering tofu or (even worse) Fairfax papers, that the vast majority of hacks here taking a potshot at Farrelly wouldn’t have squared up solidly on the other side of the debate?
That’s the downside of politics approached like it’s some kind of my team must kill your team thing, huh. I mean, 305 responses to this somewhat innocuous post, sheesh.
Come to SA
SA Great (some Say)
http://bfwd.blogspot.com.au/2010/02/xhx980-black-4×4-wagon.html
See this driver parked in the bike lane, and his mate talking to him. The script is on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yGYe-hMU_qk
Enjoy