5. The road is not your living room
Naturally I have great respect for cyclists and when I'm in the car and come up behind them I take extra care. But sometimes I see a hotdog who just cycles in the middle of the road. He knows I'm behind him yet he acts as if the road is named after him. Or her. All cyclists know, at least I think they do, that you should always stay as far to the right as possible. After all, your life can depend on it. And, after all, it is not your living room.
We are passersby on this planet. The environment does not belong to us. People do not belong to us. Animals do not belong to us. "Ownership" signifies something is mine and not yours and something that is yours is not mine. It helps us move through life when we have a sense of boundary between what is ours and not. The home I live in, the car I drive, may have my name attached to it to indicate that I own it. But whatever I own could be taken from me at any moment. A fire. Theft. Foreclosure. And ultimately everything will be taken from me anyway. Everything "of this world" stays here. When we go it stays.
Ownership is a temporary worldly phenomenon. The more I forget that, the harder it will be to accept that when the inevitable happens.
There are also some people who act as if they own more than what they actually do. They treat people or animals as if those were their personal property. They do not relate to others or the world around them with respect to the spirit inside each living being. Everything is treated like a "thing" and also disposed of when that thing no longer serves a function for them. When you meet someone like that, be respectful. And keep a distance.
6. If you expect everyone to behave right you will die.
There is a thing I call lazy driver drift. There are bike lanes designated by white stripes. Cars are to drive to the left of that lane while people like me cycle in the bike lane. The boundaries are set and it allows everyone to get what they need. Except for lazy drivers. These are the types who drift into the bike lane because they are not observing rule number 1. I can sense these kinds of drivers from a distance. Maybe they think the road is their living room. In any event, once I see someone like that I take extra precautions and have avoided potentially dangerous situations because of it.
It is important to anticipate that people will do the wrong thing. To assume everyone will do the right thing may be a noble ideal but it contradicts reality. People (not you or I of course) will do the wrong thing. They do it all the time. We can get upset that they are not following the rules, complain, get annoyed, tell them off but it doesn't change the fact that historically there is always someone who thinks the rules that apply to everyone don't apply to them. Or if they do, it's only when it's convenient for them to follow the rules.
To sit in self righteous outrage and indignation and point blaming fingers may give us a sense of superior rightness but all we've done is set the stage for future disappointment. It is disheartening to see others do wrong but it has always been a fact of life. Once you spot someone like that do as I said in point 5--keep your distance.
