I should probably just shut up

[darkemeralds]

BikePortland, a bike blog I read daily, had some good coverage today of an unplanned bridge closure affecting a whole bunch of bike-riding commuters (including me). The post elicited lots of comments, many of them straying into broader issues of city streets, traffic management and transportation.

Someone said "All of this insanity, just to put in a street car that's slower than walking and poses a major hazard to its faster and cheaper counterpart, the bicycle. But I understand though, fat people need a way to get to Next Adventure [a sporting goods store]!"



I thought for a couple of minutes, decided I couldn't stay silent, and responded:

As a person who doesn't meet your (implied) standards of acceptable physical size, can I just say how very sick I am of fat bigotry? Not to mention transportation bigotry.

I don't love streetcars either, but a) not everyone can ride a bike; b) not everyone who needs public transit is fat; and c) not everyone who bicycles every single day is (or gets) thin. I'm living proof.

So please check your privilege and reconsider comments that demean, hurt, and alienate at least one member of this community. Thanks.

Then I felt all skittish and scared for speaking up, afraid I was going to get reprimanded by the attractive thin people.

The trouble is, on a blog like BikePortland, I'm such an insignificant minority that nobody even bothers with that. I'm just an embarrassment. It's a weird spot to be in.

Comments

[darkemeralds]

Thanks. The beauty of the internet is that it does allow me to reconsider during that important moment between typing and hitting post!