Children and their bicycles

"This is why we can't have nice things!" These words seemed to constantly ring in my ears as I clumsily trudged my way through childhood. But as I grew older and matured, I found that the frequency of this occurrence gradually dwindled as I grew and slowly learned responsibility. Yet here we are, years later, still plagued with immaturity and recklessness. However, this time it's a bit different.

You see, when this phrase was muttered years ago, it was generally in response to my awkwardness and only referenced the loss of material possessions, which could easily be replaced. This time, when the privilege to use campus bikes was devalued and taken for granted, we lost more than the enjoyment and efficiency of riding bikes around campus: we lost a community-wide trust and a faith that people can act in a manner befitting their age.

I personally was skeptical of the campus bike program as it first began. While the idea of having bikes around campus at our disposal for general use seemed noble, I just didn't see it happening. I thought there was no way the cycling club could meet all the demands of a program such as this. I was wrong.

Once the program got off the ground and the "fleet" was large enough to enjoy widespread use, I repeatedly heard people singing the praises of the program, and I even enjoyed the convenience of having a bike at my disposal to use on campus. I have never been a bike person, nor had I even ridden a bicycle in at least five years prior to the inception of the campus bike program, yet I soon found myself delighting in riding a bike across campus, helping me get where I wanted to go more efficiently while easily resisting the lazy way out--driving a few hundred to yards from the Campus Center to the Science Center.

But really, is it that difficult to walk to class? No, it's not, but my beef with those people who found it amusing to ride campus bikes into dorms and newspaper dispensers goes beyond my own and a few other people's loss of time, trust, and sense of community. I cannot fathom how people can be so disrespectful as to take the hard work of the people who created and sustained the program for granted. I could not begin to count the hours it took to collect the unused and donated bikes and place them all in working order for our benefit.

I think it's safe to assume that the proprietors of the program have their own personal bikes they could ride to and from class--so it's obvious who was mainly intended to benefit from the availability of campus bikes: you and I, the EMU community. And while I respect people's right to disapprove or simply not use a service that is provided for them, I hesitate to call what we have here a strong community, because if we can't trust each other enough to respect something as simple as each other's property, what can we trust them to do?

Email: timothy.jones@emu.edu