Living Car Free - Inauguration

I saw a headline today that said cleanup crews worked overnight so maybe they aren't as tidy as my morning impression. The Obama people weren't there to petition the government this weekend. The people who do come to petition the government seem clueless when they leave a bunch of trash in their wake. If you guys come here for a car free rally or something, remember the congressmen and senators and their staff, the people who make decisions will come to work past any litter and garbage you leave behind. If they see the Mall- a national park, all clean and green they won't think much of it. That is how it is supposed to look. If they see piles of garbage that you left behind, they'll remember you in a bad way as in "Those bicyclists don't care enough about our national parks to find a trash can or pack it out, why should we care about their bike lanes?"

I have a feeling that a carfree rally wouldn't leave much litter in it's wake. Maybe somebody who has been to a carfree event in Portland (or wherever) could tell us what they observed.

Right now, in the majority black HS where I teach, only 6 students have shown up to take their semester final exam. I'm not sure that they've gotten the message about how everything is better for them now.

My point is, that the schools are still broken and there are miles to go before we can celebrate.

The problems of racism have ingrained themselves into communities like this. It will take a good deal of time to truly establish equality.

It's not entirely up to whites, either. Overcoming a little predjudice in the voting booth is one thing....

It's not a race issue, it's a class issue, and, to a lesser extent, a cultural one. I'm a teacher, too, and I see students of all races succeed, and I see others, again of all races, fail. The determining factor is not race. It's the micro-culture of the family. Successful, caring, attentive parents tend to have successful children, and, if their kids are having difficulty, they take steps to address the problem. Families that are dysfunctional for any number of reasons, such as substance abuse, domestic violence, serious illness of a family member, poverty, etc., send their children to school with automatic disadvantages that are often hard for school staff to address. In addition, middle class and upper middle class families are better at working the system; they know how to get schools to help their kids. Poor families tend to be too intimidated to initiate the kinds of action that would help their children, so they're more likely to fall between the cracks.

It's not a race issue, it's a class issue, and, to a lesser extent, a cultural one. I'm a teacher, too, and I see students of all races succeed, and I see others, again of all races, fail. The determining factor is not race. It's the micro-culture of the family. Successful, caring, attentive parents tend to have successful children, and, if their kids are having difficulty, they take steps to address the problem. Families that are dysfunctional for any number of reasons, such as substance abuse, domestic violence, serious illness of a family member, poverty, etc., send their children to school with automatic disadvantages that are often hard for school staff to address. In addition, middle class and upper middle class families are better at working the system; they know how to get schools to help their kids. Poor families tend to be too intimidated to initiate the kinds of action that would help their children, so they're more likely to fall between the cracks.

+1 Class issues sometimes disguise themselves as race issues.

It's not a race issue, it's a class issue, and, to a lesser extent, a cultural one. I'm a teacher, too, and I see students of all races succeed, and I see others, again of all races, fail. The determining factor is not race. It's the micro-culture of the family.

I have to agree that there are a spectrum of family troubles that can cause kids to not succeed up to their potential. I'm not sure that the source matters.

I know of one above-middle-class household. What hurt that family micro-culture was the deaths of the first two children by disease, one by meningitis and one by cancer. Being the early sixties, that made the remaining kids pariahs in the neighborhood, sent the mother to a psychiatric institute and caused the father to withdraw from the family. The divorce was only an aftershock.

Both parents had masters degrees. Of the kids, one got a bachelor's, one got an associate's and the third got a diploma. And the lack of achievement didn't end there. Two of the kids reported as adults that they had never felt to be valued and encouraged by the parents. The third didn't say because they drifted away from the family entirely.

A tiny fraction of the kids that succeed do so because they have such blinding self-confidence and awareness that they really are self-made. But I think that the bulk of kids who succeed, have parents, relatives, or community members who really take them in hand and encourage them and guide them.

I think that ultimately one of the Obama Presidency's biggest legacies will be that it proves that it is possible for anyone to succeed. There is no default barrier.

But I also know that many kids will not because their families fail to provide a nurturing basis for growth.

I think that ultimately one of the Obama Presidency's biggest legacies will be that it proves that it is possible for anyone to succeed. There is no default barrier.

But I also know that many kids will not because their families fail to provide a nurturing basis for growth.

I hope that another legacy of Obama's Presidency will be the concept of personal responsibility that he often talks about. As I understand it, this means that the individual kid and his/her parents are responsible for the kid's success. But when this isn't working in a family, other people also have a personal responsibility for that kid. This includes, obviously, the teachers, but also neighbors, the justice system, health care, and concerned members of the community like Big Brothers/Sisters.

The entire society has a responsibility to raise the next generation--especially when the family fails. This is the way it always has been, for humans and many animal species, but we have gotten away from this recently with our over-emphasis on individualism.

I hope that another legacy of Obama's Presidency will be the concept of personal responsibility that he often talks about. As I understand it, this means that the individual kid and his/her parents are responsible for the kid's success. But when this isn't working in a family, other people also have a personal responsibility for that kid. This includes, obviously, the teachers, but also neighbors, the justice system, health care, and concerned members of the community like Big Brothers/Sisters.

The entire society has a responsibility to raise the next generation--especially when the family fails. This is the way it always has been, for humans and many animal species, but we have gotten away from this recently with our over-emphasis on individualism.

It takes a village to raise a child...unfortunately in these days it is a foreign concept.

When I was growing up our biological family consisted of 6 people, it wasn't uncommon to have close to a dozen sitting down for dinner on any given night. The extras could be homesick college students from the university where my father taught, latch key single parent children from the neighborhood, our friends, the occasional seminarian from the local church, missionaries, or even an elderly person whose family lived long distances away and needed the fellowship. There were simple household rules to be followed and everyone was expected to follow them. Those were some of the best times and we still get letters and cards from people that were there even though some of those dinners occurred 35+ years ago. Some we have lost track of over the years and others make appearances on the doorstep at the holidays, having not been heard from in 20 years.

The one thing that was always at the forefront regardless of who you were or what happened was YOU had the opportunity to be YOU, and only YOU could make the decision as to where and what you were going to do about any given situation.

Of the people that stand out in my memory was one fellow that was a conscientious objector that had been drafted(this was during Vietnam), he considered fleeing to Canada, but instead chose to serve but only as a medic and chaplain; today he works in Central America as a Medical Missionary. Another was a scrawny Vietnamese boy that had some issues and was headed for juvenile detention, today he is a successful businessman and gives back to the community in many, many ways.

Hopefully this is the type of thing that Obama wants us as citizens of the US to invest in. But it will be a long hard battle.


Aaron:)

In addition, middle class and upper middle class families are better at working the system; they know how to get schools to help their kids. Poor families tend to be too intimidated to initiate the kinds of action that would help their children, so they're more likely to fall between the cracks.

I've also seen upper/middle class parents marginalize and shove aside lower class parents who show up at PTA meetings and try to get involved. At the same school when the Hispanic parents figured out what was going on and tried to form their own PTA the Anglo PTA blocked it. That school only served the upper class students. It was internally partitioned so the Anglo kids from well to do families stayed together in the same classes. All you had to do to verify this was walk around at back to school night or bring your parent to school day.

Here's a photo of about 950 bikes parked at the inauguration. This valet station eventually parked over 1100 bikes. This service was needed since most other logical bike parking on the street was full- parking meters, signs, trees, bike racks. I didn't look to see if the parking garages were open or if their racks were full but occasional bikers wouldn't know about them anyway.

Here's a photo of about 950 bikes parked at the inauguration. This valet station eventually parked over 1100 bikes. This service was needed since most other logical bike parking on the street was full- parking meters, signs, trees, bike racks. I didn't look to see if the parking garages were open or if their racks were full but occasional bikers wouldn't know about them anyway.

This photo is so moving to me--I can't believe I'm seeing so many bikes parked in one place in our country's capitol. This in itself is history-making. And gwd, you were part of it. That must have been so exciting!

This photo is so moving to me--I can't believe I'm seeing so many bikes parked in one place in our country's capitol. This in itself is history-making. And gwd, you were part of it. That must have been so exciting!
I guess it wasn't televised then huh? I believe there were many many more parked on the street from what I saw. So the mainstream media saw fit to report on the trials and tribulations of people on public transit and the whining of the car drivers but didn't report the story that the bikers had no problems?

Here's the only mainstream media story I found:

http://www.examiner.com/x-2429-DC-Bicycle-Transportation-Examiner~y2009m1d22-Inauguration-bicycle-valet-breaks-record

Did anyone out there see TV coverage of the number of people who biked? I don't have a TV, but stopped at a friends house later and saw nothing. The story above says that the major local media alerted people to the service before the event.

I guess it wasn't televised then huh? I believe there were many many more parked on the street from what I saw. So the mainstream media saw fit to report on the trials and tribulations of people on public transit and the whining of the car drivers but didn't report the story that the bikers had no problems?

Here's the only mainstream media story I found:

http://www.examiner.com/x-2429-DC-Bicycle-Transportation-Examiner~y2009m1d22-Inauguration-bicycle-valet-breaks-record

Did anyone out there see TV coverage of the number of people who biked? I don't have a TV, but stopped at a friends house later and saw nothing. The story above says that the major local media alerted people to the service before the event.

Well Google News gives 864 hits for <bicycle inauguration> and lots of blog hits on Google Web. These include some about the bike valet service.

<inauguration bike valet> yields 74 hits on Google News, including stories on NBC and MSNBC.

I only watched TV coverage of the Oath (first oath, that is) and Address. But I sure saw a lot of bikes in the footage.

I've also seen upper/middle class parents marginalize and shove aside lower class parents who show up at PTA meetings and try to get involved. At the same school when the Hispanic parents figured out what was going on and tried to form their own PTA the Anglo PTA blocked it. That school only served the upper class students. It was internally partitioned so the Anglo kids from well to do families stayed together in the same classes. All you had to do to verify this was walk around at back to school night or bring your parent to school day.

We get that same crap around here. I attended a PTA meeting with a newcomer to our area for moral support. She was recognized to ask the chair a question, they didn't like the tone of her question, ruled her out of order and told her that she hadn't been here long enough to ask questions:notamused: They removed their children from that school shortly afterward. I see this general attitude on a regular basis from people that live in certain enclave areas...

Aaron:)

This includes, obviously, the teachers, but also neighbors, the justice system, health care, and concerned members of the community like Big Brothers/Sisters.

The entire society has a responsibility to raise the next generation--especially when the family fails. This is the way it always has been, for humans and many animal species, but we have gotten away from this recently with our over-emphasis on individualism.

Also the church/synogogue/mosque/etc. Whatever you may think of organized religion--and it certainly has its faults and failings--it does provide that sense of community.

Aristotle said it--"Ho anthropos zoon politikon." "The human being is an animal that lives in community." ("Zoon politikon" is often translated as 'social animal' or 'political animal', but both phrases mean both more and less than the Greek.)

[Classics major; can you tell?]

Also the church/synogogue/mosque/etc. Whatever you may think of organized religion--and it certainly has its faults and failings--it does provide that sense of community.

Aristotle said it--"Ho anthropos zoon politikon." "The human being is an animal that lives in community." ("Zoon politikon" is often translated as 'social animal' or 'political animal', but both phrases mean both more and less than the Greek.)

[Classics major; can you tell?]

Very impressive. I know you're smart, but I didn't know Aristotle was so clever. ;)

It's true though, we do need politics. Without politics, no coordinated human action is possible. The last president didn't understand that, and he let our political system fall apart. We're stuck now with trying to fix politics so that people can get back on with their lives. I think that was the main point of Obama's speech. He said,


"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works...."

In other words, we have to get back to being political animals, "animals who live in communities."

And preferably in communities that have bike valets!

I've also seen upper/middle class parents marginalize and shove aside lower class parents who show up at PTA meetings and try to get involved.

I've seen the same thing on many occasions. It's pretty disgusting, but it's also human nature; people feel more comfortable dealing with others who are like them. I have seen working/lower class parents establish a position for themselves, but they had to do it by being far more confrontational than most people can handle, and too smart to be easily dismissed as "loose cannons"; apparently, very few people on the lower end of the socio-economic scale have mastered the whole passive-aggressive skill set that seems to be the norm among soccer moms who drive gigantic SUVs.

I've seen the same thing on many occasions. It's pretty disgusting, but it's also human nature; people feel more comfortable dealing with others who are like them. I have seen working/lower class parents establish a position for themselves, but they had to do it by being far more confrontational than most people can handle, and too smart to be easily dismissed as "loose cannons"; apparently, very few people on the lower end of the socio-economic scale have mastered the whole passive-aggressive skill set that seems to be the norm among soccer moms who drive gigantic SUVs.

I just was watching a black comedian on Leno. He posited that we are all prejudiced. And illustrated it with the example of a person who commits bank fraud. He said that he bet that you didn't imagine a black face with that crime.

I think that most all of us do have prejudices and stereotypes on that level. I was raised in the South and absorbed those norms beyond what my parents taught. But when as an adult in California, I told my best-friend, roomie and best man that I was prejudiced, he just laughed. He was quite dark skinned, but he understood what I was saying. On one level, we have stereotyped attitudes of strangers "passive-aggressive skill set that seems to be the norm among soccer moms who drive gigantic SUVs", at the same time, most of us can see through these knee-jerk thoughts in our head to see individuals as individuals.

Actually, some of the moments that brought me the most understanding were 1) When I realized that I would never have kids. I also realized that everyone was "other people's children". So I had to accept the whole range of humanity. No one in the world was going to conform to my standards. ;) And not having kids, meant that there were no values to defend. 2)I came upon the thought of imagining that you have just waken up that moment. What color are you? At that moment, it just doesn't matter. Our experience is all pretty much the same at that time.

But unfortunately, part of our experience seems to be some snap judgements about others.

But unfortunately, part of our experience seems to be some snap judgements about others.

Your comments here are a snap judgment in and of themselves. My comment about passive-aggressive, SUV-driving soccer moms was absolutely not a stereotype about people I do not know well, but the result of many years of closely interacting with them at PTA meetings, parent-teacher conferences, school plays and sporting events. Let me be blunt: a good percentage of upper-middle class parents, let's say just under half, because of an exaggerated sense of entitlement, and an equally exaggerated sense of their own moral and intellectual superiority over those who earn less money than they do, tend to behave in ways that are detrimental to the greater school community. They often behave like mean 7th grade girls: they're clique-ish, condescending towards those they view as social inferiors, not above a little bullying, eager to engage in nasty gossip, and addicted to their cell phones. In a word, they're assh0les. Again, it's absolutely not a snap judgment, but a reasonable inference based on years of careful, objective observation. Please take your hard-won, keenly sensitive, very highly-developed tolerance and inflict it upon someone who might actually think that tolerating destructive behavior is a virtue.

(BTW, my apologies to the OP for playing such a large role in hijacking the thread. I'll strive to avoid this in the future.)

Your comments here are a snap judgment in and of themselves. My comment about passive-aggressive, SUV-driving soccer moms was absolutely not a stereotype about people I do not know well, but the result of many years of closely interacting with them at PTA meetings, parent-teacher conferences, school plays and sporting events. Let me be blunt: a good percentage of upper-middle class parents, let's say just under half, because of an exaggerated sense of entitlement, and an equally exaggerated sense of their own moral and intellectual superiority over those who earn less money than they do, tend to behave in ways that are detrimental to the greater school community. They often behave like mean 7th grade girls: they're clique-ish, condescending towards those they view as social inferiors, not above a little bullying, eager to engage in nasty gossip, and addicted to their cell phones. In a word, they're assh0les. Again, it's absolutely not a snap judgment, but a reasonable inference based on years of careful, objective observation. Please take your hard-won, keenly sensitive, very highly-developed tolerance and inflict it upon someone who might actually think that tolerating destructive behavior is a virtue.

(BTW, my apologies to the OP for playing such a large role in hijacking the thread. I'll strive to avoid this in the future.)

But it's important to bear in mind that prejudice and stereotyping are never productive, no matter where they occur. I also thought your comment about soccer moms was disturbing. I don't argue that intolerant behavior should be tolerated, but we need to find a way to draw intolerant people into society, rather than driving them further out. An example would be inviting Rick Warren to pray at the Inauguration. As much as I despise Warren's bigotry, I think it's important to foster dialog and inclusiveness, which in the long run will do much to lessen intolerance.

Your comments here are a snap judgment in and of themselves. My comment about passive-aggressive, SUV-driving soccer moms was absolutely not a stereotype about people I do not know well, but the result of many years of closely interacting with them at PTA meetings, parent-teacher conferences, school plays and sporting events. Let me be blunt: a good percentage of upper-middle class parents, let's say just under half, because of an exaggerated sense of entitlement, and an equally exaggerated sense of their own moral and intellectual superiority over those who earn less money than they do, tend to behave in ways that are detrimental to the greater school community. They often behave like mean 7th grade girls: they're clique-ish, condescending towards those they view as social inferiors, not above a little bullying, eager to engage in nasty gossip, and addicted to their cell phones. In a word, they're assh0les. Again, it's absolutely not a snap judgment, but a reasonable inference based on years of careful, objective observation. Please take your hard-won, keenly sensitive, very highly-developed tolerance and inflict it upon someone who might actually think that tolerating destructive behavior is a virtue.

To an outsider, you seemed to be slamming all SUV-driving soccer moms. In your original message, there was nothing indicating what kind of basis you had for making this broad assertion. But now I see that it does apply to almost half of them. Forgive my error.

In my experience, the behaviour you describe is pretty common in most people. It's certainly been a part of any group I've ever been in. Well, maybe not the addiction to cell phones. ;)

I don't say that behaving this way is right, but it certainly is human. The outsider is always at a disadvantage. I sense that the real issue is almost always power not particulars.

That is one thing that has made this election and inauguration very unique. An apparent outsider has attained power. He's a freshman Senator who wasn't even a powerful Senator. But the state of the Presidency had fallen so low, people were hurting so bad and it seemed as though anyone connected with that had a stain. So Obama's newness, and not being one of the powerful worked for him.

Your comments here are a snap judgment in and of themselves. My comment about passive-aggressive, SUV-driving soccer moms was absolutely not a stereotype about people I do not know well, but the result of many years of closely interacting with them at PTA meetings, parent-teacher conferences, school plays and sporting events. Let me be blunt: a good percentage of upper-middle class parents, let's say just under half, because of an exaggerated sense of entitlement, and an equally exaggerated sense of their own moral and intellectual superiority over those who earn less money than they do, tend to behave in ways that are detrimental to the greater school community. They often behave like mean 7th grade girls: they're clique-ish, condescending towards those they view as social inferiors, not above a little bullying, eager to engage in nasty gossip, and addicted to their cell phones. In a word, they're assh0les. Again, it's absolutely not a snap judgment, but a reasonable inference based on years of careful, objective observation. Please take your hard-won, keenly sensitive, very highly-developed tolerance and inflict it upon someone who might actually think that tolerating destructive behavior is a virtue.

(BTW, my apologies to the OP for playing such a large role in hijacking the thread. I'll strive to avoid this in the future.)
Wow, this was my impression of the parents at my daughter's school but I only went to 50 or so PTA meetings. "..tend to behave in ways that are detrimental to the greater school community." I thought that only I and one of the teachers- who trusted me not to rat him out- thought this way. Of course the crazy dad who showed up on a bike even in the snow and who made his daughter walk three whole blocks to school like she was some kid from the projects had no clout.
The thread was about biking to the inauguration and how the bikers had the easiest time getting around. It veered off into what the LCFers find more interesting. One thing you guys didn't mention about prejudice and stereotyping is that it can conserve mental energy. It is easier to react to everyone in the out group as dangerous or easy prey or whatever than to evaluate each encounter on its merits. Insofar as the out group is homogeneous it might have survival benefits. You guys are talking about the tragedy of when that strategy results in injustice. We experience the injustice as bikers, when we're treated as poor customers by shopkeepers or as bad parents by the local PTA.

Well Google News gives 864 hits for <bicycle inauguration> and lots of blog hits on Google Web. These include some about the bike valet service.

<inauguration bike valet> yields 74 hits on Google News, including stories on NBC and MSNBC.

I only watched TV coverage of the Oath (first oath, that is) and Address. But I sure saw a lot of bikes in the footage.

When I made the post I did the same thing but I looked at the articles in the first few pages and the one I cited was the only one at that time that was relevant in that it reported what happened. The articles in subsequent pages become less and less relevant. The local bike orgs began putting out press releases claiming a record so by now you should find more relevant articles. But, prior to the press releases what coverage? While working news organizations stood on the edge of the parking area filming away from us looking toward the white house. The reporters spoke in foreign languages so maybe one of the foreign TV channels showed us parking bikes? They could have spiced it up to make it good TV with actions shots of us running bikes two at a time and focusing on the few fringe elements with homemade double decker bikes rather than the normal people and families.

To an outsider, you seemed to be slamming all SUV-driving soccer moms. In your original message, there was nothing indicating what kind of basis you had for making this broad assertion. But now I see that it does apply to almost half of them. Forgive my error.

In my experience, the behaviour you describe is pretty common in most people. It's certainly been a part of any group I've ever been in. Well, maybe not the addiction to cell phones. ;)

I don't say that behaving this way is right, but it certainly is human. The outsider is always at a disadvantage. I sense that the real issue is almost always power not particulars.

That is one thing that has made this election and inauguration very unique. An apparent outsider has attained power. He's a freshman Senator who wasn't even a powerful Senator. But the state of the Presidency had fallen so low, people were hurting so bad and it seemed as though anyone connected with that had a stain. So Obama's newness, and not being one of the powerful worked for him.

Please forgive the harshness of my post. I'd had a really bad day and was on my third glass of wine when I wrote it. I agree with you that this inauguration is a special one, for the reasons you list. Obama is going to be a memorable president, regardless of your political POV: a source of hope for people who thought they were helpless, and a nightmare for bigots and would-be Fascists.

That is one thing that has made this election and inauguration very unique. An apparent outsider has attained power. He's a freshman Senator who wasn't even a powerful Senator. But the state of the Presidency had fallen so low, people were hurting so bad and it seemed as though anyone connected with that had a stain. So Obama's newness, and not being one of the powerful worked for him.
When I saw Obama speak back when the news media said the election would be between Hillary and Rudy, I thought "Jimmy Carter". I thought if he won, he'd have a honeymoon, then the press would attack. The tension would build with the corporate world and then once one big paper or TV news attacked they'd all jump on him. But Carter didn't follow someone as bad as Bush. Obama could rule at a level two or three times as competent as Bush, it would seem so much better yet still be incompetent rule. Bush couldn't lower the bar much further. Bush left Obama with such a mess that the best ruler is bound to screw up a thing or two. The car-free numbers might swell but not for good reasons.

Back to the original topic. Today as I rode in I was chatting with a commuter and he said the bike valet thing "Got good press." He mentioned the name of some columnist in the Washington Post. When I showed the photo to a friend who grew up car free she remarked that where she lived secure paid bike parking was common. She mentioned going to the market or the theater as examples. Maybe bike valet will be part of the Bush legacy as fewer people can afford cars.