I got very purposely run off an urban thourghfare that was posted as under construction today while returning home from the VA hospital. The car "bumped" me into the curb where the road narrowed, even though they had plenty of room in the lane to their left, and I ended up "stuffed" under a car parked on the sidewalk. This occured in plain view of an Indianapolis police officer who was one car back in the next lane, who apparently sees this often enough to pay it no regard.

What surprised me though was that I didn't jump back on the bike and chase the @$$#*!& down and inflict any damage to his car, nor did I chase down the cop and tell him what an @$$ he was for turning away from what was obviously a hostile action by the car driver. Either I am getting old or some of the posts on these forums are beginning to sink in and I am no longer viewing Automobile vs Cycling shared access to the roads as warfare. We are simply targets for rednecks and cycling-haters.

I have been carfree for 22 of the past 27 years and I think that I just might have begun accepting that American society is doomed to cause its own demise due to apathy and class-disregard. After seeing how this country responded to Katrina and the Gulf oil spill, and how both parties bend over to the wishes of the rich and ignore the needs of the poor, I think all of the conservation and social conscience we can muster are a waste of time. Our society doesn't respect itself and it's members, so maybe its time that we degenerate into a second class country for a while to reset our priorities......