Why we ride bikes and some other thoughts

Nik and I ride bikes from my house on wednesday nights. We both have cars but we ride bikes on purpose. We do several things to make ourselves not seem "higher" than the people we spend time with. A car is a symbol of power; wearing nice clothes is too; so is bestowing food or other goods on another person. We make a conscious effort to not display these things in an effort to make the boundaries between "us" and "them" less and less apparent.

So we ride our bikes, we don't wear our nicest clothes, and we ask if we could join them for a meal. We don't drive by in our cars, wearing our "sunday's best," graciously pass out food to the poor and leave. Homeless people see that plenty, not that people who can't sit down with them shouldn't still feed them. Homeless people need food. However, when possible, take take off some the trappings of affluence so as to be with them even if it is just for an hour. Again, I am not suggesting that if you are already feeding homeless people, you stop until you can ride a bike and spend an hour or more with them. But if you can, you should.

Other pluses about riding bikes include:

We don't have to pay for gas and we don't create any pollution. My house is so close to Union that there is really no need to get into a car.

We show up at different times depending on how our schedules change, and being that the people we hang out with do not have homes in the usual sense, they may be anywhere. So sometimes we have to ride around for a while looking. This would be way less convenient in a car. We couldn't make all the turns we do and cross streets where their aren't actually crossings, etc. Being in a car would actually take longer.

Riding bikes is fun!

Another thing I should stay about creating less and less of a division between housed people and homeless people...I don't suggest everyone become homeless in order to relate. Because if you stop working and your life becomes as chaotic as theirs are, you may not be able to help them. Then again, do what you feel is right. If you think you really need to become homeless to reach homeless people, then perhaps that is what you should do. If you think you want to spend time with homeless people keep one thing in mind: Fespect. Treat homeless people as people. Like adults if they are adults and children if they are children.