The linked article from Commute by Bike reminds me of the conversation with my Mom about getting a replacement fan after mine broke “You can’t carry a fan on your bike.” she exclaimed. Well here is my bike carring a 16″ fan:
Seriously, rethink what you can do with a bike. It’s also kind of funny as that’s her bike with a basket on it with paper to go to the local recycling, she sort of gets it.
A bit from the article:
My friend Michael related a conversation about transportation costs that he had recently with “Cheryl,” a social services professional who works with low income families. Michael assumed Cheryl had a good deal of insight into the challenges faced by people who struggle to make ends meet on minimum wage. He commented to her that given the employment and economic uncertainty that nearly everyone is facing, more transportation funding/planning/consideration should be devoted to public transit and bicycle infrastructure. To his surprise, Cheryl exclaimed, “bicycle what!?”
…Cheryl didn’t understand. “Well, how are bicycles supposed to help with that?”
“People can bike to work or use them to go grocery shopping…if you don’t have to worry about car repair, you can buy food, pay the rent.” Did I mention that Michael is from a rather well-to-do family and has never faced nor will he ever likely face this situation himself? And he’s explaining this stuff to a social worker…
“Who would use a bicycle to go grocery shopping? You can’t go grocery shopping on a bicycle. Nobody does that!”
Michael was becoming exasperated. “People do it all the time. A lot of people do. Look around- people bike all over Flagstaff.” Michael is relating this story to me as we sit in a bar on South San Francisco Street. Cyclists whiz by, one after the other. My husband is among them and within minutes, he has joined us in the bar, bike helmet in hand.
Of course, Cheryl has never seen anyone bike anywhere in Flagstaff or apparently anywhere else. Ever! “Nobody would do that.”
“Well, I do. I bike in to work almost every morning and my wife and I bike to the grocery store all the time. We put our groceries on a bike trailer and in panniers,” said Michael.
…
https://www.commutebybike.com/2011/10/01/people-who-should-know-better/oldId.20111002002114170