time is on your side

I have plans.  I have ambitions.

If you ask most anyone who knows me, I have something that I am working on.

Big plans

The kind of plans that get me rejected for a job because I am

"obviously not looking to stay here long-term - you know, to make this your career."

{Hm}

All my life I have had people say, "slow down, take it easy, don't kill yourself...!"

You've got so much time.

You've got so much time to accomplish what you want to accomplish.

Enjoy yourself!

And all my life those admonitions have given me a rash the size of Montana.

{Seriously}

a.

I am enjoying myself.

b.

I am enjoying myself AND I have plans.

c.

I do much better when life/a job/things are a little challenging.  

{this is for real}

d.

None of the above are mutually exclusive.

{and that might not make sense to you}

In fact, at this moment, life is a little crazy.

It makes me crazy and I feel a smidge claustrophobic but the truth is: I like it that way.

At this moment, I have plans that extend pretty darn far.

 I recently met with my supervisor, and she said to me,

"Daphne, the good news is, you have time..."

For the first time, those words felt like salve to some anxiety that was mounting.

She spoke wisdom into my life.

Statement of fact:
you have time.

No need to tell me to slow down 

{that'd be futile, obvi}

No need to tell me to enjoy myself 

{because she can see how much i am enjoying myself, even if things are not going according to plan}

No need to warn me against killing myself 

{because one might need a little sadomasochism to get where i wanna go}

And just like that, those words I hated so much were transformed:

Time is on your side.

{yes, it is}

daphne's bicycle season part two: advocacy

Now that I have garnered a bit of ego strength for my cycling habit, I find myself entering the part of the season where the advocate in me swells.  This is the part of the season where want to shout:

People!

Even if you cannot get your skinny rubber tires on the road, supporting non-motorists on the road has many benefits to offer you!

{yes, you, the motorist}

For instance, non-motorized travel has a positive impact on the environment, reduces traffic congestion {yep, even if someone is cycling below the speed limit in your lane},

lowers our collective dependence on non-renewable energy sources such as oil, reduces individual transportation costs, and has a positive impact on one's health and wellness.

Did you know that nearly 40% of all motorized trips are "short" trips that are bike-able or walk-able?

Even before the cost of gas rose so high, AAA estimated the average cost of operating one's car for a year to be approximately $9,600 {consuming about 20% of an average household's income}. 

In contrast, the annual cost of owning and operating a bicycle is $120.

Walking is free.

In 2009, AAA calculates total vehicle operation costs at $54 per 100 miles.  So anytime you are able to replace a short trip (4 miles, round trip) with cycling or waling, you are essentially saving $2.16.

That can add up.

{just sayin'}

How about the benefits for Mother Earth?

Replacing the same short, 4-mile round trip commute with a non-motorized option saves 15 pounds of emissions pollutants from the air we breathe.

In Washtenaw county {where I live}, 

the American Community Survey reports 164,127 employees commute to work. 

74% of those commuters drive alone.

12% car-pooled or utilized public transportation {not taxi}.

Almost 9% utilzed non-motorized modes of transportation.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that the 14,260 non-motorized commuters each travel 4 miles, round trip, per day.  Calculations would suggest that they alone save

213,900 pounds of pollutants

from entering the air each day.

{that is one county, in one day}

And if the same group of commuters is choosing a non-motorized mode Monday through Friday, that is a savings of over one million pounds of pollutants from entering the air we breathe...
each week!

{that's a lot of pounds of pollution}

So every cycling season I start getting all sorts of riled up about non-motorized transportation.

And despite the complexity of advocacy, the things that get me the most riled up are:

cyclists not cycling safely, pedestrians not walking safely, and motorists not regarding the safety of non-motorists as they drive.

Here's the thing:

We know the benefits but we just need to make the decision to get out there.

And part of getting out there is educating one another on how to get out there safely.

Because a person considering using non-motorized modes of transportation feels the threat to their safety {here comes that cyclist-inferiority complex again}, which often acts as a primary deterrent -
despite what one knows about the obvious health, economic, and environmental benefits.

Yo.

I know many of our circumstances preclude the choice to utilize non-motorized modes of travel -
even the occasional choice.

However, we can all choose to learn about and educate one another about how to safely share the road.

And to use what we know.

Respectfully.

{It's a win-win}
and p.s. Don't forget your helmet.

behind bars

A prisoner came in to the ER with a significant health issue.

"Critical patient in Resus Alpha"

{This is my cue}

Partway to the trauma bay I am stopped by a colleague who states, 

"Resus A is a prisoner so you don't need to go down there."

{Hm}

My colleague continued,

"Prisoners don't have rights.  While here, the prison is their family; it is the decision of prison staff to determine whether a patient's medical condition merits family of origin contact."

{As if a prisoner is somehow less human, less scared, less ill...and what about the family...do they have rights...will they receive support?}

An urgent page took me on to the next patient but this exchange leaves me feeling unsettled. 

It feels a bit like a breach in my ethics...as a clinician but also as a human being.

What do you think?

daphne's bicycle season part one: ego strength

It is bicycle season again!

This week as I perch on the edge of a chair or climb the stairs, my body reminds me of this season.

But when I am on the road, I hardly notice my muscles and tuchus are sore as I pedal from place to place.  

{Love: Hate}

Beyond the soreness of getting back into the saddle, however, this season tends to start with a little conflict as I {re}develop my bicycle ego strength.

Each year I set a goal to replace at least two car trips each week with bicycle trips.  My goal was initiated out of the realization that I typically commute less than three miles to work or play and with the seasonal road construction, it takes me longer and longer to travel by car.   In addition, the rise in gas prices and my ever-increasing awareness  {ask me sometime what I envision/think every time I turn the key in the ignition} of emissions pollution from my car use make it difficult to ignore the benefits of non-motorized travel.

So every year, I pump air into my bike tires, strap on my helmet, and hit the road!

And every year my presence on the road {because that's where I prefer to ride and p.s. that's where bikes are "supposed" to ride} is met with motorists yelling {or displaying} obscenities, giving obnoxious honks {you try biking up this hill, yo!}, and motorists buzzing me as they pass or clipping me at intersections.

{I am pretty sure I am not invisible}

And for the first 3 weeks I ride, I feel exhilarated with the freedom from the confines of motorized travel but also discouraged in my efforts to share the road.  Every time I ride I have to tell myself: 

{you have a right to be here...you have a right to be here...you have a right to be here...}

You see, intellectually, I am confident of my right to be on the road but the experiences I have push back at that confidence, reinforcing what John Forester refers to as cyclist-inferiority 

{a false belief that cyclists are inferior to motorists}.  

In other words, I feel pressured to get off the road from motorists' {false} sense of superiority.

{Lame, yeah?}

One year, in an attempt to assuage my anxiety, I started looking in the Michigan bicycling laws and other related information to find what I already knew: bicycles are recognized as vehicles under Michigan state law and cyclists share the right, with motorists, to travel on the road.  As an additional note, cyclists are required to obey traffic laws, which include stopping at lights and stop signs, signaling when turning or stopping {which reminds me I need a refresher on how to signal when I am stopping}, and riding as far right in a lane as safely possible.

And so this year, I am once again reminded of my rights {and responsibilities} as I get on the road again - using my skinny rubber tires to get from here to there.

{I have a right to ride here...I have a right to ride here...I have a right to ride here...}