Friday, July 31, 2009

Aaron Love Dies on Bike

I made this image of an unnamed rider on Saturday afternoon at the 24hrs of Booty, this picture is not directly related to the death of Aaron Love. Yesterday morning the on line Charlotte Observer reported the following story:

Bicyclist hits car, dies
By Ely Portilloelyportillo@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Thursday, Jul. 30, 2009
Rush Ave & Brice St Charlotte, NC 28208
A bicyclist died Wednesday afternoon in west Charlotte after hitting a car, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said.
The accident happened at about 12:45 p.m. at the intersection of Brice Street and Rush Avenue, in a residential neighborhood near Martin Luther King Park.
Police said Aaron Love, 46, ran a stop sign and hit the side of a Cadillac that was already in the intersection. Paramedics rushed Love to Carolinas Medical Center, but he died of his injuries.
The driver of the Cadillac, 20-year-old Latarsha Cooper, had not been charged with a crime Wednesday. Police are investigating the accident.

Shortly after the tragic story went up a witty fellow named UncleGeorge posted this comment on the story's on line public forum:

unclegeorge wrote on 07/30/2009 07:34:45 AM:
It is a wonder that one of those downtown bike delivery idiots hasn't gotten squashed yet. The police ought to write them tickets every time they run lights, cross over double yellow lines, etc...

After connecting with the Observer and reading this story I decided to openly respond with my thoughts to UncleGeorge and anyone else who is listening.
Adding to the flame as the fuel accelerates the dance over head high in a mushroom cloud of hot expanding gas outward in all directions. The burning sensation you feel as it rips across your face through your eyes is real and it reminds you that someone who often sat on high mountain summits sent you a written message a few years ago: I'm Burning in Water and Drowning in Flame.

The point noticed here from the view of one of those delivery idiots goes beyond the normal blah, blah, blah response which often clutters up space and time with tit for tat garbage anger. Here whether or not UncleGeorge knows that there are only a dedicated few Messengers actually doing the job in Charlotte will not change his mind, his ignorance will flow eternal like the River Ganges. He obviously may be confused by his own personal interlude with the post Millennium anomaly in town known as the Posenger aka Fauxzenger who draws attention to the role of messenger by simply looking like one on the main stage as if they were on the A Team. Thanks a lot yahoos. UncleGeorge's little mind prolly would not change either if he knew that over my 11 year career wearing the bag that I have been pulled over total of 4 times for blowing lights uptoon, 3 times selectively by the same CMPD officer and once by high brass in a white and blue sedan. In 2 of the three encounters by the same shield I was issued a citation/summons that had me appear in court only to have the DA dismiss the charge through the judicial process. The DA may have more significant criminal acts to prioritize the prosecution of which would explain those really long lines at the Courthouse and the overflowing jail pods across the street. The High Brass incident was interesting because after he ran me for warrants we actually had a discussion based on the truth. His view would not change even if UncleGeorge gave consideration to Travis Hugh Culley's document that the auto viper is bad joke on the planet where the muddy not pedal friendly streets were paved in towns across this fine nation long before the invention of the motor car. There really is too much to think about.

What might change his mind would be a long inward look at himself in full light, up close, his own eyes staring back at himself in a crystal clear mirror. Would what he saw then do it? A reflection into the soul of the one who reads a story about someone dying and feels the need to comment by rationalizing in his mind. Go Deep with a knee jerk and very predictable reaction. Throw something out there, label it so you understand it, put it up there on the shelf and have expectations about its outcome that way your own misunderstanding of world around you can be justified. Do your own eyes see inward past your core light pulse towards the base of your feet?

I am truly sorry about the death of Aaron Love whom I never met but may have crossed paths with at some point during this two wheeled transfer that has become my livity. His passing has however brought significant meaning to me as well my continued understanding of the world that I am surrounded by and the emotional capacity of the human culture in the now, this one magical instant before us. Progress up to this point in an about to Pop culture, keep thinking America.

Big thanks to Team Dicky for telling me yesterday about the Charlotte Observer forum that Uncle George's comment about the death of Aaron love was posted on. Without his infamous ubiquity I would have never known that such compassion existed so close and yet so far.

Side Note:
Asheville Firefighter Charles Alexander Diez(like deez nuez) shoots man on bike.

2 comments:

James E Good said...

That's great - I used Tunnel Road in Asheville on my 3,600 mile commute home... One more reason why we all should wear helmets...

Thoughts go out to Love's family, dying on a bike is no way to go

Anyways, riding a bike isn't to be rushed, there's no reason to blow stop signs

Anonymous said...

Bill- read the crap on the Asheville paper comments defending the firefighters choice to shoot. Truly crazy...mikeb