Don’t Put Yourself, Where you are Not Meant to be!

This is an account of an incident that actually happened. It doesn’t show the best of what cyclists can do, but it does demonstrate why we all shouldn’t put ourselves, where we are not meant to be.

There was a cyclist who on his journey to work came to a certain junction.

At this junction it was quicker and easier to go onto the pavement to go past it.

After a time the cyclist realised that if he went on the wrong side of the road for a very short space, then he could navigate the junction just a little bit quicker and easier.
No one was hurt or put out by the cyclist doing this, and thus a new way of navigating the junction was made into a routine for the cyclist.

Each day the cyclist would come to the junction, look to make sure that the wrong side of the road was clear, then just use the wrong side of the road for a very short section, of the road. Another day of passing through the junction at a better pace, without causing anyone any issues. …. ???

Until one day….
One day the cyclist was a bit distracted. Something was going through the cyclists mind as he approached the junction.
So instead of checking that the way was clear, the cyclist just went onto the wrong side of the road, as had been done, sooo many times before, and had now become the norm… only this time… a car was coming on the other side of the road…. The right side of the road!

DANGER AHEAD !!!

“Oh Dear!!???” (And a great many other things) went through the cyclists head. “What am I doing, and how did I get here???” Also went through the cyclists head.

The car driver, probably thought (and quite rightly so) many similar sorts of things.

Fortunately for all, there was enough space for the cyclist to pull to the side, so the car could pass by without incident, (other than both people thinking, “What is going on?”)

The cyclist then sheepishly made his way to the pavement, and then tried to fathom out, what had just happened???

It was soon worked out. The cyclist had been doing the wrong thing, and getting away with it for sooo many times that it had just become normal thing to do. The wrong normal thing.
The cyclist liked the quicker way go through the junction, and nobody was hurt or put out…. Until the day it all went wrong!
Because the cyclist was were he shouldn’t have been.
The cyclist, in a moment, vowed to never put himself in such a silly position ever again.

It would be very easy to read this account and then want to go on a witch hunt for the said cyclist and bring him to task for his actions. But no such hunt is necessary.
The cyclist knew that he had done wrong.
Repented of his wrong actions and vowed to never repeat, said action again.

Are there times when we go and put ourselves in a similar position to the cyclist?
Do we ever take a short cut with something, even though we know it’s not quite the right way to do …… ?
Do we then get away with taking our short cut for a time?
Can we then start to think that our short cut is a better way to do ……. as it had worked well for sooo many times in the past?
Will we come to a day when it won’t work??? …..
Will we then come to a moment of “DANGER AHEAD!!!” ???
Could we steer clear of such a moment by doing what is right instead of taking our convenient short cut, that could lead to …???