Electronics exam at 8 am. At 7.30 am, I was getting prepared, gloves, head light, and rear light on. Trying to be chill, telling myself this exam didn't make the day any different even though it was an important exam. It was just another winter morning, another normal day. On my bike, I should be able to arrive at school before 8 if I left home at 7.40 am. I didn't want to arrive too early either because I didn't want to wait there in the exam room, because I got more anxious the longer I had to wait for an exam to start. It was time. So I got to downstairs to get my bike.
"Where is my bike?!!" was my first thought. It was hard to believe. I never thought my bike to be stolen there. The building I stay in needs digicode to enter. I parked it downstairs, it was still within the building which should be safe. There is a bar at the ground floor of the building. So the only other ways to get to my bike are either through the bar or through the back door. But the back door is always locked, it can only be opened by my landlord. Plus I always lock my bike even I park it downstairs.
I panicked for awhile. I went to the bar to ask the bartender for more details about last night from 7 pm to 12 am, the time where my bike could only be stolen. However, they didn't notice much. That is understandable, I knew my hope was slim anyway. My landlord was there at the bar that morning too. He told me earlier that morning when he had passed by there, the bike had been long gone. There was no time to deal with the lost. I needed to get to the exam in time. So I hopped onto tram and to school I went.
I know, that whole day, there was no smile on my face. It was a familiar feeling, since this was not the first time my bike got stolen. A shred of anger kept lingering in me. I so wanted to punch the person who stole it. It was a white Nakamura, my bestie for three years. Most people's bikes are normally broken down or in bad shape after 2 years because most people don't really give a damn to constantly maintain their bikes. However, my Nakamura was still kicking ass after three years, still able to climb mountains and shit. It was almost my legs. Without Nakamura, I was a handicapped.
It feels strange that how much connection there can be between a human and an inanimate object. It suddenly reminds me of Cast Away and Wilson. While dealing with the anger and the sadness from the lost in the tram on the way back home after the exam, I was also wondering if I should immediately buy a new bike. Sitting in the tram, a quick look around, then I remembered the reason why I had chose to cycle in the first place : public transport was too depressing for me.
Yes, I find public transport depressing but I can't tell exactly why. I have been a cyclist for so long now, another fact also becomes crystal clear : I am no longer fit to take public transports. I am just so used to the feeling of freedom on a bike, free to go anywhere, anywhen, no fix charted route like public transports do and especially no worry of annoying public transport strike. On my bike, I feel in charge of my own time management.
In the tram, I suddenly felt trapped. At that precise moment, I became aware that getting a new bike was no longer a choice. It was a must.
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