May 26th, 2008 / Cycling Chat / 6 Comments
How Do You Define Yourself?
Since May is bike month in America there have been numerous articles around the blogosphere about bicycle commuting. All this has got me thinking about the real cause of people not commuting by bicycle. Sure there are many reasons often mentioned such as safety issues and lack of facilities. But the one I want to focus on is distance - it’s just too far for me to ride my bike.
Why should distance be an issue? Most people in the Western world have a reasonable choice of where they live and where they work. You would think the decision process around this would be pretty straightforward - choose the place where you and your family most want to live and then find a job in a reasonably nearby location.
But we don’t live in that world. Instead we live in a world where primary importance is placed on career success and much of our status as individuals is defined by the job we do. One outcome of this is that many people have very long commutes.
Attached to this focus on career are many other status symbols we strive for every day.
- The Job Title - “Senior Executive Vice President General Manager of Sales, Marketing and Distribution”
- The Most Perks - the designated car spot often positioned so the rest of the employees have to walk past it on their way through the front door
- The Best Car - the shiny metal box in which we can drive to work
- The Biggest House - the concrete box in which we store the shiny metal box
Unfortunately the bicycle doesn’t really fit into this equation.
If you are interested in finding out how society got into this situation I highly recommend the book Better Than Sex : How A Whole Generation Got Hooked On Work
And in case you thought that this was the only way to do things, think about the Family on Bikes who are living a completely alternate, and arguably far more enjoyable, way of life.
Your Homework
Homework, what do you mean homework? This isn’t Fight Club you know!
How many times have you been in a social situation and met someone new where the conversation starts a little awkwardly. Most people pretend some degree of interest in the other person and ask a question such as “So What Do You Do?”. This is the point where we normally jump right in and define ourselves by our job. “I work at ABC company as the Head of Investor Relations responsible for blah blah”…..BORING! BORING! BORING!
Your homework this week is to change your normal answer to this question and define yourself by your life not your job. So when you meet someone new you need to answer something like “Well I really enjoy spending time with my family and am also a keen cyclist. In fact I am currently training for a two week cycling trip around California”.
So how do you define yourself?
6 Responses to “How Do You Define Yourself?”
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May 26th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
This sure tickles the Id. I did at one time define myself by my job, but after my first wife’s death, that all changed. For two years I did almost nothing but ride my bikes. Now i do define myself as a cyclist, computer (I wish geek) lover, and my marriage to my very well loved wife. Mostly cyclist……while it isn’t a lot by most standards, I do, on my birthday, a mile for every year of my life. This year, I will do 77 miles. Sixteen to twenty of my closest cycling friends join me, and we pig out after the ride. My wife bakes the best pies.
Love this site. found it yesterday.
May 26th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Pete, I couldn’t agree with you more. I believe here in America that we’ve become dependent upon work, our cars, and the need to have the latest and greatest. I think that the mortgage crisis was the first rung of correction here in America and gas prices is the second. Those two things (mortgage crisis and gas prices) are changing the face of America and a lot of people are paying the consequences.
Great article.
May 27th, 2008 at 5:40 am
Herr Fahrrad Schwein,
You’ve hit on something really fundamental here. Great observations. Who I am is the possibility of being a contribution. Everything else comes from that.
Thanks for the reminder :)
May 27th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
@Bryan, @Arlyn: Thanks for the helpful comments. I am glad you liked the article.
@frank75riz: Thanks for dropping by. Looks like you have been through some challenging times. But it all sounds good now :-)
May 28th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Americans work the longest hours of any industrialized nation and I think we’re all borderline psychotic in how driven we are in our jobs, but men (in particular) defining themselves through work is as old as history. Think of family names: Miller, Baker, Mason, Farmer, Smith, Cook, Brewster, Clark, Thatcher, Carter, Taylor, Parker, Turner, Walker, Ward, Webster and so forth.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
@Fritz: not only do Americans work really long hours but also generally get only 10 days annual leave per year. In Australia 20 days is standard and in England you generally get 25 days.