Monique Spencer Responds…Sorta
Written by Boston Biker on Sep 16Remember a while back that absolutely off base op-ed in the globe about sneaking up on cyclists in a hybrid and scaring the crap out of them (it featured talking butts if that helps you remember), well I tried to contact the Author Monique Spencer to get her involved in a more productive dialog…and she responded…sorta. I have been waiting for weeks for her to get back to me so I thought perhaps I would publish our correspondence in the hopes that it gets her to respond.
I contacted her after tracking down her email on one of her blogs (she hadn’t provided a way in the original op-ed for people to get a hold of her)
Hello
I run BostonBiker.org. I read your recent Op-ed in the Boston Globe and frankly found it, well less than stellar. However in the interest of good will I would like to invite you on a bike ride through the city. It doesn’t have to be with me, it could be with anyone, but I think that after you ride around on a bike for a while you might see things from a different point of view. Plus it seems a shame you are forced to drive in this town, driving in Boston traffic seems like some sort of punishment, and you seem like a nice lady.
Anyway if you are interested in responding to my response to your op-ed it is here, and if you would like to discuss bike stuff more feel free to check out my website (it has most of my views on bikes and bike related things) and let me know what you think.
BostonBiker.org
After about a week and a half I get this (poor in my opinion) response.
Thanks for your note, and yes, I did read your piece. Unlike many cyclists, you did not threaten me or my family, which is not a terribly persuasive way to make a point!
Unfortunately my cycling days are over, along with horseback riding, both activities that have given me great joy. Otherwise I would happily accept your offer. It would be fun to cycle Boston with someone who knows what they’re doing. I have to restrict my exercise to water.
Thanks for writing. I had hoped to start the road to a fair ground for everybody but after receiving 90 percent extremely hateful comments it’s hard for me to imagine helping that effort.
I’m glad you wrote,
Monique Doyle Spencer
Frankly that sounded like a blow off to me, so I tried again with a longer more detailed response…
Hello Monique
I would never think of threatening anyone, as a cyclist on the streets of Boston I have been honked at, had things thrown at me, told to “get off the road”, had people threaten to kill me, had people bump into me with cars, had people run me off the side, etc. I know the terror of having a couple thousand pounds of car miss you by mere inches. These things were done mostly by people who are trying to get to the next red light several seconds faster. I would never wish that on anyone.
I have to point out that in your op-ed you stopped just short of threatening violence against cyclists, you may not have realized this, but that is how a lot of people saw it. If you take a slow rider, or an inexperienced rider and you sneak up on them, say in a prius, and honk the horn loudly behind them, they can lose control of their bicycle, fall under the wheel of the vehicle and have bones forcible broken, or die. Imagine for a moment what that would be like, and you will see that it was not funny at all. I am not sure you took that into account when you wrote your piece. Like you said threatening people is not a terribly effective way to make a point.
I don’t want to mince words with you, I found your op-ed pretty off-base. I thought you advocated a “me first” attitude that in no way will make anyone’s life better on the road, and as I stated above I think you feed into the “cyclists don’t belong on the street, lets harass them” mentality. Weather you did this by design, or by accident makes little difference to people who read it without knowing you personally. Perhaps the fact that you received 90% hateful responses would indicate that you were unsuccessful in starting a dialog.
If you take some time to read through my other opinion pieces on my site you will see that we actually share views (on laws, on how they should be enforced and other points), I would love to think that we could come to some sort of middle ground. Perhaps we could meet over coffee and talk about this, or perhaps we could simply dialog over email. I would be happy to chat, I would also like to offer you the chance to write a follow up on my site. I don’t think you are a bad person, I simply think that you might not have considered all the implications of your writing, especially when it is published in a nationwide newspaper.
Just remember every person on a bike is one less person in a car taking up space on the road, more bikers = less traffic
BostonBiker.org
The ball is in your court Monique, I would really like to further this dialog, and if you have enough get up and go to bother to publish an Op-ed in a national newspaper you should have the courage of your own convictions to respond to a critic.
Tags: boston globe, Monique Spencer, Op-Ed
Posted in advocacy, bostonbiker, education | 5 Comments »
By Monique Doyle Spencer
on Sep 16, 2009 | Reply
Hi Boston Biker – I don’t recall getting your second e-mail so I apologize that you got no response! I did write to Nicole Freedman, by the way, on her Facebook page. I had heard her idea of writing a funny opposing piece – maybe I heard that from you, I can’t remember – and I offered to write it together! Her idea is great. Have not heard yet. Anyway, yes, I am open to dialog if you think there is a way I could be helpful on this issue.
Sincerely,
Monique Doyle Spencer
By Boston Biker
on Sep 16, 2009 | Reply
Well gosh, that worked better than I would have thought, if you wish to write a response addressing the concerns I had with your original piece, I would be happy to publish it, if you wanted to further our conversation you can reach my by the same email I used to contact you originally (I will send this by email as well.) If you would like to publish a joint op-ed piece with me (or Nicole) I can try and help that happen. I am glad you responded, I look forward to working with you more to dialog about these issues.
By Paul
on Sep 16, 2009 | Reply
Boston Biker, this is why I love you. Cheers to you and to Monique. I agree with you that I doubt she understood the level of threat of personal harm that came through in her piece. And, to be honest, I agree with your original post that blame should also lie with the Globe editorial department.
By teeheehee
on Sep 16, 2009 | Reply
I just wanted to point out… on your trackbacks for the “Ted” post was an interesting article: it details how the British celebrity James Martin made a similar horn-honking joke: linky.
Naturally, the response from the cycling community was immediate and deep. Among those decrying the “joke” were some noted professional cyclists. The response caused the site hosting the original article to cut off all commenting, and within short order a public apology was posted by J.M.
Now, I try to keep myself as calm and civil a fellow as possible when confronting something quite bitter; I find it is too often difficult to break down the barriers of another person’s very different perspective when rage is the dominant expression. I am somewhat ashamed that some large percentage of response from the community to Monique was probably quite visceral (probably even threatening.) But, then, how can one show the deeply passionate view that so many cyclists have: dangerous jokes often lead people to accept dangerous behavior, and I may be on the receiving end of that behavior.
More simply put: a joke like this can get someone killed. No joke.
I am sure there are many reasons to appreciate the company and values Monique brings with her writing. It is very easy to say or write something that is taken the wrong way, and very difficult to go back to smooth the waters if that happens. I hope something positive comes out of this effort.
By mtalinm
on Nov 28, 2009 | Reply
to add some statistics to the discussion, an NHTSA found that hybrid vehicles are more than twice as likely to injury or kill pedestrians & cyclists as regular cars.
and yes, the reason given for this is that they don’t make noise and aren’t as noticeable – ironically, the very characteristic Monique glorifies in her piece.
color me disgusted.