Things Which Could Be Prevented

Warning: the contents of this post include a very graphic image.

Today I was in Bremen, with the idea of visiting the market there and generally having a good time. All in all, I managed it, had a wonderful time and saw many things which will remain. The market place was packed with mostly good-natured people out to have fun, some of them dressed up, some just wandering around, looking and enjoying. I saw a man built like a brick outhouse wearing pink tennis shoes; groups of women in frilly dresses; groups of men wearing lederhosen. But there were other things too, not just there but also on the way there.

Photo Credit: The guenni – Creative Commons

Traveling in the bus we stopped to pick up passengers and one got in, a young man, who was rude – despite the earliness of the day – and bad-tempered. He objected to having his bus pass checked by the driver, threatened to report him. When he got out some of the women, in their frilly dresses, sang him a song he cannot possibly have missed: we think you’re shit, go home.

And then there were the other people on the road, mainly cyclists. They rode next to one another and blocked all passage; they rode through red lights; crossed the path of cars and the bus without signaling. I saw hardly anyone wearing a helmet – they are not required by law here – but several with a helmet strapped on their bikes. And this image came to mind, something the content managers I mentioned yesterday didn’t catch.

Screenshot Source: Twitter

I wonder what she had planned for that day, wherever it was, her hair all brushed and caught back in a short ponytail. She was young, that much is clear. Somewhere her parents, her family, perhaps a boy- or girlfriend were waiting for her. Would she have survived with a helmet? I don’t know. But this is one of the images which, although it has nothing to do with my day out in Bremen, will remain with me.

Love & Kisses, Viki.

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