If you’re coming from the Balkans, where “order” is
more like a French grammar rule that just exist to be violated, especially
since everyone around you act like this, you’ll probably find it difficult not
that much to learn, but to follow the rules… with no exceptions! Here the
strict north human nature blossoms at its best, yet still people seem not
tensed at all. But as much as you enjoy when everything has its own place,
there’s always one breakpoint where you just need to release. What do Dutch do?
No, it’s not smoking weed as most of you think. When something is allowed, it’s
not really that interesting.
It’s
biking! Yeah, believe it or not! Holland, universally recognized by its
extremely wide usage of bikes that are just the only way to exist here, uses
biking to steam out! This may probably answer the question why those people are
so crazy for bikes. On a bike, you’re everything, you’re allowed everything,
and you can go anywhere! Correction, you must go everywhere with your bike,
otherwise you’re not really considered a person.
Not
only that – a biker is the king of the road! Traffic rules here by principle
are extremely well obeyed – in a city by car you really drive only about 20% of
the time, because you constantly make a way for pedestrians and bikers.
Logically, the order would give advantage to the pedestrian, then the biker,
then the car or the public transport, but not here. Here the biker simply
dominates above everyone and everything – not even making an effort to stop on
a crossroad or pedestrian line.(if even out of purely safety reasons). His
Majesty The Biker rides freely on sidewalks (although there are numerous
specifically designed lines for biking), parks everywhere, only gives signals
for left or right if he woke up in the proper mood and speed limit does not
exist for him. Those of us used with the Sofia car traffic situation will find
thousand similarities! If you ever drove a car in Sofia, on a bike in
Netherlands you’ll feel at home.
Dutch
are exclusively polite and obey other people’s preferences, private space,
social boundaries, rules. Yet, when it comes to biking, every single Dutch on
wheels seems to forget normal behavior – biking here is the way to steam it
out, following no regulations and just smashing everything that comes on your
no-speed-limit way! Being crashed by a bike? Don’t expect excuses, it’s more
likely to hear swearing you were stupid enough to be on a biker’s way. Parking
your bike civilized is not a guarantee others will be civilized in return – you
will most probably find it stuck and covered with other bikes. Nobody really
cares will you be able to get yours out. Much like parking in Sofia. Riding
without lights? Theoretically its subject to fine, practically not really.
Riding as fast as you can, riding everywhere with no speed limit, parking
everywhere, hitting everything on your way, disregarding signals for left and
right – its all there, in Sofia's traffic everyday life and its all here, in a
typical Dutch biking time, time to be out of the system.
And
some final, more like precaution measures remarks, although you can’t really
avoid them whatever you do:
You
left your bike near a canal? Don’t be so stupid next time – on Friday or
Saturday night, it may end up in the water. Why? For someone’s own amusement.
And nobody cares because the second hand bike shops are on each corner. Or you
just bought your second hand bike, invest a fortune in a locker and never seen
them both again? Most surely stolen – not because people cannot buy one for
themselves, but because, let’s say last Saturday someone took theirs and now
they feel the need to recreate the order of the universe by stealing yours. And
then you steal one in return, for the same reason. And the cycling goes on!
Order,
rules, regulations, it’s all here, in the Netherlands. Yet still, keep it calm,
the minute you step on the pedals, you can be as anarchic as you wish.
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