Things That Can Be Carried on a Bike #740…and a couple other things.

Things That Can Be Carried on a Bike #740…and a couple other things.

This is a two-part post, firstly it is a post from my series, “Things That Can Be Carried on a Bike;” this is number 740 in the series. The other is something which happened while capturing this image, it’s sort of a message shrouded in the original photo and post. I hope you read to the end.

On the bike...42 live vegetable plants, a new watering can, a package of plant-based sausage, two pounds of organic plant food, and a very ripe avocado. And the following is what happened while on the way home.

I had stopped to capture this image when I noticed an elderly man sitting on a set of steps not far away, so after packing up the camera I approached him and offered him a couple gift cards and he accepted. So what’s my point? It is twofold.

One is that I believe people are still good, despite the chaos in which we sometimes find ourselves. A few months ago I commented that a person had given me gift cards to restaurants for the sole purpose for me to give away to street people. Since then I’ve had additional people give or send cards for the same purpose. Some have been local but others have come in from as far as Georgia, Florida, and Canada. Put simply, people want to help.

The other thing is that while I do post photos and stories of some of the people I meet I don’t post them all. This is the case with a man today. I find that people on the street, when you talk to them as an equal, will be honest, sometimes brutally honest. Today I heard this man’s story but did not ask to take his photo or post it on social media. He was honest and his story—I believe—is too personal.

And this is what I am thinking about as I type these words and prepare to go to a demonstration later this evening, which hopefully will remain peaceful, and is in response to the murder of George Floyd.

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”—Anne Frank