College Street Fights

During my leisurely after-work stroll home, while listening to Brian Eno, I witnessed two violent and simultaneous events near the corner of College and Robert. This happened:

A guy was pushing and shoving another guy on the sidewalk. The pushed one ended up flat on his back in the snow. He covered his face with his coat and hands just as I heard a bicycle bell ring out. So, at the same time - and less than ten feet away from this scuffle - I hear a cyclist screaming at the driver of a mini van, calling him a 'dumb ass' for driving in the bike lane and telling the driver how he had hit his handlebars. It was hard to decide which altercation to follow because the other guy was poking the guy, who was flat on his back in the snow, about the face and telling him to keep out of whatever was going on because it was none of his business. Meanwhile, the cyclist was really screaming at the driver (and, believe me, I sympathize, having been almost pinned between turning cars and parked cars on several occasions).

About eight or nine people turned their attention to the goings on, but no one stepped in. The guy who had his quarry pinned on the sidewalk seemed very unstable to me, but it was clear that he was happy with the intimidation he had brought upon his foe cowering in the snow. No one came to the aid of the cyclist (or the driver, for that matter), mostly because I think people are apathetic to the plight of the urban cyclist in Toronto. As I cycled in today, I reflected on the reality of the situation: the car rules here, despite the large numbers of cyclists in this city.

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