Last April 25, 2018 a handful of local cycling advocates showed up for the Lighten Up Project at MacArthur Highway, Angeles City. Late afternoon found us on a busy section of MacArthur Highway at Balibago, stopping cyclist commuters as they pass by. They are what we call invisible bikers, those from the blue collar working class who choose to bike mainly to save money on transportation. Nearly all of them do not have blinkers, reflective vests or helmets, as these cost extra money that they barely have.
So why were we stopping them? We had a handful of reflective vests and blinkers on hand, and we wanted the bikers to have them so that they would be safer in their journey home. By waves they came, their faces stoic as they pedaled the kilometers away. Most of them shunned us as we called out to them, slaloming away in traffic to escape from us. We were after all strangers and they might be thinking that this might be some sort of trickery. The few that did stop were skeptical at first, but were all smiles when they found out the gear really was for free.
There was a painter, a security guard, several construction workers, a balut vendor. They all left glad for the safety gear they just had, though I suspect that they were happier with the thought that in this harsh world, there are still strangers that reach out to others to lend a helping hand. Let's all make this world a better place by doing kind random acts to people we don't know :)
Thanks to those who helped out in this activity!
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