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Music to their ears
I take issue with Punch Shaw’s Oct. 3 review of the performance by Texas Ballet Theater at Bass Hall. Shaw plaintively bleats about the lack of a live orchestra, noting that the ballet made the decision to forgo the accompaniment for financial reasons and referencing pickets outside the hall from the musicians union.Shaw spent much ink with his lament about the music, but made no attempt to point out to readers that the situation he deplores is entirely within the hands of the readers and Shaw himself to remedy.If he and every Star-Telegram reader would send the ballet a check (no matter how small), the ballet could fund the return of an orchestra and make itself, the players and union members and Fort Worth much happier for having done so.Instead, Shaw chose to beat the ballet’s management and board for making a hard but necessary decision in the face of overwhelming financial challenges. Instead of shuttering the ballet and sending all the dancers packing (along with other jobs in support of their efforts), they had the guts to press on, meet the challenges and refuse to let themselves get beaten down.This is the real story, Mr. Shaw. Quit bleating and help out.— Marc S. Engel, Fort Worth Cyclists their own worst enemyMy daily commute includes Winscott Road near Lake Benbrook, a popular bicycle route. I also work at TCU, where cycling is increasingly popular. I enjoy cycling too.It pains me that so many cyclists exhibit an embarrassing self-righteousness over road issues with motorists. Cyclists are required to observe most of the same traffic laws as motorists, yet most don’t. They routinely blow through red lights and stop signs. They routinely fail to yield to pedestrians. I’ve nearly been plowed over several times by cyclists whizzing past a mere foot away.On public roads, cyclists are required to remain as far right as possible to make it safer and easier for motorists to pass. This means riding single file. Yet weekly, I see cyclists riding two, three, even four abreast, blocking an entire lane. Sometimes, a single cyclist will even ride the middle of the lane.I sympathize with bicycle transit needs, but cyclists are their own worst enemy when it comes to public image. Best to drop both the arrogance and the wounded sanctimony, and instead show as much respect for the transit needs of others as you demand for yourselves.— Dennis Alexander, Benbrook I was a traffic engineer. In an ideal world, cars, trucks and bicycles would be on separate paved roads, but bicycles have the legal right to their traffic lane. Right or wrong, in a collision between a car and a bike, the bike rider loses every time. In an accident between a car and an 18-wheeler, the car always loses. And in a crash between any vehicle and a cement mixer, the cement mixer always wins. Size and speed do matter.There also is a problem with processing information. When we drive a car, we are looking for other vehicles that are at least 6-feet wide and 6-feet tall. As speed goes up, it gets harder to process what we see. We have a hard time processing a 2-foot-wide, 5-foot-tall vehicle going at a significantly slower speed. It is even harder sitting high in an SUV or truck, and gets worse as we get older.
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