Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Stop In The Name Of The Law!

Did you know its against the law to ride a bicycle through the Oakland Mills village center? I didn't know and I didn't give much attention to the black man sitting on the planter yelling at me to get off my bike. At first I thought what's his malfunction?

Last Friday, I was biking back from an interview with Linda Morris at the lakefront. I ride across the pedestrian bridge and took a detour through the village center to take a few pictures. On my way out, pedaling casually, the man stopped me and said I had to get off my bike and walk it or he'd call the police. "OK man, you do that, have a nice one," I replied coolly. Just to be sure, I read the list of rules on the corner of the block of stores on my way out.

Lo and behold, the use of rollerskates, scooters, skateboards and bicycles is prohibited. What a stupid rule I thought. While we're on the subject, Oakland Mills is as much a village center as Al Roker is a fortune teller. Sure it has the makings of a village center with a grocery store and a string of shops. But behind that, aside from the ice rink, there's nothing. It sucks.

As I pedaled out of the village center by Bangkok Gardens, I remembered the pale blue trailer near the bus stop that houses Howard County Police, oops. As I turned the corner, down the sidewalk, I glanced back in time long enough to see a cruiser rounding the corner. What a waste of resources.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your blog's alright, but it could definitely use some seasoning. You're much better at observing than pontificating. Keep your eyes and mind open and dig a little deeper; you might learn something or, at the very least, gain a little perspective.

Dave W said...

Just this past Saturday, we managed to hit four different places at the Oakland Mills Village Center in one trip. We had a party Saturday, so we needed to pick up some soda and chips from Food Lion and beer from the Liquor Store, dropped off my suit at the dry cleaners, and finished it off with a quick bite to eat from Vennaris....

macsmom said...

Out of curiosity, are you an OM Resident? and
What is your definition of a Village Center?

Jack said...

Actually I'm an Owen Brown Resident. Techincally Oakland Mills has a village center but in my opinion, Owen Brown and Oakland Mills don't have village centers. They used to but the developers f--ked them up to the point where they are simply shopping centers in the middle of villages.