An old episode of “The Simpsons” ends with a list of some stupid things that the city of Springfield has allowed itself to do. In addition to an overpriced and pointless light rail, this also includes the escalator to nowhere. Because a committed citizen recently informed the press about his correspondence with the town hall, it was remembered again.
Contrary to what one would expect, for once it wasn’t about the second main track, even if its story is a never-ending Simpsons episode. Rather, the author, a Mr. J. from Allach, spent a hundred days looking for cycle paths into nowhere, i.e. those that end suddenly, which is why the cyclists end up back on the road. This is indeed a highly peculiar Munich phenomenon. You pedal along, suddenly you feel like a lonely cyclist on the country road, like a small narrow intruder in the living space of the SUVs.
Because he didn’t want to leave the search alone, Mr J. reported a cycle path leading to nowhere to Mayor Dieter Reiter by email every day for a hundred days .
Now, it’s more common for politicians to slip away from something that perhaps they should have kept to themselves, whether it’s on Twitter or socializing with the common people. If you had only remained silent, Reiter will have thought so many times since then, or at least the office worker who handles the daily emails. According to his own statements, J. not only sent factual messages, but also polemics and diatribes.
The SZ does not have the latter, which is why it cannot be said whether the lyrical level is more in the direction of the great Munich poet Eugen Roth (“A person has clearly seen for years: / The situation is quite untenable. / Alone – the longest, unfortunately, / the unsustainable in the world stops.”), or more childlike à la “Rider, rider, nothing goes on. / Lord jeh, OB, touch a toe”.
Mr. J.’s remarks must have had a certain entertainment value. And he wants to continue doing important educational work, even if, as Mr. J. writes, no longer every day. It is possible that this announcement in the hundredth e-mail caused such great joy in the mayor’s office that they are now considering giving him the city’s “Munich shines” medal of merit. That is, as long as Mr J. hasn’t ended up in Reiter’s spam folder.