A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel (Proverbs 15:18).

The bicycle paths of Amsterdam are the proving grounds for my soul.  Moses had his desert.  Paul had his dungeons.  And I have my bicycle paths to test my character, to evaluate my level of dependence on God.  Will I remain patient and calm, when being cut-off or narrowly side-stepping a collision?  Or will I let my frustrations get the best of me -- saying something or doing something (albeit subtle) to stir up dissension?  Ultimately, it depends on how closely I'm walking with God, how tuned in to His Spirit I am, how much I'm embracing godly wisdom over folly...

The two biggest tests for me, on the bicycle paths of Amsterdam, are the Mac-Bikers and the Scooter-Weenies.

Mac-Bikers are tourists on wheels.  Mac-Bikes is one of the biggest tourist outfitters -- with highly recognizeable red bikes, with a large, white, circular Mac-Bikes logo on the front handlebars -- but they are by no means the only company to fall into this category.  I like to use "Mac-Bikers" as something of a catch-all term.  Now, I should mention that on the theoretical level, I'm all in favor of people (even out-of-towners) getting to see the city by bicycle; it really is the best way to experience Amsterdam.  But on the practical level the Mac-Bikers can be, at best, a mild annoyance for regular Amsterdammers -- and, at worst, a serious safety hazard both to themselves and to others on the bicycle paths of Amsterdam.  Routinely, they'll spend the first 45 minutes on their newly-rented bicycle ringing its bell for the pure novelty of it.  They often make unsignaled turns or sudden stops, and even when they're trying to go in a straight line they'll be hard to predict.  Sometimes, they'll stop in the middle of the bike path to take a picture.  This the the type of behavior that most Amsterdammers have come to expect of Mac-Bikers.  And especially during the summer tourist season, Mac-Bikers are so numerous that it can take a concerted effort to keep a cool head.

And then there's the Scooter-Weenies.  These guys are bonafide Amsterdammers, not tourists.  But I find their antics on the bicycle paths of Amsterdam to be just as insensitive (and perhaps even more insensitive, sometimes) than the foreigners.  Scooter-Weenies are more than just a class of people defined by a certain type of transportation (i.e. "All people who own and drive scooters"); Scooter-Weenies are people who prescribe to a particular lifestyle.  They wear parkas with fur-rimmed hoods.  Their hair is frequently styled in a mullet.  They generally age from 15 to 25.  And they regularly ride, two men on a single Vespa, in and out of traffic -- vaccilating between street and bicycle path at will -- whooping it up, regardless of the safety risks posed to other drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.  You can always hear them coming up behind you, the engine of their scooter like the whine of a large mosquito, so at least you have some time to prepare yourself for some "defensive driving;" but still, you never know what the Scooter-Weenies are going to do.  It's no fun to ride on the bicycle paths when Scooter-Weenies are on the prowl.

But here's the trick:  as much as I tend to dislike Mac-Bikers and Scooter-Weenies, they are an unavoidable part of the Amsterdam landscape.  And while I wish that I could sit all of them down for a thorough lecture about transportation safety, the fact of the matter is that the only person on the bicycle paths of Amsterdam who I can ultimately control is myself.  It's entirely up to me if I respond with hot-tempered dissension or patient quarrel-calming self-control.

It doesn't help anyone to respond with angry stares, harsh words, sharp elbow-stingers, or "love taps" on the wheel or fender of the offensive Mac-Biker or Scooter-Weenie (I'm embarrassed to confess that I am guilty of all of the above forms of hot-tempered manipulation!).  I can tell myself that I'm just doing my part to "educate" clueless tourists or young-punk kids.  But truthfully, such forms of response can only accomplish incitement of some sort of argument or altercation.  They're the flailings of a hot-tempered man.  What I really want to be, though, is a patient man.  I want to be able to take the antics of the Mac-Bikers and Scooter-Weenies in stride and calm the quarrels -- even if I'm the only one who would ever know that a quarrel has been diverted.  If they're clueless or foolish, that's not my problem.  I'm I'm clueless or foolish, though, that's definitely my problem.