So many things could have been worse – apart from the things that could have been better, writes Zoe Williams
Tue 1 Oct 2024 12.00 CESTnoticed Lime bikes almost as soon as they arrived in London, in 2018, because of the teenagers. Let me explain: it’s possible to hack the rentable ebikes – and when I say “hack”, I mean “not pay for”. You just have to pedal as fast as you can and you’re golden. If you haven’t paid, though, they make a loud clicking noise, which some bystanders find annoying, but I perceive as the soundtrack of naughty teenagers living their best life.
This is where my problem originated, I think: that casual association between the Lime and the scofflaw, which became even more pronounced after my brother got into an altercation with a police officer who told him off for salmon-cycling . He was so rude, he told me, that he was amazed he hadn’t been arrested. He put it down to a Lime high. Even when you pay for the bike, its heft and speed relative to a regular push bike gives you a highwayman’s bravado.
Anyway, it’s a fortnight on and my head has recovered. I no longer shudder whenever I walk past a Lime. But I have concluded, regretfully, that I was right the first time: they are a young hoodlum’s game, not an old hoodlum’s game.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy recipe for quesadillas with chicken, lime and corianderIf you have leftover roast chicken from the weekend, this is a lovely way to use it up; if not, I’ve included a quick 15-minute poached chicken method
Read more »
Hundreds of Lime and Neuron e-scooters trucked out of Melbourne as ban deadline loomsOperators of e-scooter share schemes face penalties if rentals are not removed from City of Melbourne streets by midnight
Read more »
‘I want them all crushed’: the council poised to ban ‘dangerous’ Lime bikesIn Brent, local people are upset with abandoned green bikes creating a hazard and teenagers speeding along pavements
Read more »
Why is dating app Feeld so popular? Fetishes and throuples are only part of the storyEstablished apps were taking attitudes to sex and love right back to the 1950s. Thank goodness for something less traditional, writes Zoe Williams
Read more »
Teenagers will always get drunk – so why don’t we just serve them in pubs?Is insisting on ID really about safeguarding or just a habit we’ve fallen into after watching too much American TV? writes Zoe Williams
Read more »
What now for the Spectator under Paul Marshall’s ownership? The signs are pointing further rightLook for clues at the hedge fund manager’s GB News, where militant agitation trumps ratings and integrity, says Guardian columnist Zoe Williams
Read more »