Do The Right Thing – 2025

I rememered today the 1970s anti-littering campaign, “Do The Right Thing”.

Many years later, I still remember all of the words to the song.

Which brings to me 2025.

As much as I love the idea of hire bikes, it seems to me the places people leave them, or the hire companies park them, is the equivalent to the casual way in which we treated littering back in the 1970s.

The placement of these bikes on Devonshire Street, Surry Hills is problematic for people with limited mobility, such as those in wheelchairs or on scooters (like me). I got around these, but other people might find this difficult.

A few times I’ve reported such placement to the hire bike companies involved. They’ve always responded with “thanks for the feedback, we’ll pass it on”. Effectively this is saying “nothing we can do about it, but if I respond in this way, I can tick the box on the issue having been solved”. It’s a common issue with call centre responses these days – get it out of your inbox, and the problem is solved. But it’s not. Obviously we need lots of things, including council regulations, activity by the hire companies, but fundamentally, also, some degree of individual responsibility.

So my message is simple – if you’re going to hire a bike…. DO THE RIGHT THING.