Sometimes I say: I've become a bike professional! Because it's true: I've been riding as a courier for CROW since February. People ask me if that isn't insanely exhausting. If it isn't absurdly dangerous. If the cars don't stress me out. The people. The noise.
And yes: there are days that are genuinely exhausting. When I'm having a bad day, when Berlin's having a bad day, when after 5 months of drought it suddenly rains non-stop for 2 weeks. And when there's just a lot going on, colleagues are out sick, and Ute Bonde is posting nonsense on Instagram again.
And sure, it's dangerous, swimming through traffic all day on a cargo bike. More dangerous, at least, than not doing that, how could I deny it?
But I like being out there. I like the grime, the noise, even the cars, as strange as that might sound coming from a bike courier. We're all connected in this city. Nowhere is that clearer to me than out on the street.
When I ride, I see the other couriers and tradespeople. I run into office workers and the people in cafés: eating and drinking out front, cooking and hauling things in the back. I encounter students, parents, tourists. One person throws trash on the street. Another picks it up. I see who heads out early, who gets home late, and for whom the question doesn't even arise, because "home" is simply Berlin.
I ride for all of them. I ride for you.
I used to work in management consulting: explaining organizational structures to people, digging into how workplaces are set up, sitting with people over the question: how can we work together better here?
It's a good profession. When someone asks, I still enjoy putting myself into other people's worlds. I genuinely have nothing against office work, the global economy, optimization, telecommunications, production, the DAX...
But when no one's asking me right now: then I'm out delivering your bread. Coffee beans. Wine. I get your blood samples to the lab quickly and cameras to set on time. I bring the forgotten key to the airport and your document to the embassy.
What would it be like if everyone just had what they needed, right when they needed it? If all of it were simple? If we were good to each other, with patience, ease, and joy in doing it? I really do love riding a bike. And all of you are riding along.
Courier Tūbe belongs to CROW Courier. The car-free Berlin courier service also fosters a cooperative way of working. Info at crowberlin.de