Spectrum 2

One evening I was walking downtown when a man in a wheelchair whooshed by. He was rolling down the center line of one of the most congested and busy roads in UB. But he just kept going, arms pumping furiously, completely focused on keeping center and probably hoping to not get plowed into by a commuter bus or some driver too busy talking on his cell phone to notice a wheelchair hurtling down the road. No one else around me seemed to look at this scene with the same astonishment as I. I’ve observed bicyclers and mo-peders do the same thing: squeezing between trolleys and SUVs, narrowly escaping a very messy and unpleasant end. But this was not a rickety old piece of transportation – which is at least capable of dodging traffic. No, this was a wobbly, hand propelled wheelchair, which at best can perform about five primary functions: increase speed, decrease speed, turn corners, go straight, move backwards. It certainly was not built for riding the line down Peace Avenue in downtown UlaanBaatar. I have to admire him for taking a risk and looking as if he’s done it a million times.