The fiets is C.H.I.C.®
We all need symbols in life. Whether animals we venerate (like lions, roosters, cows, dragons, etc.), monuments we admire (i.e. Tour Eiffel, Gateway of India, Brandenburger Tor, etc.), or real or fictive characters we worship (such as gods and goddesses, kings and queens, celebrities, and Santa Claus and the like…). So what would count as a symbol for the Netherlands? Sinterklaas and his zwarte pieten? “Oh no, please, not again…”, I hear you say, right? This is far too controversial and doesn’t stand for the unity of the Dutchies. There’s fortunately one symbol that embraces all Dutch cultural characteristics and hence isn’t subject to any controversy: the fiets!
Indeed, the fiets is part of daily life in Holland, is being used by just about everybody between the age of 2 and, say, 88, and on top of it, it is C.H.I. C.® to ride it. Very chic, indeed. Let me explain my findings.
The first C stands for Clean: it’s no doubt environmental-friendly to ride a bicycle, no fumes; you only smell your own sweat when you cycle against the wind…
The following letter H goes for Healthy: this makes the Dutchies a well-known sportive people whose flat country is the daily outdoors fitness gym. Too bad, though, it often rains…
The letter I means Individualistic: no doubt the Dutchies are hung up on their individual freedom and want no obstacles when going from A to B. The fiets provides that feeling of total liberty of movement that results in anarchic behavior as riders, no more rules indeed, with an attitude of “get out of my way, I’m the king of the road!”. A Dutch person on a bicycle is (fortunately) not the same person as when s/he drives on the streets or walks on sidewalks…
Finally, the last C symbolizes Cheap (or Calvinistic?): the hard core cultural assumption about the Dutchies. Once you’ve bought a fiets, (do it second hand!) you won’t have many extra costs, just repairing the unexpected punctures (always a pain, but a real Dutchman fixes them himself), occasionally paying for parking shelters, and if you want to have it even cheaper, just steal a fiets, national sport # 2 after soccer, it seems…
So the Netherlands fietsland # 1with its ca 20 million registered bicycles? For sure! And TU/e, de fietsende universiteit? A new slogan? Why not? After winning the World Solar Challenge again, go back to your core business… indeed, we’ll soon have bicycle racks for half of the TU/e population. So the fiets is chic at TU/e!
Discussie