I had a lot of apprehension about Boston University’s bike safety rap, in which Rhett the terrier puppet instructs you to put your helmet on. Puppet safety raps are rarely works of high art, or even tolerable art. But I was kind of won over when he enjoined us not to ride around “like a big tool,” and on the whole I have to admit that this is not entirely horrible and maybe even a little charming.
I mean, it’s definitely awkward, as befits the safety rap genre. But it also seems to embrace its own awkwardness — and if it can do that AND make people go around humming “waiting at reds and using my hands to signal for turns and show my demands,” then we feel pretty good about it.
