I am not sure which is more abhorrent. The fact that my ride was stolen or that I paid a ransom to get it back. After BBUD was stolen I posted on Craigslist that a reward would be offered for its return. Don't you know my cell phone rang and I was informed that BBUD had "been turned in" to a young person in the Bronx who paid money for it. This young person, being a responsible citizen, called me to let me know I could get it back for what they paid for it.
Ransom, terrorism, theft, thugdom. The label is irrelevant.
I paid the fee. I felt awful on so many levels. What would you have done?
Monday, November 22, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Walmart vs. Target; Class Differences
You can tell a true commuter bicyclist in NYC with a few glances. Is their skin leatherized (I wear a scarf or mask to prevent this)?. Are they wearing a helmet (only complete idiots leave the helmet home and if your noggin' has ever hit the asphalt and it still works than you know why)? Do they have a plastic bag tucked under the seat?
It's this last phenom that is the real give away. This morning on the way to work a facially leatherized woman passed me on Park Avenue. I always give people nicknames (mental amusement) and some people give me names. Some people call me names but I do not want to be profane. One messenger who I see all the time calls me Armani; I felt honored. I gave the name Pumpkin to the woman who passed me based on her orange coat. Upon closer exam and seeing a Vantage Seltzer bottle where her water bottle would go I decided she should be dubbed Seltzer Pumpkin and then Bubbly Pumpkin. But the true give away to her commuter status was the plastic bag tucked under the seat.
If you commute and leave your ride outside your office, there are days when it is going to rain (like today). So the wise and wizened of us tuck a plastic bag under the seat which we then use to cover said seat while we are inside.
Bubbly Pumpkin had a Target bag under there. I use a Walmart bag. We obviously have serious class differences.
Cheers and keep the rubber on the road.
It's this last phenom that is the real give away. This morning on the way to work a facially leatherized woman passed me on Park Avenue. I always give people nicknames (mental amusement) and some people give me names. Some people call me names but I do not want to be profane. One messenger who I see all the time calls me Armani; I felt honored. I gave the name Pumpkin to the woman who passed me based on her orange coat. Upon closer exam and seeing a Vantage Seltzer bottle where her water bottle would go I decided she should be dubbed Seltzer Pumpkin and then Bubbly Pumpkin. But the true give away to her commuter status was the plastic bag tucked under the seat.
If you commute and leave your ride outside your office, there are days when it is going to rain (like today). So the wise and wizened of us tuck a plastic bag under the seat which we then use to cover said seat while we are inside.
Bubbly Pumpkin had a Target bag under there. I use a Walmart bag. We obviously have serious class differences.
Cheers and keep the rubber on the road.
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