[*BCM*] Bostoncriticalmass Digest, Vol 39, Issue 32

[Jeff Young]

Hello Ms. Scooter-driver,

I apologize for using the improper salutation.  I haven't done
exhaustive research, but I did find this blog if you're looking for
some amigos: http://blogvespa.com/.  I also wanted to apologize for
trampling on your civil rights--I have absolutely no right to tell
you, or any one else, what not to pollute...

'How am I more  "polluting" or "nonsense?'  On this point, I would
like to apologize to everyone reading this thread...  Prior to my
inappropriate response, I was enthusiastically following the thread
about the bike thieves, etc.  Now, I'm participating in this
filibuster!

"Obfuscation," you say!?  "How so?"  Here again, maybe I have it
wrong, but, to my way of thinking, scooters don't have that same
panache regarding revolution as do bikes.  When I think scooter--and
this is just me--I think "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn.  I don't
think of some sulpher stained bike messanger standing up to the swarm
on Comm Ave.  Ya know?

The point is... Ah, to heck with it... I'm as sick of this as everyone else is!!

Anybody stick it to some cars today?  I tried to smash out somebody's
headlight the other day--but my foot just bounced off!! :(

Cheers,

Jeff

p.s. Long live the scooters!!!

>
> According to Cambridge City Hall, mopeds and scooters are banned from all
> bike paths.
>
>
> In a message dated 9/24/2007 3:36:53 PM Eastern Daylight Time, red at mit.edu
> writes:
>
> I wasn't  going to respond to this, but over the past couple of days,
> it's made me  think a lot, and I wanted to share.
>
> On Sat, Sep 22, 2007 at 06:04:22PM  -0400, Jeff Young wrote:
> > Dear Mr. Scooter-driver,
>
> While the  Vespa may get me chicks, I doubt it can give me a penis.
>
> > I hope  you recover soon so that you can return to riding your bike.
>
> Thank  you! Hopefully it will only be another month or two, I keep seeing
> people  on bikes and getting jealous. Sometimes I go down into the basement
> and  stare longingly at my bikes. Believe me, I would rather be riding
> a bike  than riding a scooter.
>
> > Until
> > then, please stop polluting  this thread with your nonsense--and, stay out
> of
> > the bike  lane!!
>
> So there's two statements here:
>
> 1. I am apparently  "polluting" a thread on scooter laws with "nonsense."
> 2. Scooters should  stay out of the bike lane.
>
> I've done three things in this thread (up  until now, which totally counts
> as meta-discussion): Cite law, provide  personal anecdotes, and provide
> opinions based on my own experiences. Other  participants in the thread
> have done the same three things, except that  they've been against scooters
> riding in the bike lane. How am I more  "polluting" or "nonsense?"  If you
> don't agree with my opinions or  find my anecdotes interesting (and who
> can compare with those two bike  theft stories? Those were _priceless_),
> well, that's fine. But they're not  any less valid because of that.
>
> Bikers often get into debates like  "Should you run red lights or not?"
> where some people think that it's  important to follow the law and some
> people think it's important to  maximize safety or convenience even if
> that means breaking the law. In  these debates, people use law citations,
> personal anecdotes, and opinions  based on experience to back up their
> views.  You know, _rhetoric._  Things can get a little tense, but in the
> past here and in other forums  people seem to be able to avoid outright
> name-calling in their discussions.  We're all bikers, after all, and we're
> all in it together. Or  something.
>
> When it reaches the point where we're not all bikers,  though, things seem
> to get way more hostile. I wasn't even _attacking_  cyclists --- I saw
> myself as a fellow cyclist using a different method of  transportation
> because I was in a bad way. I don't think anyone who posted  saw me
> that way; I think that for some reason I came across as The Enemy.  I
> can't know what's going on in anyone else's head, but it doesn't  even
> seem like some of y'all are even reading what I'm saying. (For  example,
> you got my gender wrong; "Rachel Elizabeth" isn't terribly  ambiguous.
> When people arguing with me mess up something like that, it's  hard to
> feel taken seriously.)
>
> Feeling all this made me realize  something --- is this how people who
> don't ride bikes at all feel when I'm  talking to them? I mean, we all
> have horror stories about dangerous  drivers, poor pedestrians, crazy
> cyclists, and, yes, stupid scooters. I  know I tell them to people and
> sometimes they are like "Man, you are so  anti-car!" and I thought that
> it was just them, but maybe it _is_ me! I'm  going to have to pay attention.
>
> All of those times that I've yelled at  people to share the road?  Which
> I'm sure a lot of people on this list  have done too? :) That shouldn't,
> I realized, just mean with other bikers.  Some people can't or shouldn't
> bike for whatever reason, and they need safe  and efficient ways to get
> around the city as well. If providing them with  resources to get around
> means making life a little more inconvenient for  bikers, well, too bad
> for bikers! Providing bikers with resources doesn't  make car commuters
> very happy and you don't see us standing up for _them_.  Bike-only culture
> isn't any better than car-only culture. ...OK, well, it  is better for the
> environment and better for people's health and supports  local businesses
> and discourages crowded roads and keeps the air cleaner...  but in some
> ways it's just as narrow-minded.  And I never realized  that before your
> patronizing flame. So thank you! :)
>
> As far as your  second point --- that scooters should stay out of the
> bike lane --- I'm  inclined to agree with androidqueen's interpretation
> of Cambridge law that  scooters are only banned from bike-only paths, not
> lanes on shared roads,  but I'm not 100% sure either, so I'll find out.
> But your exhortation,  unless backed up by something rhetorical like
> cited law, personal  anecdotes, or opinions based on experience, falls on
> deaf ears. If this is  how you try to convince fellow bikers of things,
> expect to have even less  success with people who _don't_ share your  cause.
>
> <3,
>
> -r.
> _______________________________________________