View Full Version : A Waste of Air
The Scene:
It's a gorgeous Seattle afternoon. Blusco is on his motorcycle, homeward bound from work, enjoying his commute and looking forward to the evening. He is stopped at a light next to woman in a Mercedes SUV. She is expensively dressed, having an animated cell-phone conversation, and smoking a cigarette.
The previous owner of my motorcycle changed out the original exhaust pipes for louder ones (they're not thunderous, but they're louder than I'd like). Most of the time I wish he hadn't, but on this one occasion I really didn't mind--Something about my neighbor-in-traffic rubbed me the wrong way. After a few seconds, she glared at me, rolled her window up and went back to her conversation. I gave the throttle a quick twist or two before noticing that there was a very young girl asleep in her back seat and that Mom has left daughter's window open. She can't help who her mom is, and I'm not about to disturb her nap because of it.
WTF?
* You're driving this gas-guzzling monstrosity.
* You obviously think highly enough of yourself to pamper yourself with current fashions.
* You're subjecting a helpless child to your tobacco pollution.
* You'll roll your own window up so my (admittedly) noisy bike won't disturb your cell-phone conversation, but you don't think to give your kid the same consideration?
You, ma'am, are a waste of air. Please wake up, give some thought to your surroundings and realize that your actions affect others.
I feel better now.
Ohhhh, can I join you?
Woman next to me on my last plane trip, from the moment I got on the plane until the plane doors were shut was on her cell phone, talking louder then God from the burning bush.
What was she talking about you ask? She was complaining to a friend that she had just paid $XX,XXX dollars to harvest some other womens' eggs, the least the doctor could do was fertilize the eggs and then run tests to determine the sex of the fertilized eggs so she could decide which to use for the in vitro procedure - FOR THE SURROGATE MOTHER!
By the time we took off, the entire plan knew how ^&^(^#$% in the head this women was.
I'll give you 1 out of 4.
She obviously shouldn't be smoking in the car with her kid.
As for the rest? I'd say that for the average motorcycle rider, that choice is at least as much an "Image" purchase as her expensive clothes or BMW are.
And I'd bet that she simply forgot to roll up the back window, as there isn't much difference in noise between 1 window being down and 2 windows when sitting beside a motorcycle.
As for the rest? I'd say that for the average motorcycle rider, that choice is at least as much an "Image" purchase as her expensive clothes or BMW are.
Fair enough. I don't know the average motorcyclist though, so can only speak for me. And while I admit that some of the "image" appeals to me, the "big bad biker" was being more considerate to the young child than her mommy was. "Image" is also only a small part of why I ride:
* I get at least 35 MPG on the bike (city). My car gets about half that on the same commute.
* Parking a car in my employer's neighborhood is a nightmare. Parking a bike is a snap.
* HOV lane use (not a factor at this job, but a lifesaver on previous commutes).
* I find commuting in a car draining, but doing it on a motorcycle is invigorating. I arrive at my destination alert and responsive, instead of stressed and tired. I also feel a lot more connected to the world on the bike than in the car.
* This is my first motorcycle. I bought it because it was affordable and small enough to learn on, aware that I was a newb and didn't know my own preferences in bikes yet. I've learned that I don't like loud pipes =).
And I'd bet that she simply forgot to roll up the back window, as there isn't much difference in noise between 1 window being down and 2 windows when sitting beside a motorcycle.
I'm not following you. If rolling up her driver's window hadn't decreased the noise enough for her to continue her conversation, it seems to me that she would have rolled up the rear window as well, yes?
Loreleli
06-15-07, 02:27 PM
You don't like her. I get that. The joy of life is that you don't have to like eveyone or even tolerate them, especially strangers in passing. The Merc, the clothes, cigarette - it is a certain sterotype. But, I think she just forgot to raise the back window. If she was waiting for the opportunity to drive away from the noise, then her raising her window for 2 minutes won't hurt.
I think it's 100% safer to use a ear device or to not use the phone at all while driving, but until they make it a fineable offense, people will do it becuase they are lazy.
If she flipped you off or gave you a dirty look, then that's something else and is more telling of her character. *shrug* imo- it's water off a duck's ***.
The worst drivers I ever see are the mini-vans. They think it's a truck. I just giggle at them.
Deltar Battlewall
06-15-07, 02:48 PM
The worst drivers I ever see are the mini-vans. They think it's a truck. I just giggle at them.
In my experience, stupidity knows no make nor model. :b
Loreleli
06-15-07, 03:20 PM
In my experience, stupidity knows no make nor model. :b
lol! very true!
Hijack!
Blusco, what kind of work do you do? I ask because Ive always wondered what it was like to ride a motorcycle to work. Dont your clothes get all wrinkled and your hair messed up from the helmet?
See Xynn, some people like showing up at work looking like a badass.
likenew
06-16-07, 06:19 AM
maybe he uses a hairmet like JD does in scrubs
Failkan
06-16-07, 09:57 PM
Blusco is a l33t programming monkey! HI-YA!
Morvran
06-17-07, 05:39 AM
Hijack!
Blusco, what kind of work do you do? I ask because Ive always wondered what it was like to ride a motorcycle to work. Dont your clothes get all wrinkled and your hair messed up from the helmet?
A huge % of people driving into work in Rome ride scooters and motorcycles, and ALL they care about is how they look, so obviously it's not that big of a deal to ride and work.
Hijack!
Blusco, what kind of work do you do? I ask because Ive always wondered what it was like to ride a motorcycle to work. Dont your clothes get all wrinkled and your hair messed up from the helmet?
I'm a software tester and web programmer. The Pacific Northwest is decidedly casual (most of the natives dress in layers, and Gore-Tex & fleece never go completely out of style), and the tech industry even more so here. If I were in a button-down environment, I might worry a bit more. There is a locker room with showers as well, and lots of people pedal to work.
I haven't noticed any clothes-wrinklage. I do carry a comb and stop off in the bathroom to fix the helmet-head, but overall commuting on the bike has massive upside.
I do carry a comb and stop off in the bathroom to fix the helmet-head
Between this, the bike, and your avatar, I now believe completely that you are, in fact, the Fonz.
*laugh* I suppose I could do worse! It's probably not that far off, either. I love old, trashy rock & roll, too. Wish I had his way with the ladies, though ;)
braincandy99
06-18-07, 09:27 AM
get this love fest out of my rant hall!!!! :P
Well, in software testing, you do get automatic cool points by replying to the question "What do you do for a living?" with "I break stuff."