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

[ThoM3 at aol.com]

Uhhh I think you have your author's genders and who rides what a tad  
confused....
 
but Ok, I think we're all straight now
 
 
In a message dated 9/24/2007 7:50:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time,  
jeffyboz at gmail.com writes:

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.
>  _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Boston  Critical Mass mailing  list
list at bostoncriticalmass.org
http://bostoncriticalmass.org/list


 



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.bostoncoop.net/pipermail/bostoncriticalmass/attachments/20070924/70f394af/attachment.htm