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<DIV>Uhhh I think you have your author's genders and who rides what a tad
confused....</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>but Ok, I think we're all straight now</DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 9/24/2007 7:50:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
jeffyboz@gmail.com writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Hello
Ms. Scooter-driver,<BR><BR>I apologize for using the improper
salutation. I haven't done<BR>exhaustive research, but I did find this
blog if you're looking for<BR>some amigos: http://blogvespa.com/. I also
wanted to apologize for<BR>trampling on your civil rights--I have absolutely
no right to tell<BR>you, or any one else, what not to pollute...<BR><BR>'How
am I more "polluting" or "nonsense?' On this point, I
would<BR>like to apologize to everyone reading this thread... Prior to
my<BR>inappropriate response, I was enthusiastically following the
thread<BR>about the bike thieves, etc. Now, I'm participating in
this<BR>filibuster!<BR><BR>"Obfuscation," you say!? "How so?" Here
again, maybe I have it<BR>wrong, but, to my way of thinking, scooters don't
have that same<BR>panache regarding revolution as do bikes. When I think
scooter--and<BR>this is just me--I think "Roman Holiday" with Audrey
Hepburn. I don't<BR>think of some sulpher stained bike messanger
standing up to the swarm<BR>on Comm Ave. Ya know?<BR><BR>The point is...
Ah, to heck with it... I'm as sick of this as everyone else
is!!<BR><BR>Anybody stick it to some cars today? I tried to smash out
somebody's<BR>headlight the other day--but my foot just bounced off!!
:(<BR><BR>Cheers,<BR><BR>Jeff<BR><BR>p.s. Long live the
scooters!!!<BR><BR>><BR>> According to Cambridge City Hall, mopeds and
scooters are banned from all<BR>> bike paths.<BR>><BR>><BR>> In a
message dated 9/24/2007 3:36:53 PM Eastern Daylight Time, red@mit.edu<BR>>
writes:<BR>><BR>> I wasn't going to respond to this, but over the
past couple of days,<BR>> it's made me think a lot, and I wanted to
share.<BR>><BR>> On Sat, Sep 22, 2007 at 06:04:22PM -0400, Jeff
Young wrote:<BR>> > Dear Mr. Scooter-driver,<BR>><BR>> While
the Vespa may get me chicks, I doubt it can give me a
penis.<BR>><BR>> > I hope you recover soon so that you can
return to riding your bike.<BR>><BR>> Thank you! Hopefully it will
only be another month or two, I keep seeing<BR>> people on bikes and
getting jealous. Sometimes I go down into the basement<BR>> and stare
longingly at my bikes. Believe me, I would rather be riding<BR>> a
bike than riding a scooter.<BR>><BR>> > Until<BR>> >
then, please stop polluting this thread with your nonsense--and, stay
out<BR>> of<BR>> > the bike lane!!<BR>><BR>> So there's
two statements here:<BR>><BR>> 1. I am apparently "polluting" a
thread on scooter laws with "nonsense."<BR>> 2. Scooters should stay
out of the bike lane.<BR>><BR>> I've done three things in this thread
(up until now, which totally counts<BR>> as meta-discussion): Cite
law, provide personal anecdotes, and provide<BR>> opinions based on
my own experiences. Other participants in the thread<BR>> have done
the same three things, except that they've been against scooters<BR>>
riding in the bike lane. How am I more "polluting" or "nonsense?"
If you<BR>> don't agree with my opinions or find my anecdotes
interesting (and who<BR>> can compare with those two bike theft
stories? Those were _priceless_),<BR>> well, that's fine. But they're
not any less valid because of that.<BR>><BR>> Bikers often get
into debates like "Should you run red lights or not?"<BR>> where some
people think that it's important to follow the law and some<BR>>
people think it's important to maximize safety or convenience even
if<BR>> that means breaking the law. In these debates, people use law
citations,<BR>> personal anecdotes, and opinions based on experience
to back up their<BR>> views. You know, _rhetoric._ Things can
get a little tense, but in the<BR>> past here and in other forums
people seem to be able to avoid outright<BR>> name-calling in their
discussions. We're all bikers, after all, and we're<BR>> all in it
together. Or something.<BR>><BR>> When it reaches the point where
we're not all bikers, though, things seem<BR>> to get way more
hostile. I wasn't even _attacking_ cyclists --- I saw<BR>> myself as
a fellow cyclist using a different method of transportation<BR>>
because I was in a bad way. I don't think anyone who posted saw
me<BR>> that way; I think that for some reason I came across as The
Enemy. I<BR>> can't know what's going on in anyone else's head, but
it doesn't even<BR>> seem like some of y'all are even reading what
I'm saying. (For example,<BR>> you got my gender wrong; "Rachel
Elizabeth" isn't terribly ambiguous.<BR>> When people arguing with me
mess up something like that, it's hard to<BR>> feel taken
seriously.)<BR>><BR>> Feeling all this made me realize something
--- is this how people who<BR>> don't ride bikes at all feel when I'm
talking to them? I mean, we all<BR>> have horror stories about
dangerous drivers, poor pedestrians, crazy<BR>> cyclists, and, yes,
stupid scooters. I know I tell them to people and<BR>> sometimes they
are like "Man, you are so anti-car!" and I thought that<BR>> it was
just them, but maybe it _is_ me! I'm going to have to pay
attention.<BR>><BR>> All of those times that I've yelled at people
to share the road? Which<BR>> I'm sure a lot of people on this
list have done too? :) That shouldn't,<BR>> I realized, just mean
with other bikers. Some people can't or shouldn't<BR>> bike for
whatever reason, and they need safe and efficient ways to get<BR>>
around the city as well. If providing them with resources to get
around<BR>> means making life a little more inconvenient for bikers,
well, too bad<BR>> for bikers! Providing bikers with resources
doesn't make car commuters<BR>> very happy and you don't see us
standing up for _them_. Bike-only culture<BR>> isn't any better than
car-only culture. ...OK, well, it is better for the<BR>> environment
and better for people's health and supports local businesses<BR>> and
discourages crowded roads and keeps the air cleaner... but in
some<BR>> ways it's just as narrow-minded. And I never realized
that before your<BR>> patronizing flame. So thank you! :)<BR>><BR>>
As far as your second point --- that scooters should stay out of
the<BR>> bike lane --- I'm inclined to agree with androidqueen's
interpretation<BR>> of Cambridge law that scooters are only banned
from bike-only paths, not<BR>> lanes on shared roads, but I'm not
100% sure either, so I'll find out.<BR>> But your exhortation, unless
backed up by something rhetorical like<BR>> cited law, personal
anecdotes, or opinions based on experience, falls on<BR>> deaf ears. If
this is how you try to convince fellow bikers of things,<BR>> expect
to have even less success with people who _don't_ share your
cause.<BR>><BR>> <3,<BR>><BR>> -r.<BR>>
_______________________________________________<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Boston
Critical Mass mailing
list<BR>list@bostoncriticalmass.org<BR>http://bostoncriticalmass.org/list</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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