Thursday, May 17, 2007

a day in the life of a scooter newbie - random apolitical post

Today was the first day I took the Honda Ruckus out of the neighborhood. I rode about 10 - 15 miles total. I had barely gotten the Ruckus out of the garage when a guy working in the yard across the alley asked "what type of scooter is that?" "how many ccs?" "how fast does it go?" "how much did that cost you?"... this was after he said, "I didn't know anyone lived in that house!" Hmmm... the 80 lb. dog that spends a lot of time in the yard didn't give it away?

I rode to work. All the construction workers working on my new offices were impressed... three of them commented on it... all three of them asked at different points during the day "what type of scooter is that?" "how many ccs?" "how fast does it go?" "how much did that cost you?". One of them told me about the bike he wants... 1000ccs. The Ruckus has 49. Hmmm.

Then I went to get a pedicure (yes, you read that correctly - it's my second one ever! my first was in Mexico in 2004). After another (walk-in) customer got all upset because they took me before her (i had made an appointment), I was sitting in the massage chair getting my feet soaked (um, why haven't i done this more in my life?) when a guy walked in to the nail salon and said "whose bike is that out there?" i raised my hand tentatively and he, you guessed it, asked "what type of scooter is that?" "how many ccs?" "how fast does it go?" "how much did that cost you?". He went on to want to know where he could get one. I told him we bought ours on ebay from a guy that didn't live too far away. He asked me where that was. I told him it was on the internet. This perplexed him and he walked away -- and left the nail salon. When he first walked in, I was hoping he was going to get a mani and a pedi... but no.

i can't remember the last time that i got this much attention from men...

this. american. life.

Believe it or not, my first opportunity to write in a long time has come on an unexpected day off. i would be working right now, but can't due to some city bureaucratic bullshit, which is a mixed blessing. Anyway, i'm taking time this morning to listen to this week's podcast of This American Life. The episode originally aired in 2002 and is called '81 Words' and explores "how and why the American Psychiatric Association decided in 1973 that homosexuality was not a disease". 1973 was not all that long ago. Listen to it if you have a chance, it's great, and contains the kind of activism I wish we had going on today. It also gives me hope that other kinds of needed changes can happen within my lifetime.

oh, and to get the episode for free, you have to download it this week.
 
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