14 May 2008

Humpday Happenings...
This JUST in...
ALL IS RIGHT WITH THE WORLD!
Fuel prices hover around $4 a gallon, James Hardy apologized for the fight with his dad (where he allegedly brandished a gun), and in Susquehanna County, PA (where the populace is 98% white), Obama canvassers encounter blatant racism. Mayor Henry holds 2nd of 4 city budget meetings with citizenry, and Harrison Square Ballpark (while still a crime scene) is being renamed TITANIC STADIUM.
What's there NOT to be happy about, right?
Wait...what's that you say?
Things aren't as rosy as I perceive them to be on this fine rainy, dreary morning?
Surely you jest?
Ok, lemme extricate my tongue from my cheek and get to the bottom of this, fair enough?
WANE had one of "those" questions on the first news today:
"Would you consider riding a bicycle to work to save on gas?"
And while there WERE some YAYS, the overwhelming majority were on the NAY side of the fence...and with good reason. Most people work TOO DAMN FAR FROM WHERE THEY LIVE. Shocking, is it not?
But "we" did this to ourselves. We allowed this to occur.
When America began it's "quantum leap" from manufacturing to information gathering back in the early 70s, businesses relocated OUT OF TOWN (in Philly at least) to places roughly 30 (or more) minutes outside of the city. And they had good reason to do so. Gas was cheaper then, property was cheap, and taxes were lower than opening up in the "mean old" city.
And so, the EXODUS began...and many of us went right along with the program. Hell, we HAD to...we simply had NO choice (unless we wanted homelessness and indigence as the order of the day).
Now my Dad always seemed to have an axiom for any occasion...he was THAT cool. And being around the block a few times didn't hurt that much either, I suppose. His answer to this was simple:
"Wanna eat? Gotta work!"
Like I said....simple.
Funny thing happened since those decades when Dad was the resident prophet, soothsayer, and overall sage of out household...things changed, and drastically.
Gone were the "local" jobs...all of them practically. The bonds that were forged in neighborhoods adjoining those businesses began to erode, and eventually crumble to the ground. People moved to where the jobs were out of practicality, and a need to survive financially. Prices rose on everything from bread to tires. And cities lost needed revenue, while creating blighted areas in the wake of this emigration to the "Burbs".
Fast forward to TODAY...and the "biking issue".
I'm one of those people that DID bike to work ages ago...pulled a stint at a K-Mart, and I rode to work every day, good weather or bad. It only took me 10 minutes LONGER than driving the car, without all the damn traffic clusterf$cks associated with "rush hour". I rode in the rain (plastic trashbags DO work wonders, although not very chic), and I rode in the snow (dumped the bike AND myself on a patch of ice...bruised the hell out of my hip that hurts to this day, but NEVER missed a day of work in the process...you suck it up and keep on going). Never had the bike stolen, and I never came close to being hit by traffic (well, not that close anyway).
I used to bike at least TWENTY MILES through Pennypack Park (in Philly) regularly, when gas was barely over a DOLLAR A GALLON, because I LIKED TO DO IT. My buddies and I saddled up early in the morning, and were off again. And that was a time when your bike ONLY had either 1, 3, 5 or 10 gears (if you were THAT lucky). I even had a bike carrier for the trunk of my car and a group of us drove up to Valley Forge one Saturday and biked all over the place...nice history lesson as well as a good workout.
Would I consider doing likewise HERE...TODAY, though?
Hell, no...and with damn good reason.
My neighborhood is not "biker-friendly", (unless you're a "Warlock", but that's another story) as has been chronicled on this blog when relating to SPEEDERS. That's just ONE issue, however. There is also the CRIMINAL factor. Too often we read about someone having their bike stolen, either right off their porch (the audacity), or while they're riding. Someone knocks them off or pulls alongside in a car, brandishes a gun, and VOILA'...a free bike for Damarkus, courtesy of the poor soul unfortunate enough to travel a southeast side street while getting a prescription filled for a sick relative. How quaint..
We are starting to see more and more mopeds/scooters/ whatever you want to call them...and THEY are being "liberated" from their owners at ever-increasing rates (although it's not widely publicized).
So what's a person to do?
It's bad enough to carry a weapon (legally) while walking about or driving, and I don't mean it to be that it's a "bad" thing. It's just that there are "things" you need to know about carrying firearms, such as:
1) Can you clear the weapon from it's holster fast enough without snagging on something?
Many people never practice this, and it's that lone second that makes the difference between being safe and being a statistic. And if you can't effectively get to the gun, why bother having it in the first place?
2) Are you watching the perp AND what's behind him as well? Collateral damage doesn't always have to be the "norm" of a situation like this, but oft times is. People never take into account their surroundings. You can't always pick your surroundings, BUT...you CAN pick your target. Know the difference.
These TWO THINGS alone should give one pause to consider bicycle safety. And we're not talking about those in NICE neighborhoods. People THERE are permitted the luxury of being able to ride around, weapon-free, enjoy the exercise, and commune with nature, as it were.
On the SOUTH side...not so much.


When it comes to "exercise" down here, several things come to MY mind, and it's got nothing to do with a cardio workout. It's more like an EXERCISE IN FUTILITY when it comes to getting the city to DO something (read ANYTHING) about conditions here, or perhaps we have to EXERCISE OUR OPTIONS when it comes to taking down a burglar (should I use 00 buck or #4 shot?), but it's sure as hell NOT exercise to improve one's health.
Then again, maybe it really IS...LOL!
Never thought it would come down to having to consider having a CCW while BIKE RIDING.
In any event, MY Kibuki 12 speed racing bike rests quietly in my garage, two flats on it, and dust covering it. I have not taken to it since we moved here over 10 years ago. I was way too busy early on to bike around, and after all this time, things have gotten to the point where biking in MY area would be asking to be accosted, robbed or worse. .
So much for the RIVER GREENWAY doing any good for US, right?
Of course, if I could figure a practical way to mount some 12 Gauge ordinance on my trusty 12 speed. That way, I wouldn't need a CCW...it'd be OUT IN THE OPEN!
Necessity DOES still breed invention.
Let that...be the moral of this story.

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