----------------------------------- jkf Sun 03 Sep, 2006 Before You Buy A Bicycle For A Child... ----------------------------------- Mind Boggling... don't agree or disagree with anything but just waste your time by reading another tangential association soap box diablog by JK... Well, its Labor Day weekend... and I'm already done with my "shop till I drop". Haven't broken the bank... actually I ran out of room in my truck to stuff any more items without crushing some of my previous purchases of the day... so I had to quit... bummer... Like I really need that 42" LCD TV which I might go back to get tomorrow, if I didn't buy that digital piano that's taking up all the space in my truck. Why bother with a TV? I don't really have time to watch it... Truth is, I haven't seen the missing end of the cable for awhile... I don't know why, but I had this urge to buy a bicycle when I noticed a peculiar thing... probably because I've gotten tired of walking around town when my car was in the shop for repairs... As I strolled around the bicycle department at the local Wal-Mart, I realized that there is a niche market that thrives on making safety equipment for bicycle riders... it seems to me that some legislators had too much time on their hands or they've been lobbied by the safety gear industry to push their authority just a wee bit more into reminding us that we are simpletons... ... Wear this... wear that... strap this on... put this on your head, etc... etc... What have we become? A bunch of morons that can't ride bicycles without big brother telling us what to wear? Many of us grew up fine, riding them without any head gear or body protection... what??? were we genetically superior to today's children in that we were capable of surviving accidents or are they just producing inferior bicycles... Of course NOT. Its just that we learned early on that when you rode absentmindedly, you paid the price... You don't play chicken with motorists in cars... And regardless of what the law says or what safety gear you are wearing, if you get hit or fall hard enough, you were gonna die. Get that?!!! you were gonna die, or maybe live the rest of your life as a "crippled". Yes as a "crippled." No, they didn't hold back by using "handicapped" or the euphemism that I really hate... "physically challenged"... And they really rubbed it in those days, ahead of time so you would think twice before you screwed up and lost a limb or two... Oh, what does big brother tell us??? ... with today's higher velocity cars and the increase in the number of vehicles out there, we need to be more defensive... Instead of getting the incompetent bicycle riders off the bicycles and the drivers that don't deserve any driving privileges off the roads, they make us feel that its OK to be out there with these idiots as long as safety equipment is in place. And they like to use that gut-wrenching cliché that most parents fall for... ... "making it better and safer for our children". Life expectancy has gone up to the point where the seniors are now enjoying their second childhood with impaired reflexes and dexterity, but not willing to make it a safe place by not engaging in activities that were meant for the youths. Like getting off the road. Yes, its these adults that are out there for the sake of their health and longevity that are depriving the youths from their early hands-on experiential learning... a little bit at a time... because they don't realize that they are the ones that don't heal overnight and not be playing for bruises the next day but the children do. Society kind of did themselves in there... Let the kids play with fire... for learning's sake. You know that you live in a padded cell society, when your employer starts giving you safety tips to use around your home... Something that's insulting to some of us that still have a tinge of common sense... its getting whittled away a little at a time... The only thing that remains that you need to know... Call your lawyer to use the laws in your favor to invoke the "improperly trained" clause as opposed to blaming yourself on personal incompetence or stupidity. Oh... I have nothing against old people or bicycles, remember... I was going to buy one (no, no, not an old person)... I'm really digressing... None of the preceeding remarks, due to post-dream regression (as I rolled out of bed) have anything to do with why I started writing this... This is too much tangential association... Ok, back to the bicycle... I gather most of you know the fine differences between a man's bicycle and a woman's bicycle... Aside from the simple observation that most men's bicycles are larger, its that friggin bar... that runs from under the seat forwards, that is not there in most women's bicycles... I understand the historic and the mechanical reasons why its there. But from a more modern functional safety standpoint, it seems to me that the design is backwards... that bar shouldn't be there on a man's bicycle. (payback for the chastity belt... ROFL) It would sure reduce pain and keep the damage under control during an accident. Yes... it might be hard to sell, or something that many people won't care about... ... "making it better and safer for our children so they can have children". Now don't get me started with the gene pool thingy... Have a nice holiday, and stick around for another tangential association diablog... ----------------------------------- Grim Sun 03 Sep, 2006 ----------------------------------- Nice rant man, that bit about the X-bar on the bike hit the nail on the head! ----------------------------------- peiratns Sun 03 Sep, 2006 ----------------------------------- hahahahahaha "...so they can have children" that's motivating enough. If you want to control the lives of people use FEAR. Fear is being used succesfully as a means of control by many governments (democratic or not). Call it "TERROR", "disability"... "snakes on the plane" ;). Fear is also a very good selling point used in conjuction with sensitive issues (e.g. "for the safety of the children"). This quote by the great Nikos Kazantzakis is all the money: “I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.†Peiratns