Lessons Learned While Riding

[dmoff1698]

Lessons learned while riding my bike (and living life):

I was just making a quick run to the store to pick up a couple things. Three blocks from my house a stupid cager suddenly turned left in front of me and I had to slam on the brakes. I was really angry.

Come to find out this was a 19 year old single mother who had just got off a 9 hour shift at her minimum wage job and was rushing home to fix dinner, throw in a load of laundry, and try to spend a few precious minutes with her children before leaving again for her second job.

I needed to top off the tank before heading to a friend’s house. Total was $8.22. After having to speak up twice to get the clerks attention, I handed him a $20. It took him three tries to get my change correct. I stomped out wondering about the younger generation and what this world is coming to. Angry again.

Come to find out this clerk is a 25 year old college graduate who is still living with his parents because, after two years of looking, he still can’t find a better job. Seems like he is in the same place as when he was 16 years old, except now he has $45,000 in student loans coming due and no idea how to pay.

Not going anywhere in particular, when this idiot takes my lane on the freeway. Hard braking, swing to the right, almost too far nearly hitting the guard rail. Was that a damn cell phone in his hand? There’s no excuse for that you dumb, ignorant,…..! Furious this time!

Come to find out the driver is a 60 something year old gentleman who was really looking forward to retirement next year. The phone call was from his broker who called to let him know that his savings he had worked and sacrificed for all those years was just gone. No one’s fault, just gone!

I pulled up to a stop light when a bum comes rushing over begging for some spare change. Just whatever you can spare to help a guy out. Hell no! Get away from me! Why don’t you get a job like the “rest of us”? When is this light ever going to change?

Come to find out this man is a son, a brother, a husband and father of three. All who love him dearly, but he just can’t get past the addiction that makes his life something out of your worst nightmare. He’s tried, he really has. But real help is always just out of his reach.

A beautiful country lane on a sunny day, looks like a Norman Rockwell painting. I would be enjoying it a lot more if it wasn’t for the old fart and his wife in front of me driving 20 mile per hour. He’s taking up most of the road, pointing out sights to each other. Why can’t they get off the road if he ain’t going to drive that thing! Really irritated! I have places to go!

Come to find out they are childhood sweethearts who have been married for almost 50 years and are looking at the places where they grew up. Remembering their youth. They are taking their time because her biopsy report says they will never get the chance to take this trip again.

Yes I get angry when I ride, especially when someone does something stupid and puts my life in danger. But I chose to be there. I put myself in that situation. And my “problems” aren’t worth mentioning.

[Zfrebird4]

Thanks for reminding us of ALL of life, and not just one moment of it.

 

JackZ

[kenw]

Thanks for the post! Like they say there's 2 sides to every story!

[slick97spirit]

Yep, we always take a hard look at how we've been inconvenienced & never think about what their circumstances may be. Good post

[Eck]

I think we all get angry when the road we are on isn't open to what WE want.

 

I am guilty of being in a hurry only to get to where I wanted to go and have to wait..

 

We all tend to forget that all people don't think alike and have different plans at that moment..

 

 

Thanks for the reminder...

[Merlin]

Great post.

 

When I was a little kid we went to the grocery store one day. I was about 7 or 8. My father always parked away from everone so the car wouldn't get dented. As we walked toward the car, we watched as another driver came across the parking lot, cutting lanes, and ran right into his almost-new Dodge Dart. The driver of the other car stopped, and seeing that he was not obviously hurt, my father began screaming at him. Police arrived within a few minutes as my father leaned up against his car, fuming.

 

The police talked to both parties and asked my father to calm down, which my father asked why he should calm down when this absolute idiot ran into his car in broad daylight in the middle of a parking lot.

 

The officer explained that the man was very disoriented because he had just left a doctor's appointment where they told him he was terminally ill and probably had only a few weeks to live.

[abnormalwon]

OK, I too enjoy the 'rest of the story' as Paul Harvey would remind us and I truly believe it is important to give grace more often than not as more often than not we "need" grace given back. However, at the risk of being shunned out of the family I would like to also offer a few observations to the story:

 

Lessons learned while riding my bike (and living life):

I was just making a quick run to the store to pick up a couple things. Three blocks from my house a stupid cager suddenly turned left in front of me and I had to slam on the brakes. I was really angry.

Come to find out this was a 19 year old single mother who had just got off a 9 hour shift at her minimum wage job and was rushing home to fix dinner, throw in a load of laundry, and try to spend a few precious minutes with her children before leaving again for her second job.(Had she hit someone or otherwise been in an accident would her 'rush' have been worth the hurry. We all have our priorities but need to keep our head in the game, everyone has priorities of their own)

I needed to top off the tank before heading to a friend’s house. Total was $8.22. After having to speak up twice to get the clerks attention, I handed him a $20. It took him three tries to get my change correct. I stomped out wondering about the younger generation and what this world is coming to. Angry again.

Come to find out this clerk is a 25 year old college graduate who is still living with his parents because, after two years of looking, he still can’t find a better job. Seems like he is in the same place as when he was 16 years old, except now he has $45,000 in student loans coming due and no idea how to pay.(This may be way too obvious but "really" 25 years old, 12 plus years of primary education and a college degree to boot? Still unable to make change, and lets please remember that unless there was an antiquated register in use practically ALL registers tell you the change when you ring it up)

Not going anywhere in particular, when this idiot takes my lane on the freeway. Hard braking, swing to the right, almost too far nearly hitting the guard rail. Was that a damn cell phone in his hand? There’s no excuse for that you dumb, ignorant,…..! Furious this time!

Come to find out the driver is a 60 something year old gentleman who was really looking forward to retirement next year. The phone call was from his broker who called to let him know that his savings he had worked and sacrificed for all those years was just gone. No one’s fault, just gone!(In general most of us have a difficult time rubbing tummies and patting our heads at the same time which is exactly why multi-tasking while operating a motor vehicle is at least frowned upon if not out right against the law. Very bad news yes, worth endangering both yourself as well as those innocents around you????)

I pulled up to a stop light when a bum comes rushing over begging for some spare change. Just whatever you can spare to help a guy out. Hell no! Get away from me! Why don’t you get a job like the “rest of us”? When is this light ever going to change?

Come to find out this man is a son, a brother, a husband and father of three. All who love him dearly, but he just can’t get past the addiction that makes his life something out of your worst nightmare. He’s tried, he really has. But real help is always just out of his reach.(This one sounds really tough however addictions and habits are treatable they just require either incredible discipline or hard core intervention and from the sounds of it there is a wealth of potential intervener's available)

A beautiful country lane on a sunny day, looks like a Norman Rockwell painting. I would be enjoying it a lot more if it wasn’t for the old fart and his wife in front of me driving 20 mile per hour. He’s taking up most of the road, pointing out sights to each other. Why can’t they get off the road if he ain’t going to drive that thing! Really irritated! I have places to go!

Come to find out they are childhood sweethearts who have been married for almost 50 years and are looking at the places where they grew up. Remembering their youth. They are taking their time because her biopsy report says they will never get the chance to take this trip again.(I will admit, this one pulls the heart strings hardest. Grace, grace, grace however I seem to always find myself looking out for others [i know this sounds hard to believe] so would not really want a bunch of other motorists breathing down my back while touring around. Just pull over periodically, really enjoy the sites and make room for everyone else.

Yes I get angry when I ride, especially when someone does something stupid and puts my life in danger. But I chose to be there. I put myself in that situation. And my “problems” aren’t worth mentioning.

 

Alright, so please don't hate me too much I just couldn't help myself

[twigg]

OK, I too enjoy the 'rest of the story' as Paul Harvey would remind us and I truly believe it is important to give grace more often than not as more often than not we "need" grace given back. However, at the risk of being shunned out of the family I would like to also offer a few observations to the story:

 

Lessons learned while riding my bike (and living life):

I was just making a quick run to the store to pick up a couple things. Three blocks from my house a stupid cager suddenly turned left in front of me and I had to slam on the brakes. I was really angry.

Come to find out this was a 19 year old single mother who had just got off a 9 hour shift at her minimum wage job and was rushing home to fix dinner, throw in a load of laundry, and try to spend a few precious minutes with her children before leaving again for her second job.(Had she hit someone or otherwise been in an accident would her 'rush' have been worth the hurry. We all have our priorities but need to keep our head in the game, everyone has priorities of their own)

I needed to top off the tank before heading to a friend’s house. Total was $8.22. After having to speak up twice to get the clerks attention, I handed him a $20. It took him three tries to get my change correct. I stomped out wondering about the younger generation and what this world is coming to. Angry again.

Come to find out this clerk is a 25 year old college graduate who is still living with his parents because, after two years of looking, he still can’t find a better job. Seems like he is in the same place as when he was 16 years old, except now he has $45,000 in student loans coming due and no idea how to pay.(This may be way too obvious but "really" 25 years old, 12 plus years of primary education and a college degree to boot? Still unable to make change, and lets please remember that unless there was an antiquated register in use practically ALL registers tell you the change when you ring it up)

Not going anywhere in particular, when this idiot takes my lane on the freeway. Hard braking, swing to the right, almost too far nearly hitting the guard rail. Was that a damn cell phone in his hand? There’s no excuse for that you dumb, ignorant,…..! Furious this time!

Come to find out the driver is a 60 something year old gentleman who was really looking forward to retirement next year. The phone call was from his broker who called to let him know that his savings he had worked and sacrificed for all those years was just gone. No one’s fault, just gone!(In general most of us have a difficult time rubbing tummies and patting our heads at the same time which is exactly why multi-tasking while operating a motor vehicle is at least frowned upon if not out right against the law. Very bad news yes, worth endangering both yourself as well as those innocents around you????)

I pulled up to a stop light when a bum comes rushing over begging for some spare change. Just whatever you can spare to help a guy out. Hell no! Get away from me! Why don’t you get a job like the “rest of us”? When is this light ever going to change?

Come to find out this man is a son, a brother, a husband and father of three. All who love him dearly, but he just can’t get past the addiction that makes his life something out of your worst nightmare. He’s tried, he really has. But real help is always just out of his reach.(This one sounds really tough however addictions and habits are treatable they just require either incredible discipline or hard core intervention and from the sounds of it there is a wealth of potential intervener's available)

A beautiful country lane on a sunny day, looks like a Norman Rockwell painting. I would be enjoying it a lot more if it wasn’t for the old fart and his wife in front of me driving 20 mile per hour. He’s taking up most of the road, pointing out sights to each other. Why can’t they get off the road if he ain’t going to drive that thing! Really irritated! I have places to go!

Come to find out they are childhood sweethearts who have been married for almost 50 years and are looking at the places where they grew up. Remembering their youth. They are taking their time because her biopsy report says they will never get the chance to take this trip again.(I will admit, this one pulls the heart strings hardest. Grace, grace, grace however I seem to always find myself looking out for others [i know this sounds hard to believe] so would not really want a bunch of other motorists breathing down my back while touring around. Just pull over periodically, really enjoy the sites and make room for everyone else.

Yes I get angry when I ride, especially when someone does something stupid and puts my life in danger. But I chose to be there. I put myself in that situation. And my “problems” aren’t worth mentioning.

 

Alright, so please don't hate me too much I just couldn't help myself

 

I don't hate you. I wish I were always so damned perfect that I never made a stupid mistake.

 

The OP wasn't making the point that these actions are justifiable, or defendable. He was saying that before we burst a blood vessel we pause for a moment and try to understand better what just happened.

[SilvrT]

But I chose to be there. I put myself in that situation. And my “problems” aren’t worth mentioning.

 

The truth of the matter is, is that our "demeanour" is really "self-generated". It's really "our issue" and when we come to realize that, we need to "own" it, deal with it, and get over ourselves. Life is much easier when we're happy.

[Ky. Rider]

This post remindes us to put things in prospective. Also, we can be guilty of bad mouthing "cagers" but we need to remember that we are all cagers. I almost cut a motorcyclist off changing lanes a couple weeks ago. It was dusk, in town with streetlights on and I simply didn't see him. I happen to see his light reflecting on the road out my window. He was in the blind spot in my mirror. I always try to be careful and watch for motorcycles especially since I ride and know the dangers. The truth of the matter is though that all us "cagers" can do things in our cars/trucks that are dangerous for riders. Of course that is different than being reckless which is a whole different matter. But-----let's remember that we are all "cagers" when we complain and are not immune to messing up.

[edeas62]

Awesome Post. Thank you for reminding me that its not " ALL ABOUT ME ". I live in a world full of US

[yamagrl]

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

 

 

OK, I too enjoy the 'rest of the story' as Paul Harvey would remind us and I truly believe it is important to give grace more often than not as more often than not we "need" grace given back. However, at the risk of being shunned out of the family I would like to also offer a few observations to the story:

 

Lessons learned while riding my bike (and living life):

I was just making a quick run to the store to pick up a couple things. Three blocks from my house a stupid cager suddenly turned left in front of me and I had to slam on the brakes. I was really angry.

Come to find out this was a 19 year old single mother who had just got off a 9 hour shift at her minimum wage job and was rushing home to fix dinner, throw in a load of laundry, and try to spend a few precious minutes with her children before leaving again for her second job.(Had she hit someone or otherwise been in an accident would her 'rush' have been worth the hurry. We all have our priorities but need to keep our head in the game, everyone has priorities of their own)

I needed to top off the tank before heading to a friend’s house. Total was $8.22. After having to speak up twice to get the clerks attention, I handed him a $20. It took him three tries to get my change correct. I stomped out wondering about the younger generation and what this world is coming to. Angry again.

Come to find out this clerk is a 25 year old college graduate who is still living with his parents because, after two years of looking, he still can’t find a better job. Seems like he is in the same place as when he was 16 years old, except now he has $45,000 in student loans coming due and no idea how to pay.(This may be way too obvious but "really" 25 years old, 12 plus years of primary education and a college degree to boot? Still unable to make change, and lets please remember that unless there was an antiquated register in use practically ALL registers tell you the change when you ring it up)

Not going anywhere in particular, when this idiot takes my lane on the freeway. Hard braking, swing to the right, almost too far nearly hitting the guard rail. Was that a damn cell phone in his hand? There’s no excuse for that you dumb, ignorant,…..! Furious this time!

Come to find out the driver is a 60 something year old gentleman who was really looking forward to retirement next year. The phone call was from his broker who called to let him know that his savings he had worked and sacrificed for all those years was just gone. No one’s fault, just gone!(In general most of us have a difficult time rubbing tummies and patting our heads at the same time which is exactly why multi-tasking while operating a motor vehicle is at least frowned upon if not out right against the law. Very bad news yes, worth endangering both yourself as well as those innocents around you????)

I pulled up to a stop light when a bum comes rushing over begging for some spare change. Just whatever you can spare to help a guy out. Hell no! Get away from me! Why don’t you get a job like the “rest of us”? When is this light ever going to change?

Come to find out this man is a son, a brother, a husband and father of three. All who love him dearly, but he just can’t get past the addiction that makes his life something out of your worst nightmare. He’s tried, he really has. But real help is always just out of his reach.(This one sounds really tough however addictions and habits are treatable they just require either incredible discipline or hard core intervention and from the sounds of it there is a wealth of potential intervener's available)

A beautiful country lane on a sunny day, looks like a Norman Rockwell painting. I would be enjoying it a lot more if it wasn’t for the old fart and his wife in front of me driving 20 mile per hour. He’s taking up most of the road, pointing out sights to each other. Why can’t they get off the road if he ain’t going to drive that thing! Really irritated! I have places to go!

Come to find out they are childhood sweethearts who have been married for almost 50 years and are looking at the places where they grew up. Remembering their youth. They are taking their time because her biopsy report says they will never get the chance to take this trip again.(I will admit, this one pulls the heart strings hardest. Grace, grace, grace however I seem to always find myself looking out for others [i know this sounds hard to believe] so would not really want a bunch of other motorists breathing down my back while touring around. Just pull over periodically, really enjoy the sites and make room for everyone else.

Yes I get angry when I ride, especially when someone does something stupid and puts my life in danger. But I chose to be there. I put myself in that situation. And my “problems” aren’t worth mentioning.

 

Alright, so please don't hate me too much I just couldn't help myself

[Trader]

Too many of us live this life......Even being retired I find I'm falling prey to this.

 

I'm in a hurry to get things done

Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun

All I really gotta do is live and die

But I'm in a hurry and don't know why.

 

Don't know why

I have to drive so fast

My car has nothing to prove

It's not new

But it'll do 0 to 60 in 5.2.

 

Oh I'm in a hurry to get things done

Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun

All I really gotta do is live and die

But I'm in a hurry and don't know why.

 

Can't be late

I leave plenty of time

Shaking hands with the clock

I can't stop

I'm on a roll and I'm ready to rock.

 

I'm in a hurry to get things done

Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun

All I really gotta do is live and die

But I'm in a hurry and don't know why.