As some of you long time listeners will recall, I am on the Walnut Creek Bicycle advisory committee. Among the many desirable benefits of this glamorous volunteer position is the opportunity to work at a local "energizer" station for Bike To Work Day which, as I am sure all of you know, is today.
In the past I usually worked the table passing out maps, water bottles, musettes with a few freebies (like a mini cliff bar) in it and bananas to those souls riding up on a bike. As a policy, however, we have never given musettes (these are canvas bags with a Bike to Work logo on them and a long strap meant to be worn over one shoulder while riding a bike; think of the feed bags the riders get in the Tour de France) to non-bike riders. They are a reward for riding a bike. So this morning I am setting up the table at 5:45 am when a strange woman comes up and demands a musette. Now I usually try to have a happy demeanor for these things, but i didn't get home from work the night before until about 11:00 pm and i was on too little sleep. Plus, she was very rude and demanding, as though my purpose was to give her whatever she wanted. To compound the matter, she was NOT riding a bike and she was odd, being one of those women who paint eyebrows above their actual eyebrows in dark makeup thinking, perhaps, no one will notice the double set.
So I tell her "Sorry, these are only for bike riders." She says, "Last year they gave me two! and I want one this year" I said "well, if you have two, do you need another one? Besides, my instructions (and this was true) are that musettes only go to riders today." She says "I don't want a musette, I want one of them bags." I am still trying to set stuff up and am losing patience, it being in short supply in my sleep deprived attitude. I say "Look, I am not going to give you one. You can come back later when the guy in charge is here and ask then if you want." I said it a bit sternly.
At this point, the lady goes a little crazy (er?). She starts parading back and forth across the Bart station hollering out that I wouldn't give her a food bag and how mean I was and telling everyone to stay away from me. This among the quiet early morning commute set stands out like a sore thumb. She carries on for about five minutes. I wanted to shove a musette down her throat, to be honest. After a couple of minutes she stormed off, still shouting, leaving me sheepish and regretful that I hadn't just given her a musette.
A few minutes later another really weird dude ambled up, sans bike, and asked for a musette. Even though he only had one set of eyebrows, I gave it to him anyway.
In the past I usually worked the table passing out maps, water bottles, musettes with a few freebies (like a mini cliff bar) in it and bananas to those souls riding up on a bike. As a policy, however, we have never given musettes (these are canvas bags with a Bike to Work logo on them and a long strap meant to be worn over one shoulder while riding a bike; think of the feed bags the riders get in the Tour de France) to non-bike riders. They are a reward for riding a bike. So this morning I am setting up the table at 5:45 am when a strange woman comes up and demands a musette. Now I usually try to have a happy demeanor for these things, but i didn't get home from work the night before until about 11:00 pm and i was on too little sleep. Plus, she was very rude and demanding, as though my purpose was to give her whatever she wanted. To compound the matter, she was NOT riding a bike and she was odd, being one of those women who paint eyebrows above their actual eyebrows in dark makeup thinking, perhaps, no one will notice the double set.
So I tell her "Sorry, these are only for bike riders." She says, "Last year they gave me two! and I want one this year" I said "well, if you have two, do you need another one? Besides, my instructions (and this was true) are that musettes only go to riders today." She says "I don't want a musette, I want one of them bags." I am still trying to set stuff up and am losing patience, it being in short supply in my sleep deprived attitude. I say "Look, I am not going to give you one. You can come back later when the guy in charge is here and ask then if you want." I said it a bit sternly.
At this point, the lady goes a little crazy (er?). She starts parading back and forth across the Bart station hollering out that I wouldn't give her a food bag and how mean I was and telling everyone to stay away from me. This among the quiet early morning commute set stands out like a sore thumb. She carries on for about five minutes. I wanted to shove a musette down her throat, to be honest. After a couple of minutes she stormed off, still shouting, leaving me sheepish and regretful that I hadn't just given her a musette.
A few minutes later another really weird dude ambled up, sans bike, and asked for a musette. Even though he only had one set of eyebrows, I gave it to him anyway.
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