Originally Posted by
Tex_Arcana
Back in June, I posted my Fred Manifesto in reply to a thread, "Your One Piece of Fred "
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
...As I was riding this AM, contemplating these essential questions, I thought: certainly there are the roadies, who are indeed “Beautiful People” and are splendid in their spandex and peletons; and there are Freds, kind of clunky but sincere and loveable. But there is IMO, a large segment of noble cyclists, e.g. tourists and commuters who are neither BP’s nor Fred’s, but certainly serious cyclists.
I recalled how politicians in Massachusetts are derided as “hacks.” In a memorable speech to the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth, a former Speaker of the House proclaimed “I am not a hack, you are not a hack, we ought not be treated this way." Similarly, my manifesto is, "I am not a Fred you are not a Fred, we ought not be treated this way". So I propose a new name, currently applied to frequent business travelers—ROAD WARRIORS. I AM A ROAD WARRIOR—think Mel Gibson.
I envision RW’s as linemen on a football team as compared to the glamorous backfield, as the infantry on the ground compared the glamorous top guns in the military, or Mission Control as compared to the glamorous astronauts in space travel. All contribute in their own way to the success of the enterprise. In the 1980’s I told a secretary at work that I am road warrior a la Mel Gibson and she smiled and said, “Yeah, right.” Yet I still believe.
John Gardner once wrote: "An excellent plumber is infinitely more admirable than an incompetent philosopher. The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity, and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because philosophy is an exalted activity, will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.” IMO, the society which exalts roadies and scorns road warriors will have roads only built for cars.
