Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Messenging:career opportunity?

Ok, I am new to this single speed and fixed gear scene. Anyways, Im seriously thinking of becoming a messenger. I mean, like totally takeing biking to a whole new level. Anyway, I am 16 so im def to young to actually get a job, and plus i live in the burbs of NYC. But, Im thinking if all else fails(college and the lack of interest in wearing a suit everyday), I'll put my life on the line everyday and become a messenger. I would have to buy a fixed bike because i would feel like a tool with my 18sp cdale. Anyways, I wanted some input on this whole messenging buisness. Is it really worth putting you life on the line, smelling terrible all day, and getting little respect from cars and pedestrians with not so great pay?

Il bet this thread has been posted, I would love some input though.

Scarp

Oh and how you guys ride without brakes is crazy, I dont think I would ever do that, thats too extreme.

umm always a heated topic. If you love riding then you cant beat working and doing what you love. If you have a materialistic lifestyle you may want to try college

and keep your 18spd. Alot of messengers have brakes and gears and dont lose any respect.

as an editor i feel it's actually a huge cop-out to end a piece with a quote. after all, if it's been said better—more succinctly, eloquently, insightfully, pertinently etc—then what the hell am i reading you for?

eddie... long time man. It is actually a "rule", if people actually follow those things, to not end or begin with a quote in any type of writing with one exception....

The obituary.

hey man. true, long time. how's everything?

PM sent to save this fella some space for his dreams.

If you have a materialistic lifestyle you may want to try college


Hahaha, are you fcking serious? You're right, only materialistic people go to college. Or you know, people that want to learn things high school and the school of hard knocks can't teach them? Or you know, people that want to do things that require degrees?

Yeah, *** the system! College is materialism incarnate!

as an editor i feel it's actually a huge cop-out to end a piece with a quote. after all, if it's been said better—more succinctly, eloquently, insightfully, pertinently etc—then what the hell am i reading you for?

Haha, you do realize you're commenting on his sig, right? :)

Hahaha, are you fcking serious? You're right, only materialistic people go to college. Or you know, people that want to learn things high school and the school of hard knocks can't teach them? Or you know, people that want to do things that require degrees?

Yeah, *** the system! College is materialism incarnate!

No No vomit... I was simly saying that if he needs things that are kind of unnecessary statistics show that he will earn more with a degree.

Im in college right now. I couldnt be a messenger because i need a new mac every 2 years and new socks every 2 weeks. Fancy socks. With polka dots and stripes.

I wasnt trying to imply that he would have to be materialistic in a negative manner. Some people just need more money to be happy. Some people just need a bike to be happy.

If you have a materialistic lifestyle you may want to try college


I assume you didn't go to college.

If I'm wrong, correct me.

Haha, you do realize you're commenting on his sig, right? :)

what could i possibly say to an articulate, literate 16 year-old about the rationality of choosing a messenger job over going to college?

PM sent to save this fella some space for his dreams.
Hahah you guys are awesome. I Like you guys already.

Messengering is not cut out for everyone, i for one love riding my bikes, but hated the messenger job. I stuck it out for 3/4 months or so and moved on. So before making such a serious comittment, give a go at breakaway or urban express, where positions open up weekly, so you can start right away, and feel it out.

Personally, i think it's best as a second job, work in retail or food mon-thurs after school, and then leave messengering for fri or so. I say this because it takes alot to ride your bike 6 to 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, back to back, so one needs to be, generally, in great shape to be able to handle it all. For instance I had a teacher who messengered after 3 when school finished up, so he got his steady pay from teaching, but got a nice bit or riding in while making a few bucks. Also consider, i mean this is worst case, but in the event something goes wrong for you, and every now and then they do, and you can no longer cycle for a living, you kinda should have a plan b.

as an editor i feel it's actually a huge cop-out to end a piece with a quote. after all, if it's been said better—more succinctly, eloquently, insightfully, pertinently etc—then what the hell am i reading you for?

At the honors graduation ceremony at my college, the college president actually gave a speech that was nothing but quotes... dozens of quotes from dozens of people, all strung together in no particular order. Weakest thing I've ever seen.

Ok, I am new to this single speed and fixed gear scene. Anyways, Im seriously thinking of becoming a messenger. I mean, like totally takeing biking to a whole new level. Anyway, I am 16 so im def to young to actually get a job, and plus i live in the burbs of NYC. But, Im thinking if all else fails(college and the lack of interest in wearing a suit everyday), I'll put my life on the line everyday and become a messenger. I would have to buy a fixed bike because i would feel like a tool with my 18sp cdale. Anyways, I wanted some input on this whole messenging buisness. Is it really worth putting you life on the line, smelling terrible all day, and getting little respect from cars and pedestrians with not so great pay?

Il bet this thread has been posted, I would love some input though.

Scarp


1) There is definitely several class systems in the US Race, Economic, and Education to name three major ones. The least hard of which to get ahead in is Education.

2) Who the hell wears a suit? I've been in corporate america for 10 years and I've only worn suits to interviews, weddings, and funerals. The suit thing is only in the movies.

3) College is fun. 25,000 young adults between the ages of 18-24 (more than half are female) in one place are bound to have some fun. If I've learned anything, I've learned that going to class and studying for 4-5 years is a LOT easier than working 40 hours/week for 4-5 years. And when you come out of college, you are typically ahead of where you would be if you went straight to work for 4-5 years. (yes, I'm sure there are several PARTICULAR examples. I'm speaking in general.)

Good luck with your decision.

carleton's comment just made me think of something. i'm a 37 year-old professional guy. love suits and have some really great ones. never have to wear one, certainly not for work. i love bikes too, and like the suits, i get to ride em when i want to, not because i have to.

I assume you didn't go to college.

If I'm wrong, correct me.

Ha . Please see my other post. Im in college right now.

Materialistic doesnt have to be negative. again. see my other post.

I think I'm the only one that understood the materialistic comment.

If you want to make more than $1000/2 weeks consistently, you probably don't want to be a bike messenger. I'm sure there are exceptions but a career it's not.

Ha . Please see my other post. Im in college right now.

Materialistic doesnt have to be negative. again. see my other post.


Cool.

I've found that a lot of people who make comments like that haven't been or didn't finish college. Just like people who hate on corporations and 9-5ers that have never worked there.

Maybe "materialistic" isn't the word that best expressed the thought. I get your point now.

It's funny. I had friends that went straight to work right out of HS thinking they had a shortcut to a career track and all that. The BEST shortcut to a career is college. Heck, with a degree you can skip the entire Enlisted rank system and go in as an Officer (again, another class system) in the US military.

Ok I understand where you can come from with choosing messenging over college. I dont know, I just get depressed at the thought of wearing a suit all day and doing something that I hate. Im just exploring my options.

Ok, I am new to this single speed and fixed gear scene. Anyways, Im seriously thinking of becoming a messenger. I mean, like totally takeing biking to a whole new level. Anyway, I am 16 so im def to young to actually get a job, and plus i live in the burbs of NYC. But, Im thinking if all else fails(college and the lack of interest in wearing a suit everyday), I'll put my life on the line everyday and become a messenger. I would have to buy a fixed bike because i would feel like a tool with my 18sp cdale. Anyways, I wanted some input on this whole messenging buisness. Is it really worth putting you life on the line, smelling terrible all day, and getting little respect from cars and pedestrians with not so great pay?

Il bet this thread has been posted, I would love some input though.

Scarp

I suggest you see the film Pedal

I take it colleges aren't teaching people to read very carefully these days.

EDIT: Come to think of it, given the way almost everybody in this thread associates college with earning potential (rather than, say, the attainment of a liberal education), is it any surprise that today's colleges churn out students who can't detect irony or shades of meaning in text? Hard to translate that into $*K/year, after all.

(more than half are female)

NOTE: this statistic does not reflect engineering schools. Where I'm at it's 4-1 guys-girls. It's a sad, lonely life.

But regardless, I'd echo the whole go to college for a backup plan thing. That's what I'm doing. My legs twitch like crazy if i'm sitting for too long, I'm gonna need a job that keeps me moving. Not some cubicle job. My plan is to messenger with my friend after college, and then eventually find a mechanical engineering related job that I can actually stand. Or just stick with messengering if I find I really like it and can afford it.

Whatever you choose, good luck.

Oh, and yeah, you don't need a fixie to messenger. That's all blown way out of proportions from what I've seen.

Ok I understand where you can come from with choosing messenging over college. I dont know, I just get depressed at the thought of wearing a suit all day and doing something that I hate. Im just exploring my options.


Hahahaha!

Why are you convinced that you will have to wear a suit?

Why are you convinced that after college you will pick a career that you hate?

Please answer.

Not to sound like an old wise man, because I'm not, I'm ****ing 22, but give it a couple years, dude. It seems like you should at least give college a shot. If nothing else, you'll have a good time and make out with some attractive ladies (or gentlemen, whoever you like to make out with). So I say everybody should give it a shot, because even going back when you're 20 or 23 or whatever is tough for a lot of folks.

Hahahaha!

Why are you convinced that you will have to wear a suit?

Why are you convinced that after college you will pick a career that you hate?

Please answer.

he's 16! from what i (very dimly) recall that's the way the world looks

he's 16! from what i (very dimly) recall that's the way the world looks

Good point.

Yeah, and he probably thinks were are ******** old as dust. (I'm 33).

umm, arent you in high school? if so, what the hell are you spazzing about already. you obvoiusly have a lot to look into/learn. things will become more clear as time passes.

what the hell is worng with kids today? when i was 16 i was doing drugs and having totally irresponsible sex. where did we go so wrong as a society, that kids are now freaking out about their futures?

I'm probably going to repeat a little, but I wanted to throw in my 2 cents, so here goes:

There are definitely plenty of jobs to get besides messenging that don't require suits and aren't 9-5s and are a lot of fun (and will generaly get you more money than messenging, if you're worried about that sort of thing). And that's half the point of college: to get out there and try some stuff and figure out what you want to do. Plenty of people go into college with no idea what they're doing and come out with a job they love, those of us that came into college knowing exactly what we wanted to do are a pretty small minority.

Either way, college is a ton of fun, especially if you go somewhere with a lot of stuff going on (i.e. a city, I don't get going out into the backwoods for school). You get to party a lot, meet a whole bunch of new people, and learn a thing or two a long the way. And when you get out, messenging will probably still be around, and you can go do that until you decide it sucks or doesn't pay enough, and then you've got this useful little piece of paper (degree) that'll help you get a different but still decent job so you don't end up flipping burgers or some crap like that (some exaggeration there).

That little piece of paper really does make a surprising amount of difference, it's why I'm in school now. I could have gone into my chosen field (thechnical theater) right out of high school, in fact some of my friends did. And they're even making as much money as my family is paying to put me through school (and that's a lot, 'cause Boston U likes to **** its students), but they're not going to go that much farther, atleast not without a lot of time put into the industry. The little piece of paper that my four years here is going to get me, will give me a head start at getting some sweet job running a theater because when people look at resumes, that degree seems to mean a whole hell of a lot. So go to school, it's fun, I promise, and might even help you get a few dollars more at the end of the day.

here's your ending quote:
"C.R.E.A.M. get the money, dollah dollah bills ya'll"

/end rant

more than I meant to write when I started, but oh well.

dude, just f*ck more.

everything will work out.

I went to college in my thirties and consider it to have been a great experince. However, in no way was it a good financial decision. My income, before going to college almost ten years ago, was close to double anything I have been able to make since then.

I realize that I made the decision, a couple of months ago, to go to China. However, I was making less than 2K per month before I left (well, before I left I had not had anything but temp technical and Sububstute teaching jobs for about seven months).

Fininacially, going to college was a disaster. If there is something that you would really rather be doing (heck, I am considering doing back to school to become a welder) then do that. Most, non-service, jobs wil pay a reasonable, living, wage if you stay with it.

Besides, this is a couple of years away for you. So, all discussion is academic. If you like messenging for a few years then great. Just do not wait so long before going to college, if that is what you decide to do, that you are too old to make the connections that will translate to being able to sell your degree after you get out.

I take it colleges aren't teaching people to read very carefully these days.

EDIT: Come to think of it, given the way almost everybody in this thread associates college with earning potential (rather than, say, the attainment of a liberal education), is it any surprise that today's colleges churn out students who can't detect irony or shades of meaning in text? Hard to translate that into $*K/year, after all.

+ aliens.

Also, I second rustang's comment. When I was 16, I was working for an online poker casino making a **** ton of money. Do you know what I did with all of that money? Squandered it away on drugs, alcohol, and girls. Given the opportunity, I would do it all over again.

Ok I understand where you can come from with choosing messenging over college. I dont know, I just get depressed at the thought of wearing a suit all day and doing something that I hate. Im just exploring my options.

employment post-college in no way necessitates wearing suits: IT, forestry service, cook (don't recommend, trust me), photog/video, physical therapist, veterinarian, and sooooo many more.

if you see your options as suits vs bike messenger, i would seriously start spending more time in the library/book store researching career options. i mean this not to be snide. best of luck...

I just bought a suit yesterday and it's awesome (I discovered that the little boys department is awesome and has suits that fit me!). And I will never ever have to wear it to my office job, which is wonderful and fun and would be 100% impossible without a degree.

Also, college is lots of fun, leaves you with plenty of free time and plenty of other folks with free time who you can have fun and **** around with. If, at the end of the day (read: degree) you still want to be a messenger by all means go for it, but spending four years learning about weird and interesting things that you'd never be exposed to otherwise is pretty great.

And one last thing, what about when you're 50? I wonder about this with folks who make a career of messing, can you really do it--and well--when you're older? I'm sure that some do, but it would really suck to get injured and be 30 or 40 or whatever and have no experience in any field but messing. Not knockin' it at all, just one more thing to think about if you've got other options available.

I have not been to college (alright, I went for 1 year and ran out of money) and have since then been extremely lucky in finding a job that earns two to three times as much as I was making right after highschool. I work in an office and have lots of responsibility and respect. I am wearing jeans right now, and so are most of my coworkers. Though, I am the hippie here, I work for an oil company and I work on the ethanol fuel. I would love to go back, and I plan on going within the next 5 years (as long as I don't start making a ridiculous amount of money where I am and it's no longer worth it for me). I do alright though, considering. I work very hard and I'm humble. You don't know how far that has gotten me.

Seriously though, if you are only 16, don't worry about it. Do well in school, and then go home, do drugs and **** a lot.

Also, my littlest sister turns 16 in two weeks.... Everytime I think of what I was doing at that age I worry a little. It's so hard, I've never felt so close to a parent in my life. hahaha!

Work in technical theatre. We encourage smelling bad and wearing anything but a suit. Plus your days are free to ride yer bike. Downside, I was 29 or 30 before I had a job with insurance, bad idea when you play in traffic all day. Good luck, and have fun.

Don't forget the trades. I know a lot of dudes with big houses, nice cars, and nice bikes who are union welders, electricians, or plumbers.

College is great because you get to learn a lot about all kinds of stuff that you didn't even know you were interested in. Plus, the abundance of attractive people who are all just itching to make out with you is always a plus.

Wear a condom. That's the only real advice I have for you.

Work in technical theatre. We encourage smelling bad and wearing anything but a suit. Plus your days are free to ride yer bike.

the days free kinda depends on what part you work in. I'm a carp at the moment, so it's pretty much a 9-5 when I'm not in school, I need to go back to working for production companies and doing event work, way more fun.

Ok, I am new to this single speed and fixed gear scene. Anyways, Im seriously thinking of becoming a messenger. I mean, like totally takeing biking to a whole new level. Anyway, I am 16 so im def to young to actually get a job, and plus i live in the burbs of NYC. But, Im thinking if all else fails(college and the lack of interest in wearing a suit everyday), I'll put my life on the line everyday and become a messenger. I would have to buy a fixed bike because i would feel like a tool with my 18sp cdale. Anyways, I wanted some input on this whole messenging buisness. Is it really worth putting you life on the line, smelling terrible all day, and getting little respect from cars and pedestrians with not so great pay?

Il bet this thread has been posted, I would love some input though.

Scarp


Go to school or find a good trade. I dont plan on doing this for the rest of my life even though i like it. You dont want to be hauling packages when you're an old fart believe me.

let's put it this way. i'm only 20, and looking back to when i was 16, i had no ****ing clue. then again, i still don't, but seriously don't worry about it.

like everyone else has said, there are plenty of options, and you have lots of time to figure stuff out. for now, just live life to the fullest. i'd be willing to bet that a lot of people on here would jump at the opportunity to go back to being 16 for a little while and doing some of it all over again.

oh yeah, and college isn't so bad, it's actually easier than high school, in a lot of ways. i haven't like school for most of my life and seriously considered dropping out of high school at 16, but now i'm sooo glad that i didn't.

just hang in there and don't think too much.

Yeah at 16 I hadn't even given thought to what I wanted to do. I changed my major from Physics to Mechanical Engineerng three weeks before my freshmen year of college started because I only knew I wanted to do something technical. Not many people know what they want to do, and if they think they do, it nearly always changes.

why's he gotta have sex and do drugs!

Believe me, you don't wanna be messengering when you're 50. Then again, you can always do something else when you're 30 provided you don't have any financial responsibilities to lloved ones. I can tell you this though, I wouldn't be able to have all my s**t right now if I were a messenger. On a very good week, a messenger would bring in as much $$ as I bring in but I also pay a lot of tax, put money in my 401k, health, disability, and life insurance.
Be a messenger because you enjoy it, not because you have to. Right now, it looks like more of a cop out for you than anything, which means sooner or later, you'll be doing it out of necessity rather than pleasure.
You're only risking your life if you do stupid s**t like try to pass a bus or truck on the right, squeeze between buses, etc. Otherwise, it's not that bad out there, you have close calls everyday but you get used to it and know how to react to it.
College, in my opinion, is also a fun experience and much better than high school. In high school, if a teacher hassles you about homework and projects, you look at it like a bad thing, in college, a teacher better hassle you about it, cause you're paying them and that's how they show a) they care and b) you're getting your money's worth. Plus you can always be a messenger after college.
The best thing is if you find yourself a nice chick who has a desk job, then you tack yourself onto her insurance plan. So you're a fully insured messenger.

Yeah at 16 I hadn't even given thought to what I wanted to do. I changed my major from Physics to Mechanical Engineerng three weeks before my freshmen year of college started because I only knew I wanted to do something technical. Not many people know what they want to do, and if they think they do, it nearly always changes.

Yeah, I switched from Mechanical Engineering after 2.5 years to CS then to Finance then to MIS.

College is the best place to make changes like that. Imagine trying to make those changes in a real work environment all within a couple of years. That would be tough...nearly impossible, or at least improbable.

I got some crazy-ass career advice for ya. Do well in school, get good scores on your SATs and AP tests. After you graduate from HS, if you decide you're not sure about college, don't bother going and go be a messenger for a while. After you live a bit and are on your own and have matured and decide that college isn't about preppy idiots and wearing a suit after graduation, you'll still have good SATs, GPA and AP scores and can get into college maybe score some scholarships and you can poke around taking classes that interest you while you figure out what you want to major in.

Here's another option: Go work for a huge corporation out of HS. Most corporations have tuition assistance and tuition reimbursement plans so their employees can go to college at night. So you can work, make some money, have insurance and get a college degree all at the same time.

BTW, something I didn't see mentioned: Most people make 3 career changes at minimum throughout their working life after HS/college. What you choose to do now isn't necessarily what you'll be doing when you're 30 even if you love to do it.

i'm in my office and i'm nude