Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - A Day With Mayonnaise

Let me tell you what I did yesterday. We’ve had some crappy cold weather here the past few days, but yesterday, and today too, are glorious. I took the day off work and loaded the car with all my tools and repair stand and went down to work to give all the employees free bike tune ups. I want to get more people on their bikes and save them a few bucks, and the closest bike shop is run by an 80 year old fat assed harridan that treats her guys like **** so I definitely wanted to take money out of her pocket anyway I could, Village Cycle on Wells, my brothers. I’m fixing all the bikes, grooving to the tunes I brought (Can You Dig It boxed set, pricey but freaking great). Ironically, where I set up shop was were the smokers come on their breaks, certainly the Moody Bible Freaks would say that’s where the important work gets done. Anyhoo, a bike messenger stops for a delivery in the building and my stand is free so I motion him over, toss her in the stand, and do a quick check while he’s dropping off his paper, how he stopped with those brakes I'll never know. I figure this is the kind of guy I want reading “fixed gear” so when he comes back I give him a copy and quite spontaneously I tell him to spread the word over the radio that I’m here for another hour giving free tune ups. Word goes out and soon I’ve got a steady stream of guys coming for check ups. Quick once over, copy of “fixed gear” and they’re off. It was a blast working on the different bikes. One guy comes up and his checking me out, saying he put motor oil on his chain last night and needed something better. Tri-Flow or Phil’s Tenacious I asked, got him set and then I handed him a copy of the book and he said he already had one, now how the hell did he get a copy so fast? And come to think of it, his chain looked brand new. Made me wonder, that’s all. Damn near all the messengers had the bags with the seat belt clip, can’t remember the name. A woman came by and saw the excitement and, rather brashly, asked if I could look at her bikes, let me say she wasn’t Catholic, she wasn't Jewish, she wasn’t Muslim, and she wasn’t Hindu, she believed only in herself, if you catch my drift. I told her to bring them over. She brought two new, hardly ridden mountain bikes. The bikes were two years old, I’d come to find out and I can guaran-f’ing-tee I ride more in a week than the total miles on both those bikes. I’m sorry, but this pisses me off, two great bikes that don’t get used, and never will. She wanted them ready yesterday and was irritated that I was giving priority to the messengers, but I was cool and told her to come back at two thirty. I’m doing this all for free for the employees and the messengers so when woman off the street stops by, I’m not expecting any cash instead I rehearsed my line for her when she came back which went like this “for you there’s no charge today, but by accepting these bikes you are now obligated to do something nice for a stranger before the sun sets and when they thank you tell them to do something nice for someone else” She comes back right on time and loads up her bikes and I’m waiting for my intro, waiting for her to say how much do I owe you. I could have waited all day because nothing was coming. Not even a thank you. All day I’m fixing bikes for working people, trying to save them money and this woman, in expensive clothes, expensive bikes, expensive address and she showed no sign of gratitude whatsoever. Hey, I did it for free, I don’t care about the money, but her, with her sense of entitlement, broke the chain of goodwill I was making, a chance for the world to be just a little better. I’d like to be a better person, more able to let stuff like this go, but I’m not Mother Theresa, and I know this woman’s bikes intimately, and if I ever see them parked on the street I’m going to remove the valve cores, and if I see her riding...we’ll, I’ll think of something. This part of the day ends here, but there’s another, major part I left out until I get the pictures so I can post them. I will not allow this woman to have the last word. For part two, if any of you internet jockeys can find an article on the Lost Boys of Sudan, please post it here.

Damn, that sounds like a fun way to pass a day. Too bad some people show no appreciation for such deeds.

I live on a fairly busy bicycle traffic street, just a few blocks away from the Mississippi trail system. I am planing on setting up this room off of my deck as my new bicycle repair room, and hang a sign off of my fence whenever I am in there. Doing the same sort of stuff, free tune up, air, etc. it would probably be a nice way to meet people.

Lost Boys of Sudan
http://www.lostboysfilm.com/
http://www.redcross.org/news/in/africa/0108lostboyspage.html
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=18188
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/lostboysofsudan/

Nice! I'm actually going to be doing the same thing in a weekend or two for all my friends. Luckily enough, most of them ride bikes all summer long and if it's still warm. However, most of them also don't know how to tune up a bike so instead of them all going down to ****ty bike shops and getting charged up the arse, I'm doing it all for free on one of these glorious afternoons. Hopefully the weather holds up here in Chicago for a little bit.

Props.

All day I’m fixing bikes for working people, trying to save them money and this woman, in expensive clothes, expensive bikes, expensive address and she showed no sign of gratitude whatsoever. Hey, I did it for free, I don’t care about the money, but her, with her sense of entitlement, broke the chain of goodwill I was making, a chance for the world to be just a little better.

Some people are takers, some are givers. You met one of the takers. I try to help others whenever I can but once I have identified someone as a taker that person gets no more help from me. No sense letting them take advantage of my goodwill.

If you are lucky she won't find a reason to sue you.

"let me say she wasn’t Christian, she wasn’t Muslim, and she wasn’t Hindu, if you catch my drift"

anti-semitism?

"let me say she wasn’t Christian, she wasn’t Muslim, and she wasn’t Hindu, if you catch my drift"

anti-semitism?
Wow...you must have read a different version where Mayo dons a Swastika arm band and starts breaking her car windows. I missed that excerpt

"let me say she wasn’t Christian, she wasn’t Muslim, and she wasn’t Hindu, if you catch my drift"

This is pretty much where the "chain of goodwill" broke for me, Mayo. Keep my money. Keep your book, too.

Wow...you must have read a different version where Mayo dons a Swastika arm band and starts breaking her car windows. I missed that excerpt

Innuendo, brother. When things are left open to interpretation, not all of the interpreters will agree. I saw it the same way e.skin did. Mayo likes his caricatures and stereotypes, y'know?

yeah, i saw that the same way. maybe i misinterpreted.

yeah...i didn't catch that the first time around...i read that sentence twice to try to figure out what he was getting at, but i must say, that drift breezed right over my head. i just figured he meant someone who was rather well-to-do, and somewhat lazy from reading the rest of the context. now that i think about it...WTF? that's just not cool. she could've been bhuddist though...or an atheist, or an agnostic...oh oh oh!! maybe she was a member of the church of universal life?

let's try to make adbot sell us some nazi paraphenalia. ;)

Innuendo, brother. When things are left open to interpretation, not all of the interpreters will agree. I saw it the same way e.skin did. Mayo likes his caricatures and stereotypes, y'know?
There are many ways to look at this, I can see your perspective and respect it. I am not sure on thisn one at all, but I know my grounds and what I allow. I got bricked by a handful of White Supremecists in Marquette Park back in 90 (I'll show you the scar on my head from a glancer if you ever make it here). Hell, I am white. Yet I was there with a bunch of other friends: punks, skins, black, chinese, etc etc. I know what I can tolerate and I know what I can't. If this is a true sentiment, it sucks. But I see it as a tool (and I am basing this on past writings of M) of literature from which I can separate my feelings on the issue, and being that this is a forum, what better place to discuss it. I prefer honesty over veils; I can better discard of refuse in that manner.
Sorry for jumping the gun E.Skin. We are all entitled to our opinions. My bad
:beer:

As long as we are working on inferences:

Let's say, and I will "say it," let's say that she was Jewish. Based on that assumption, I might also assume that she may be operating as one on a Kabbutz (sp?) and that all of us are in a community where we share and maybe saying "thanks" is not necessarily expected, but implied; and so we all can get off our high horses and have a drink? :o

What concerns me more than the potential for anti-sematism, anti-buddhist, anti-unitarians, or anti-whatever in Mayonnaise's message is the possibility that not enough people are anti-VillageCycleCenters on Wells. That place is an insult to bike shops everywhere and I encourage all Chicagoans to boycott.

absntr - free bike tune-ups sounds like a good time. if you need it I can bring myself & a giant bottle of citrus degreaser.

What concerns me more than the potential for anti-sematism, anti-buddhist, anti-unitarians, or anti-whatever in Mayonnaise's message is the possibility that not enough people are anti-VillageCycleCenters on Wells. That place is an insult to bike shops everywhere and I encourage all Chicagoans to boycott.

absntr - free bike tune-ups sounds like a good time. if you need it I can bring myself & a giant bottle of citrus degreaser.


Here! Here!

As long as we are working on inferences:

Let's say, and I will "say it," let's say that she was Jewish. Based on that assumption, I might also assume that she may be operating as one on a Kabbutz (sp?) and that all of us are in a community where we share and maybe saying "thanks" is not necessarily expected, but implied; and so we all can get off our high horses and have a drink? :o

[response removed.]

delete, delete, delete....

Never mind.

a wise man once said you can't be racist, bigoted, etc., so long as you hate everyone equally. And I do, hate everyone, equally.

Except you. You're cool

hmmm typical responses from the fanboy apologists. but none from mayo yet...
:(

This is pretty much where the "chain of goodwill" broke for me, Mayo. Keep my money. Keep your book, too.

I'm kind of bothered by the whole thing. And I don't know what to say. I guess there's a lot of innuendo that makes this statement capable.

I'm just thinking it's a way to describe.

We've all been through this before with Koffe Brown on one of Mayo's previous stories.

Is this any different than that?

hmmm typical responses from the fanboy apologists
Way to do what you are so opposed to based on the direction this thread has taken. Not anti-semitism, but prejudice.

hmmm typical responses from the fanboy apologists. but none from mayo yet...
:(

Have you read the responses to other stories by Mayo that have been posted here? Perhaps if you did you might, as Johnny Cash sang, "come away with a different point of view". Or not.

Way to do what you are so opposed to based on the direction this thread has taken. Not anti-semitism, but prejudice.

???
you need to develop a more complicated understanding of both racism and prejudice.

???
you need to develop a more complicated understanding of both racism and prejudice.
hence my explanation. By calling me a "fanboy apologist" you are lumping me into a group that I am not a member of. You made that assumption because I try and look at different views regarding a certain situation and approach from that direction first. And I am wrong for this? Are you serious. FYI -
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=racism
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=prejudice
read the latter, and consider the secondary definition and what you said and let me know if we need to continue this offline. This would best be finished via PM.

I hate Mayonnaise. Why would anyone WANT imitation Miracle Whip? :-)

Have you read the responses to other stories by Mayo that have been posted here?

yeah. but the comment in this story is used to explain someones behavior, it is intended to say (without actually explicitly expressing it -- because he knows it is bigotted) -- she is a ***** because she is a selfish jew; she didnt thank me or offer to pay because thats how jews behave. that is a lot different than saying 'as a white person, riding my fancy expensive bike in the ghetto makes me nervous' or even saying 'black people always make me nervous', or dont you think so? its fine that people admit to racism. anyone that doesnt is probably lying to themself. but owning up to it is a lot different than espousing it, especially as an insiders joke -- if you get my drift.

By calling me a "fanboy apologist" you are lumping me into a group that I am not a member of. You made that assumption because I try and look at different views regarding a certain situation and approach from that direction first.

i was not actually considering you as a member of this so-called 'group' that i somehow called into being. well, maybe your first post, which i understand to be saying: racism only exists at the level of racial violence and not casual asides and jokes. which is an apology for the latter for of racism, and, considering the popularity of the author on this forum -- a typical response from one of his supporters. but, again, i was not even thinking of you as the one and only perpetrator of this behavior. and you also apologised and retracted your original statement.

as far as the definitions of the terms, i dont see you point. i am not saying that the two are not related, but that you dont seem to understand how they are related on the level of critique. someone makes an anti-semitic comment and then you try to enact a general censure on words like 'fanboy'?? any other thread and saying 'fanboy' would be seen as a harmless joke. perhaps you should question *why* the one immediately entails the censure of the other. perhaps it is a defense mechanism against adequately investigating the former???

Fanboys, fanboys, fanboys!

:cry:

I hate Mayonnaise. Why would anyone WANT imitation Miracle Whip? :-)

Veganaise is tons better.. http://www.followyourheart.com/vegenaise.html

i was not actually considering you as a member of this so-called 'group' that i somehow called into being. well, maybe your first post, which i understand to be saying: racism only exists at the level of racial violence and not casual asides and jokes. which is an apology for the latter for of racism, and, considering the popularity of the author on this forum -- a typical response from one of his supporters. but, again, i was not even thinking of you as the one and only perpetrator of this behavior. and you also apologised and retracted your original statement.

as far as the definitions of the terms, i dont see you point. i am not saying that the two are not related, but that you dont seem to understand how they are related on the level of critique. someone makes an anti-semitic comment and then you try to enact a general censure on words like 'fanboy'?? any other thread and saying 'fanboy' would be seen as a harmless joke. perhaps you should question *why* the one immediately entails the censure of the other. perhaps it is a defense mechanism against adequately investigating the former???
Assumption...more dangerous than all the hate in the world.
I am done with this.

Just had a thought while I was washing the dishes.
Mayo never said she was Jewish. Maybe he implied it but maybe he was implying something totally different. However, later on in the story he got 'ripped off', not literally but figuratively with her lack of thanks. In unapologetic whitebread America where I come from when someone ripped someone else off the person on the loosing end was said to have gotten 'jewed'. I know I'm not alone in having heard this and I'm certainly not a racist for having grown up in the wrong part of the world.
Now, did the actions of the person and our inherent knowledge of the term 'jewed' when used in this context cement in our brains what Mayo was implying? Was he just testing us to see if her actions led us to this conclusion, making us the racist bastards, and not him?
I know he's turned our own minds upon themselves before with pretty insightful writing. If nothing else, it made me think of my own upbringing and how that has shaped my live.
Then agian maybe he's just an ass. Who knows.

espousing it, especially as an insiders joke -- if you get my drift.

I don't know. Perhaps I have blinders on, and don't see it clearly. Perhaps I don't want to see it clearly. Perhaps I see through what may appear to be one way and see it for what it is; a way to describe a thankless person that many people are able to identify with, wether right, wrong, or indifferent.

I can read it as a description of an ultra feminist lesbian who hates men. I guess on the west coast we can see other points of view.

I tell you what, more than anything, at least the writing brings people up to point, and gets them to say thier feelings, and reveal themselves and thier break over points for what's acceptable and not. I wonder how many people have sat back looking at this thread, and though further thinking "at least someone stirs up the pot with something other than brakes versus no brakes..".

In unapologetic whitebread America where I come from when someone ripped someone else off the person on the loosing end was said to have gotten 'jewed'. I know I'm not alone in having heard this and I'm certainly not a racist for having grown up in the wrong part of the world. .

in the whitebread part of anti-semitic america i'm from, it means to haggle, i.e. "i jewed him down from 40 bucks to 20." Funny how we can't even keep our bigotry straight in america. We who grew up, not in the wrong part of america, but in the wrong age of americans, must remember we're not just the sum of our parts. Here's to hoping those bigoted cliches die off with my father's generation (may he in his misguided ways live a long and healthy life).

I can read it as a description of an ultra feminist lesbian who hates men. I guess on the west coast we can see other points of view.




Oh, definately. Cuz that's exactly how I act. :rolleyes:

Oh, definately. Cuz that's exactly how I act. :rolleyes:

I just can't win, can I?

Do you act that way? I don't know.

if you list: christian, muslim, hindu. what is the missing category? a feminist???? what the **** else could he be insinuating? and of coarse he brings it up because he wants to say she 'jewed'/'gipped' him. he doesnt doesnt mention the race/ethnicity/religious beliefs of any of the cool bike messengers. why not? saying the woman is a jew is obviously meant to be a disparaging remark. no mayo is not 'testing' us to see if we 'create' that conclusion on our own. he is espousing it himself, and apprently many people didnt get the joke. but that is the joke. and it is racist and lame and not something i would pay money to see published.

maybe the story could be told from her perspective. there are a million justifications for why bikes would go unused. she is trying to get them tuned up to be used, and maybe she was put off because someone treated her like she didnt belong there and she didnt feel like thanking him after being treated that way. or maybe she really is just a rude and selfish assshole. but what the **** does that have to do with jews or judaism?
:mad:
ok all done now.

it is racist and lame and not something i would pay money to see published.
Maybe the elusive Mayonnaise is really Mel Gibson.

ok all done now.

You feel better? 'Cause this is getting ugly quick, and I really am begining to think you're reading much to much into it.

Maybe the elusive Mayonnaise is really Mel Gibson.


Thank the gods that somebody can bring some humor to this!

I have a perversity. I often continue to read things despite the fact that they make me nauseous. I feel really sick in my gut about this whole thing. Events like this make me want to become a hermit and puke and hate everybody. And I mean it: I really hate the walls that everybody puts up, the walls that history has put up, the walls that people have continued to propagate through history between each other. Right now I feel stuck in that wall. Alone. In cider blocks.

You all suck. I hate you all. At least for right now.

You feel better? 'Cause this is getting ugly quick, and I really am begining to think you're reading much to much into it.

It is tax day, after all.....I'm kinda grumpy.

Crazy ****, though, man-hating feminist, etc. geez.

It is tax day, after all.....I'm kinda grumpy.

Crazy ****, though, man-hating feminist, etc. geez.

I used to live in San Francisco (and I do miss it.. I don't care for plastic culture San Diego). I remember walking with a (very attractive) girl.. And getting called "breeder" more than once.

I do apologize if I offended anyone with that comment.. I assure you that.. well I can screw up my thoughts when I try to put them down.

(crawl under desk)

Make all the domokuns go away!!!

hahahahaha!!! "BREEDER!" hahahahah!!! i hate breeders. seriously. 6.whatthe****ever BILLION people in the world, and yahoos gotta go making MORE?!

if i had the choice, i wouldn't have been born.

if i had the choice, i wouldn't have been born.
That makes two of us that wish you wouldn't have been born. :eek:

Whoa, Zing!!!

hahahahaha!!! "BREEDER!" hahahahah!!! i hate breeders. seriously. 6.whatthe****ever BILLION people in the world, and yahoos gotta go making MORE?!

if i had the choice, i wouldn't have been born.


Reminds me of my friends bumper sticker "Abortion: I wouldn't have minded"

Well, maybe I was just getting into Mayo's "goodwill"gesture towards the bike-friendly crowd but I seemed to have missed his anti-semetic remark. However, after reading everyone's posts and then going back to re-read it, I can see how the replies and arguments can influence my or someone else's thoughts regarding the terms he used, or didn't use in this case.

It's funny how a simple post about trying to help others on a nice sunny day has become muddied and discoloured by all the insinuations and afterthoughts. Racism affects us all everyday. Do we need to bring it here?

Reminds me of my friends bumper sticker "Abortion: I wouldn't have minded"

Speaking of stickers: I was in SF and Loficustoms had a sticker "I park in bike lanes like a dumbass". 5 for a dollar. I was gonna buy a whole bunch.

Sometimes people will show you exactly where a sterotype comes from. I really hate that it happens but it does. I think MAYO was tryiong to be subtle with his/her(?) description of this person. But then again who the hell knows. I really hate cab drivers as a whole group. Why? Because there have been a few that have nearly killed me and they drive like asses. I do know that not all of these folks are as bad as the few that I have dealt with.
Actually this kind of reminds me of when I first got on this bikeforums thing and used a word that I thought meant something so far from what others had in mind.

Speaking of stickers: I was in SF and Loficustoms had a sticker "I park in bike lanes like a dumbass". 5 for a dollar. I was gonna buy a whole bunch.
I would love to slap these on all the cars parked in central sq. in cambridge.

Speaking of stickers: I was in SF and Loficustoms had a sticker "I park in bike lanes like a dumbass". 5 for a dollar. I was gonna buy a whole bunch.
.....

thank you