Originally Posted by OneTinSloth
i think you'd be more likely to start hating bikes if you became a bike mechanic, rather than a courier. i mean, you'd be working on bikes all day long...not you're bikes mind you, other people's bikes. other people's messed up walmart specials, or crazy hybrids, or even the really nice racing bikes, but not your own bikes. then you go home and your neighbor says to you: "hey man, you work at a bike shop right? could you fix my bike for me? it's making this squeaking sound when i pedal..." then you want to scream at them. i think being a courier, you're more likely to just start hating humanity as a whole, rather than your bicycle. i mean, your bike is always there for you, no matter what (unless it gets stolen). it'll never let you down, or try to run you over, or throw a big gulp of mountain dew slurpee at you for slightly bumping it in a crosswalk. your bike will be there, day in and day out, it'll be your meal ticket. it's making you stronger, healthier, faster, better. how can you even begin to hate something so beautiful, so contructive?
and now, a computer rant:
PCs don't break if you're not one of those "OMG A NEW EMAIL FROM SOMEONE I DO NOT KNOW!! IT HAS AN ATTACHMENT! I WILL OPEN IT!! OH NOES!! WHAT IS THIS MESSAGE!? WHERE ARE MY FILES?!" type people. or one of the "I HAVE CABLE BROADBAND INTERWEBAOLNET AND I LEAVE MY COMPUTER ON 24/7, BUT I'M NOT RUNNING A VIRUS SCANNER BECAUSE THE PEOPLE TOLD ME I DON'T HAVE TO, AND I'M NOT RUNNING A FIREWALL EITHER BEACUSE I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THOSE THINGS!" people.
jesus christ, it's not that hard!
i always loved the kids who'd be like "oh no!! word ate my term paper!! i didn't do anything wrong it's just...gone!!! i mean, all i was doing was running winamp, AIM, IE, kazaa, irc, bonzi buddy, and a solitare game from this morning on my win98, AMD K-6 300Mhz computer that i haven't rebooted in three months..." (of course, they wouldn't know that last bit about the processor and the speed of the computer).
those are the kids who i wanted to strangle when i lived in the dorms.
now a comparison of bikes and computers:
bikes are simple. there aren't any software security patches to download. no FATAL ERROR!!! blue screens of death. if something goes wrong, most of the time, it's fixable within a matter of minutes.
in closing:
while being a bike courier isn't quite the fast track to success, it will bring you many many things: friends, more than friends, brothers and sisters in arms, good health, stamina, and a new appreciation for your own life, and a new perspective on the modernization of our society, and just how disgusting some aspects of humanity really are.