Sorry, gotta rant.

I was just opening up the library this morning, when a kid (our paperboy, actually) dumped his BMX bike in the middle of our sidewalk to come into the library.

I told him to move the bike where it wouldn't block the path, so he moved it off to the side and dumped it there. I noticed it was a very sharp-looking Gary Fisher (here in the Land of Huffies) and told him, "Nice bike."

He answers, yeah, and this is actually his second. He used to have another bike just like this, but it got stolen.

Then he went into the library to use the internet computers, leaving his expensive bike lying, unlocked, on the concrete.

Arrrgh! KIDS!!!

What are you ranting about? Him not locking his bike up?

That's nothing. During the course of today's epic ride I stopped for lunch in Nimbin. I make it 15 seconds - the time it took for someone to try to sell me drugs - and it was a kid!

...after already having had it stolen once, yes, that's mainly it. Parking your bike by dropping it on the sidewalk is another, minor irritation. I wonder if he paid for that bike himself....

As for leaving it in the path, I'm pretty nasty about that sometimes...I usually notice that problem when the kids are already inside, and rather than figure out whose bike it is and making them move it, I will move it myself......out of sight around the corner of the building to give them a scare.

My 6 year old was riding around the front yard some time back and then went next door to play with the kids there.

She had just left her bike lying on the ground outside so I took it out the back and put it in our shed.

I waited for her to come back home then asked her where her bike was and where she had left it.

She very soon started to think that someone had taken her lovely bike and her eyes welled up with tears. I then told her that her bike was safe but that she had been very foolish to leave it there where it could have been stolen.

She's now very careful with her bike. (To the point where when we cycled to the park the other day she instructed me to watch the bikes while she played on the playground equipment.)

I guess the difference with this kid is that he has already had it proven once that if he gets his ride nicked, his folks will just get another one.

That kid with the BMX is obviouisly a spoiled brat. He doesn't take care of his stuff and his yuppie parents keep paying for his mistakes, instead of teaching him responsibility. So he figures, hey, they'll buy me another one.

I remember I lived in an apartment building and a lot of students lived in our building and in the area. I remember how some of them would leave their clothes and laundry in the laundry room for DAYS, forgetting to pick it up. I noticed that a lot of it was good stuff- nice clothes, designer labels, not cheap crap. If I had clothes like that i'd be more conscientious. But they're so spoiled, they had their parents money, credit cards, everything was paid for, so why should they care?

I went to the LBS one day, and found a BMX bike laying derelict on the sidewalk, directly in front of the door. I picked it up, put it in the bike rack, and went into the store. A kid, maybe eight years old confronted me, angrily. "Why'd you move my bike?"

"Why'd you leave it on the sidewalk?" I asked without looking at him.

"Why'd you move my bike?" he repeated.

I turned, took a step toward him, looked directly down at him. "Why'd you leave your bike in the middle of the sidewalk in front of the door to this store where it was in my way and where anyone coming along could have tripped over it? Why didn't you put it in the bike rack where it belongs?"

He took a step back. "Oh," he said. "Sorry."

Sometimes it's fun to be an adult.

Well, I'm sorry, but that's just being mean towards someone else who doesn't even know who you are. Giving someone a scare like that, what's the point other than to be mean. It's actually pretty childish behavior.

Why not just pitch the bike out of everyone's way and just merrily go about your business instead and forget about it? I mean, why would that get you so angry that you'd want to be that mean to one of them? Teaching a lesson? Hardly, I'd say that you're just being mean.

Ink, no wonder it's his second bike, I can't imagine why the first one possibly got stolen. If this kid has no respect for his property, than he deserves whatever happens to it. Was there a bike rack or some other object that he could have locked it o, if so don't worry about it, it's his problem not your's .

Just out of curiosity Chris, how old was "your" drug dealer? Incredible society we live in!

On the contrary, I'm not angry at all when I do that. I just hope that a brief moment of fear will make the kid think twice about where and how they leave their bike next time.

And contrary to what you say, they DO know who I am: I'm the one at the library desk who's tired of telling them to move their bikes where other people don't trip over them and where they don't block the doors. I'm actually on good terms with most of these kids, as they frequently come to the library to use the computers. If I was angry and wanted to punish them, I'd send them out and demand they put thir bike in the bike rack (inconveniently located out next to the road.)

At a guess I would have said early teens at the most.

Oh, lighten up, dude. Why get so bent out about her post? Your post seems rather mean and pretty childish. What about Ink's post has you so angry that you are being mean about it? Hmmmmmmm?

All kidding aside, I have to admit that I have done the same thing as some of the other forum members have done, including putting my kids' bikes up when they have carelessly left them outside in the yard and having them think they may have been stolen. And, like MediaCreations' daughter, they were a little more responsible about their bikes after that.

Bikes do not grow on trees. Childrens' bikes are most often bought with their parents' hard-earned money. Kids need to be responsible about them. A nudge along the way to help them remember to be more responsible doesn't hurt.

Hey, you should lock your bike up next to where that kid dumps his. Then when a thief walks up there is no chance of yours getting stolen. It's like a free theft deterrent system for you!

Since I heard that the average car thief takes 15 seconds to break into a car, I tend to leave my bike locked up near parked cars when I can. It tends to get ignored remarkably often.