occupational steroetyping
 

so i'm at my lbs today buying bearings and the shop owner (who doesn't know me as well as the wrenches do), starts talking and she's like "so you're a messenger right?"
"no i'm a teacher, why?"
"because you ride a fixed gear and carry the bag and by the stuff we've helped you repair combined with the shape of you calves i know you ride alot"


do you see what this simple exchange means? we are being stereotyped against, when will the persecution of our kind come to an end?? just because i'm a fat guy with ripped calves and i ride a fixie? i'd be proud to be a messenger and i'm thinking of trying it out next fall but when will these rediculous stereotypes end?

Will somebody please think of the children?!?

whatever.
Jus tlike anyone with a nice Trek is a roadie? Or anybody with pannier racks always has amazing touring stories?
Fixed has it's associations with messengers. oh well.

Does it actually bother you?

I actually think it's actually pretty cool.

Can't we all get along!

yeah, harriet tubman's got **** on you dude.

rediculous.

I wouldn't think that is such a bad thing, unless you have something against the "scene" that messengers have created.

she was totally checking you out.

Ummmm, so what?

Being mistaken for a messenger = cool?

How old are we here?

85% of shops I've been to offer a messenger discount. Sweetest persecution ever.

you say you want to try mess'ing? why not try it on one of your summers off? of course, this is assuming you don't also go the summer school route.

Are you the soyboy who went to PDF and cooked vegan chili with cocoa powder in it?

i want to punch people when they ask if im a messenger, rational or not.. its da truff

the counter girls at Top Pot donuts have confused me for a messenger a couple times. at first i thought it was weird, but then i thought, well, i guess i kinda look like one: fixie, rolled up jeans, skinny as **** (haven't seen too many bigger guys on fixies in Seattle, i dunno), big ass backpack...

i got to pretend i was a messenger the other day. i wanted a sub from the east coast deli across town and the fastest way across town was bike. so i took orders from co-workers, and had to stop by my gf's office to drop off some stuff and turned out she wanted a sub too. so for half an hour, i was a sandwich messenger. it was sweet.

Better than being accused of dope smuggling.

no kidding. i dont know why it bothers me, but for some reason it does....alot.

Yes it is, info here ->

Ripping off shops = cool

i think it's funny...but also somewhat sad...considering i've been trying to get a job for some months now and came so close to getting one last week and still am not guaranteed i won't get one soon. someone says "oh, but what do i know about bikes? you make your living riding..." and i have to go "well...maybe soon".

ah, well.

You take the messenger discount even though you're not a messenger? That's pretty janky.

As soon as teachers start learning how to spell "ridiculous."

lol this thread

given the fact that messengers often ride fixed gear bikes, wear messenger bags, and ride a lot, i dont see how you think you could dodge that assumption 100% of the time

stereotyping? whatever. all you guys ***** about taxi drivers, who work 10x as hard as any non-messenger on this forum.

they deal with that stress for a living. I did it full time for a year-- in a small city far, far removed from NYC-- and that was hard enough. stop acting like victims! (hell, you already act like you deserve a gold star for riding fixed...as if you're the only one who's ever pulled it off.) I give taxi drivers mad props for doing a job that others (read: you middle class trustifarians "slumming" your way through a hundred thousand cans of faux-bad lager) wouldn't touch with a ten-foot-pole....partly because of the risk of accidents and accompanying lawsuits. and that's with minimal knowledge of English and a family to support. BAH.

Aw Jesus, you guys are easy.

so the other day i get up, lace up my steel-toe wolverines, put on my hardhat and grab my blueprints and head down to the hardware store. i'm shooting the **** with one of the employees and he has the BALLS to imply that i work in construction! i mean wtf? like I would be caught dead in that line of work! i'm a unique flower!

so i guess what i'm saying is does anybody know how to become a certified contractor?