"Elite" Riders

This morning I came into work and parked the bike in my usual spot. As I'm getting off my bike, a BMW (bike) pulls up and parks next to me. Here I am thinking, "Cool, another rider who I also happen to work with, perfect opportunity for some light conversation." I commented that it was a nice day to ride. Other rider says nothing in return, I assume its because his helmet is still on and he didn't hear me. After finishing fiddling with my own gear, I repeat my comment about the nice weather. The guy takes one look at me, says "yep" and hurries off like his ass was on fire. I actually believe that if it weren't for his full suit, he would have broken into a run. Though I admit it's possible the guy was just late, it made me wonder how some riders get to be, well... pompous pricks about riding.

I have friends that ride all different kinds of bikes - cruisers (HD and Japanese), sport bikes, BMW's, and even a few Ducati pals. Some are great company: lots of fun to ride with and socialize with, and don't judge a person by their wheels. However, because I run with such a diverse pack, I often run into those who are dead-set against any other type of bike but their own. The groups seem to be predictable, i.e. Harley riders hate sport bikers and vice versa, Japense cruiser bikers often have a grudge against Harley riders, and the European riders seem to hate everyone but themselves. Is this something that's in owner manuals?

To me we're all in this together - we all taking the risk of riding, love the open road and are probably on some level a gear-head. Chances are most also enjoy good company, food and even beverage if the situation allows. So... why can't we all enjoy those things together?

I've heard different arguments, some of which make sense, most of which are ignorant. One intelligent reason is the idea that different types of bikes ride differently - a sport bike is going to be able to handle crazy curves a lot better than a Harley, and a beemer is going to be able to take those dirt roads a lot better than a sport bike. Ok, this means we just don't always go riding together. Or when we go, we split up into similar riding styles and meet at the top of the mountain.

The argument that gets my panties in a bunch is "They just have a different mentality about riding." I hear cruiser guys saying all the time how sport bikers are crazy nut-heads who are at best organ donors, often because they ride fast, hard and without gear. Yet all summer I see hordes of cruisers riding through town fast, hard and without any gear on. And the european riders, they just seem to take the pompous rider tactic to a new level - they seem to hate the rest of us for no other reason than we ride a brand that is different from theirs, and therefore we are less-serious riders.

As with every stereotype, there is a minimal amount of truth to the rumors. But not nearly enough to break apart one of the potentially biggest communities in the country. I'd like to be able to ride around town, happen across another motorcycle and be able to start a light conversation with that person without the fear of being told that I live lower on the totem pole than this stranger.

The Catholic church couldn't get over a few differences and look at how many branches of Christianity there are today, none of which can get along. I fear that bikers are all traveling down the exact same path, destined for separation and inner-group bickering.

Excuse my hippie-like soapbox, but really now... why can't we all get along?

The Season of Saving

Though I've yet to find a reasonably reliable statistic on this, I do wonder how much people spend on themselves during the Christmas season. Not out of selfishness necessarily, but out of convenience and affordability.

Every year around Halloween my mom sends all of us kids a friendly but pointed reminder: if we want gifts, we have to send her a list of suggestions now. Tasked with coming up with a list on the spot, we almost always forget about half the things we've spent all year saying "I should ask for this for Christmas." I thought I'd gotten a jump on things in August when I started a list of things I need or would like as I thought of them, but I still managed to miss a bunch of things. Add on all those things that you have been ogling in stores for 11 months but don't want to waste a Christmas wish on, and suddenly you find yourself with a large list of stuff you can't ask anyone for but know deep in your heart you want more than that green sweater you did have the insight to ask for.

Enter sales season.

Black Friday, as well as the ensuing clusterfudge of sales that have penetrated this most joyous of seasons, is no secret. And it seems every year the deals get just a little better, and last just a little longer.

For me, Black Friday is easy to skip. I do most of my shopping before hand anyway (and have gotten into the habit of buying everything online), so I know that I'll only go and spend money I don't need to spend on myself. I'm tempted a little by the online sales, but even those deals aren't stellar on Black Friday. Saturday I gave in a little, but with perfectly good reason: I needed a washer and dryer because the new house didn't come with one, and I knew what I could spend and how good of a deal I had to get in order to buy it from a store. I even ignored Cyber Monday deals - to be fair there weren't a lot of great ones this year.

But by today, Wednesday, all was lost. My willpower was shot up worse than then German Air Force in WWII, and buy.com sent me an email detailing all of the great things I've been drooling over but never had good reason to buy. My first guilty pleasure was a compact camcorder. At 70% off, who could resist? And my second guilty pleasure was a mp3 player that would work with Napster, which rang in at a beautiful 88% off.

I admit, I was ashamed to press the "place order" button. This is supposed to be a season of giving, not getting for me. I feel the need to go caroling or donate time to a soup kitchen just to clear my conscious.

I wonder though, how many spend more on themselves during the last month then on others? How much does the average person spend on themselves? Is it wrong to spend so much on ourselves, even in a time of such savings?

Which is a better title for the holidays - the season of giving or the season of saving?