The Biker

Just been sent to me and thought I would share it with you lot

THE BIKER

I saw you, hug your purse closer to you in the grocery store line.
But, you didn't see me, put an extra $10.00 in the collection
plate last Sunday.
I saw you, pull your child closer when we passed each other on
the sidewalk.
But, you didn't see me, playing Santa at the local mall.
I saw you, change your mind about going into the restaurant.
But, you didn't see me, attending a meeting to raise more money
for the hurricane relief.
I saw you, roll up your window and shake your head when I rode by.
But, you didn't see me, riding behind you when you flicked your
cigarette butt out the car window.
I saw you, frown at me when I smiled at your children.
But, you didn't see me, when I took time off from work to run toys to
the homeless.
I saw you, stare at my long hair.
But, you didn't see me, and my friends cut ten inches off for
Locks of Love.
I saw you, roll your eyes at our leather jackets and gloves.
But, you didn't see me, and my brothers donate our old ones to
those that had none.
I saw you, look in fright at my tattoos.
But, you didn't see me, cry as my children were born and have
their name written over and in my heart.
I saw you, change lanes while rushing off to go somewhere.
But, you didn't see me, going home to be with my family.
I saw you, complain about how loud and noisy our bikes can be.
But, you didn't see me, when you were changing the CD and drifted
into my lane.
I saw you, yelling at your kids in the car.
But, you didn't see me, pat my child's hands, knowing he was safe
behind me.
I saw you, reading the newspaper or map as you drove down the
road.
But, you didn't see me, squeeze my wife's leg when she told me to
take the next turn.
I saw you, race down the road in the rain.
But, you didn't see me, get soaked to the skin so my son could
have the car to go on his date.
I saw you, run the yellow light just to save a few minutes of time.
But, you didn't see me, trying to turn right.
I saw you, cut me off because you needed to be in the lane I was in.
But, you didn't see me, leave the road.
I saw you, waiting impatiently for my friends to pass.
But, you didn't see me. I wasn't there.
I saw you, go home to your family.
But, you didn't see me.
Because, I died that day you cut me off.
I was just a biker. A person with friends and a family.
But, you didn't see me.

Re-post this around in hopes that people will understand the
biker community.

If you don't re-post this, It sucks to be you. I hope you never loose
someone that rides.

EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIKE US, RESPECT OUR RIGHTS TO RIDE WHAT WE
CHOOSE AND TAKE A FEW EXTRA SECONDS TO BE SURE WE'RE NOT
IN "YOUR" WAY
LIVE TO RIDE . . . RIDE TO LIVE


Be safe you lot!

found that quite pretentious as if to say we all go to church and give to charity and everyone else is scum, i get impatient and filter to the front of the lights, ride to the front even at junctions sometimes and I'm a biker of 16 years, this all seems a bit patronizing to me, just to give another angle on this one
i saw you playing with the devil in the pale moonlight
but you didnt see me kissing gods ass lol
sounds like the person who wrote this only did good deeds for others to see

[Spiderman]

Originally Posted by SmudgeK3

found that quite pretentious as if to say we all go to church and give to charity and everyone else is scum, i get impatient and filter to the front of the lights, ride to the front even at junctions sometimes and I'm a biker of 16 years, this all seems a bit patronizing to me, just to give another angle on this one
i saw you playing with the devil in the pale moonlight
but you didnt see me kissing gods ass lol
sounds like the person who wrote this only did good deeds for others to see

I'm with you on this Smudge. Its the atypical sickly sweet americansim that runs thru that that takes away the sensble point being made in there somewhere. Shame.

Kinda reminds me of that ad they ran recently about "theres the woman you see every day.....theres the house with the dodgy front door blah blah" and when the car has opened its dor in the path of the bike it goes on to say "theres the legs you'll never use again!"!!!!!

hang on, shouldn't it be aimed at the moron who opened the door? Shouldnt it say "theres you paying no attention to other road users you ignorant fool, theres you destroying someones life cos you cant be bothered to look around before flinging your door open"

Such a shame that they take the time to make these things up and then loose the message in there somewhere.

It might be a little sickly-sweet to some of you, and yes I certainly don't go to church etc, BUT.......

.....it simply makes a point. I bet that if you emailed it to a bunch of non-biker mates, male or female, it'd make them think the next time they're out driving.

In some respects, it's better than the good ol' British "Think! Bike" - we've heard some crackers to that one from the smart ar*es haven't we? Like.....


..."aye mate, they bounce af ma bonnet magic".

Thanks a lot public information films......

....but having said that - have you heard the radio ad with the guy asking you to look out for his brother? Real good one that.

Garry

It uses the sickly-sweet to get a message across, I don't particularly like it either, but if you want to send a message in a chain email, you need make people want to read it to the bottom, and for it to stick in the mind for at least 10-20 seconds.

If you sent an email that simply said "Please remember that there's a normal person under that helmet", it would be dismissed from the mind a split second. The reader would hit delete and still guard her purse when the big hairy tattoo'ed biker stood next to her in the shops, or still cut out on that motorbike (notice I said "that motorbike", not "that man on a motorbike", 'cos that's the way we are viewed on the road)

You need to exaggerate somewhat sometimes ($10 in the church fund) to have an impact and get a message across to the reader. And it doesn't say that the woman in the queue was scum and didn't put $10 in her church fund last week...

The message is twofold, (1) if that if that woman guarding her purse is seen as normal person by the others in the queue, then why isn't the hairy biker? That does annoy me, it's no different to racism as a form of discrimination (2) look for bikes on the road, and when you see one, remember that there's a human being riding it.

I probably wouldn't have disliked it quite so much if it didn't use the 'don't re-post this and your an a'hole' guilt trip at the end. I'd have hit delete as soon as I read that bit if it hit my mailbox.

It has a good message that I'd like to see getting out to more folk, but in a different but equally effective way in terms of getting the audiences attention.

Hmm, hate stuff like this!

Did they do a poll of bikers to find out if they really were the cute little fluffy bunny rabbits under their lids? Did they do a poll of sweet grey haired old grannies to find out if they were actually witches?

Next we'll get something similar from a suicide bomber - remember: They're people too!

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

It uses the sickly-sweet to get a message across, I don't particularly like it either, but if you want to send a message in a chain email, you need make people want to read it to the bottom, and for it to stick in the mind for at least 10-20 seconds.

If you sent an email that simply said "Please remember that there's a normal person under that helmet", it would be dismissed from the mind a split second. The reader would hit delete and still guard her purse when the big hairy tattoo'ed biker stood next to her in the shops, or still cut out on that motorbike (notice I said "that motorbike", not "that man on a motorbike", 'cos that's the way we are viewed on the road)

You need to exaggerate somewhat sometimes ($10 in the church fund) to have an impact and get a message across to the reader. And it doesn't say that the woman in the queue was scum and didn't put $10 in her church fund last week...

The message is twofold, (1) if that if that woman guarding her purse is seen as normal person by the others in the queue, then why isn't the hairy biker? That does annoy me, it's no different to racism as a form of discrimination (2) look for bikes on the road, and when you see one, remember that there's a human being riding it.

I probably wouldn't have disliked it quite so much if it didn't use the 'don't re-post this and your an a'hole' guilt trip at the end. I'd have hit delete as soon as I read that bit if it hit my mailbox.

It has a good message that I'd like to see getting out to more folk, but in a different but equally effective way in terms of getting the audiences attention.

i don't want to be classed as normal thats why i ride a bike i am the big fat hairy biker that smells on the inside lol and I'll be waiting and watching for you to pull out, I'm fact i will be expecting it, so be as crap on the road as you please Ive spent years practicing the art of car dodging. thats what i'd say

Makes a point, and bikers do have a bad image - but i think this poem is attending more to the image of a stereotype biker - big harley etc etc.

I think most people find most motorcyclists nice people, at elast in the UK. I've never had anyone shy away from me, run a mile, frown at me, tell me what I do is wrong and evil

But I've had loadsa kids tell me I got a cool bike, old people come up and tell me stories of bikes they owned made by british companies that dont exist anymore, people my age ask me how to get a bike.

The only people who make me feel unwanted are the people who dont move over a few inches to let me through when filtering. Most people are ok, some are not.

Problem with biking, as it is for everything, that the minority ruin it for the majority. A freind was telling me the other day about a biker "gang" who reside in the hackney area, who are apparently very agressive, both in riding styles and in personality (not sure how true it is, I havnt heard of anything like this before) - so people who witness this group (if they exist) will get a bad feeling about bikers in general, even when I come past gingerly and carefully saying thankyou to everyone who lets me past

Matt

As a message it loses its meaning because of that "sickly-sweet" stuff.
As a literary piece its absolutely bloody awful (not that I'm an expert) because you can see where it's going from the first few lines.
I don't like the way it portrays bikers as long-haired, tattoo'd, burly blokes ... I'm about as distant from that as you can get thank you very much!!
If anything, the person who wrote this is the A*hole for making such an assumption.

Matt, my experiences are similar to yours.

I get old fellas telling me about the "Norton" they used to ride 40 years ago.
I get little kids staring in awe and pointing (and it wasn't just after I'd come off and no they weren't laughing )
I get bigger kids shouting "Wheelie" ... not in a 30mph zone that kids play in you numpties! (besides which I've never tried to get the front wheel up and don't intend to cos knowing my luck I'd end up on my ar$e with a bike on top of me).

And as you say, a lot of people on the roads WILL give you some room ... WHEN they see you ... it's the ones that don't see you that don't give you the room. Oh yeah and the very few who DO see you, but think "I have to wait, so why shouldn't you?!"

It DOES make me smile though when I see people looking at the bike though as I sit at the lights waiting to go

Pete

Originally Posted by Pedro68

It DOES make me smile though when I see people looking at the bike though as I sit at the lights waiting to go

Pete

+1 It may only be an SV, its not the best bike in the world, but somehow, some way, everyone seems to love them

Matt