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Motion to remove this guy and his highly disturbing and unproductive
rant from the listserve. Do we have a moderator?
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 29, 2009, at 1:52 PM, Michael Wolfe gzuphoesdown@gmail.com
wrote:
last week I was at Costco buying a case of biscuits and I saw this
lady is an air force flight suit. I couldn't help but ask, "when did
the start letting women fly?" now I'm noticing women doing all
sorts of stuff. I even saw a woman driving a public transit bus.
this to me seems dangerous. they won't breast feed and and now we
have children without immunity all over with swine flu and I can't
even go to walmart for fear of all this sickness. now they want to
be in charge of all kinds of things and governement and the economy
and recycling and even driving the garbage truck. where does it end?
how am I to embrace my freedom? this girl came to our ride once and
all she could talk about was how men have affairs nothing more than
high school education. this bothers me. then some wild yap about
jail and court and lawyers and such: Who do you think I am -- some
kind of moneybag? Here I am trying to sell my short story trilogy,
and you people hound me at every turn -- howling and moaning about
some sexist bike shops. What kind of rotten business are you in --
that you have to hound people all over the country?Everybody knows that the bicycle is nothing more that a money
laundering scheme, a shady, underground, organization that pollutes
the very nature of what we are about: "rebelling against the man"
Cycling is a lifestyle choice.What the hell are you tyring to do, anyway? Don't you realize that
I can't work with all the war coming on us? This atomic fallout is
God's WRATH! With the end of the world right on top of us, I can't
afford to work, let alone ride a bicycle or race cyclocross.
Haven't you ever heard of serving God and Mammon? With all this sex
going on and people forgetting about God, how can you hound me like
this? We're taking whiskey into our bodies all the time and drink
God's BLOOD! I can't hold a job -- I get worried all the time and
feel half crazy ... what are you doing with all this money? I don't
want your damn money . . . we all have a home in Heaven . . .what's
all the trouble?You don't understand the strain I'm under: I'm not the same man I
was a year ago. Worrying about my work and money and fitness and
jobs all at the same time is driving me crazy! I have to get my
work published! Why don't you talk to some of these publishers I
know and get me an advance so I can write a novel? Then I'll have
money and I will be able to race every weekend. Then I'll have
money . . .then I'll have it . . . I won't get these threats! I
got a disease of some kind over in New Orleans and this doctor says
I'll be fine, but I worry. Everybody thinks it's funny, but I have
to get a job. I might be the assistant religion editor at the
Gainsville Sun pretty soon. . . ''I'm going over there next week to
see about a job. I had a car and somebody took it in St. Louis.
Oh, God, whats happening all the time? Everybody wants to steal and
drink and sex and take every body's money away from people who don't
even sell anything and there's crazy atomic fallout everywhere and
war coming on. The whole world is going crazy and I don't even
have a job. You've got to stop threatening me! I'm not well -- I
have a blister on my leg and that damn disease is all over my
stomach. I can't even think what I want to say anymore . . . this
worry is driving me crazy.I tired to work in New Orleans and they made me quit. If I get this
thing in Gainesville I'll be a religion editor and publish my own
book in the paper. After that I'll have a job.On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 11:25 AM, Boson Au instructions@gmail.com
wrote:Some of the time it doesn't even get to the part where you can offer
cake; I heard about your cake party and erroneously assumed that
only your kind are invited to have cake (because when I peeked in
the window it's all your kind). I then back off, secretly wondering
about cake.also, it is apparent that when I went to the party it was a cake
party.it's a weird cycle. I've been told MANY times that people are
sometimes intimidated by our shop. A lot of women told me that
they are intimidated by the sheer amount of guys there (and while
maybe the majority of them aren't 'sexist bastards' it takes only
one and the indifference of others to reinforce this.)I don't think advertising gender nights/ talking about trying to
level the playing field at the shop is being pushy. Think about it;
the only types of people who would step foot in are ones who are
interested in bikes and 'bike culture.' Even if they're just there
to get a bike to ride around town in they've already signed up for it.On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 10:48 AM, veganboyjosh@gmail.com wrote: Not to detract from the things offered already, as a general
discussion about how to end sexism and all the other 'isms is
important, but I may not have stated my question clearly originally.Say your'e at a party, and there's cake. The cake gets cut and
distributed. You're taking your sweet time eating your piece of
cake. I get to the party late, after the cake has been cut and
distributed. You still have some cake left on your plate. How much energy is appropriate for you to put into making sure I
get some cake also? As it turns out, I'm just not interested in the
cake you're offering. I have no problems with you having some and me
not. You offer to split your cake with me. You offer to cut the cake
and let me choose which half to have myself. Seriously, I'm not interested in the cake. It has nothing to do
with you or your cake. It's about not wanting cake.Does this analogy have a place in a discussion about privilege?
There are going to be some people at all levels of privilege, class,
gender, etc, who just aren't interested in bicycles or community
bike shops, no matter how accessible, open, oppression free, safe
space providing they are. How do we know we've done enough to
accommodate the community, and when we're being pushy by expecting
to have someone of every dynamic in the shop?Again, I sincerely hope I'm not coming across as the dickhead white
male...and I would say that I personally have not and do not do
enough regularly to address the things I could. This is ABSOLUTELY
NOT me saying "enough with this accommodating already!" Just trying
to figure out where the line is between being fair and offering what
I/we have to someone who doesn't and being pushy with our interests
towards people who just don't want cake.Hope that make sense.
Thanks for the input, everyone. Love for each and every one of you
reading this.
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