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Bicycles and Middle Schoolers

31 05 10 - 00:30 A brief depiction of the intricacies of Bicycle retail and middle-school interraction. Story time.

We will start with the story of my bicycle and the low air in the tires.

So I was riding home from work a few weeks ago and noticed that my tires felt pretty flat. I pulled over and sure enough the things were just about void of air. Luckily there was a bike shop two blocks away so I stopped and looked for whoever might be working. I discovered the only worker and likely owner of the place was a 70+ year old man who looked like he couldn't be bothered with anything. After asking him for his help I realized this:

I didn't know the word for air or tire.

Soooooo, I tried to explain that I had a bicycle and needed his help. He just kept looking at me in such a way as to say, "dude, what?" I finally got him to come over to my bike and essentially grope my tires while trying to explain what I needed. He finally looked at me with a face that expressed his annoyance at a really dumb foreigner butchering his native language and said:

Air pressure?

Old Japanese Bicycle Shop Owner 1
Scott 0

This next story takes place at middle school.

I was leaving for the day with my bicycle at my side and my bag in my incredibly precious bicycle basket when I realized that I was being spoken to. I looked up and saw a group of about 15-20 middle school girls all waiting outside the gym for their chance to play basketball. They were waving and saying goodbye in English so of course I responded in kind. As I continued my way off the premises some of them began to say things like, "I love Scott!" "We love Scott!" When I turned back towards them with a laugh and a huge smile 5 of the girls turned redder than a tomato garden and covered their faces in embarrasment.

They didn't think I could hear them.

Middle Schoolers 0
Scott 1