The Bike Tragedy

-

We truly are a tad pathetic as a society.

President Biden slipped off his bike on Sunday.

I must’ve seen mention of it at least 400 times. In some cases, it led off the news program.

Now, it wasn’t that he fell to the ground writhing in pain. The exact opposite happened, actually. He was up and back on the bike in seconds.

Made me think of a couple of bike accidents that I wished they’d got on film when I was a kid.

I rode around the neighborhood on my older sister’s bike. First, it was clearly a bike for a female rider and my buddies knew it and broke my stones about it endlessly.

Secondly, we lived on a big hill that we had to descend to go anywhere.

That bike didn’t have breaks.

I used my feet.

Like Fred Flintstone.

Our good buddy lived at the bottom of the hill.

I once tried to navigate the turn without slowing down.

I went over the handlebars and into a deep ditch as the bike skittered off into the abyss.

I jumped right up too.

To see the neighbor mom bent over laughing in hysterics as she tried to ask me if I was okay.

Then the big accident.

My brother, John, and I worked on a farm a ways away. We got up at 5:00 and headed out each morning. He was always in much better shape than me and I would try to get a jump start so that we might arrive at the farm at the same time.

One morning I cruised down that hill, not even trying to brake at all.

John was late leaving the house so when I got to the bottom of the hill, I suddenly turned the bike to catch a glimpse of him coming down.

He hit me head on because he hadn’t been expecting me to stop and turn.

At 5:05 on a summer morning we were both laying in the road, bleeding, groaning and screaming a little.

“I’m going to get up in a minute or two, and then I’m going to beat the hell out of you,” John said.

We both laughed.

Laid there and laughed and laughed.

Imagine if they’d caught that one on the news.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Suits

-
Like a lot of other people we got pulled into the series, ‘Suits’ on Netflix. I’ve never had much fun hanging around lawyers who have questioned me as a construction safety officer. I once testified in a case where the opposing lawyer started questioning me by going through my educational background. “So,” he said, racing to a crescendo, “You graduated from college with a degree in Communications-Journalism and suddenly, 30 years later, you’re a ‘safety expert.’” He actually made the quotation marks with his fingers. I just looked at him. “How does that happen?” He bellowed, sure that he was going to discredit me. “Well,” I said. “I knew I was overqualified to become a lawyer.” The courtroom erupted in laughter. Even the judge chuckled. The rest of his questions landed flat. So, I wasn’t all that keen on a show about lawyers, but ‘Suits’ is great. Meghan Markle became a princess because of the show, and she is very good in it (and a beautiful woman). Yet, there is so much more. The wri
Read more

My Buddy, Dave

-
Way back in 1997, I started working with a steel erection company out of Syracuse. I was coming straight from a long stint with a steel erector here in Buffalo so I knew my stuff when it came to steel erection safety rules. On day one, I met with the safety director and he was just getting started as a safety guy, but man, he certainly cared about the guys he worked with. Dave was a good man from the start. He’d say things like: “You’re so full of beans.” Just a down to earth, hardworking guy who became a fast friend. We drove all around New York State setting up jobs. I always let Dave drive so that I could rest. One fine day, way up North of Syracuse, we passed a state trooper.  I glanced at the speedometer. “You’re screwed,” I said, and seconds later, the lights came on. Dave was beside himself.  The cop stopped by the window, grabbed the license and registration and headed back to his vehicle. “Here’s the thing,” I said. “You’re pissed, but you’re such a good guy that I bet you tha
Read more

Mom & Ollie

-
Image
 Ollie Stadium is a mess. The heavy rains rendered the backyard a mud pit and even though we threw in the side yard, the Big O was looking for more, and we were both covered in mud. I had to take some steam out of him somehow so I suggested we go visit Grandma. Ollie hates the car, but he laid quietly as we made the trip. We even brought the football because there is plenty of room to play at Grandma’s. Mom opened the door and started laughing. I thought about the love she had for every single dog we ever had. Oliver was quick to give my Mom a kiss, and then he stood beside her. The love between Mom and Dogs is a mutual bond. Through the years, Mom would make breakfast for the dogs.  Fried eggs, toast, bacon… She would wrap Christmas gifts for them. “To Jeter, Love Santa,” she would write on the cards. They played with the big chicken that made a lot of noise. Mom tossed the football and Ollie brought it back to her. As the visit drew to a close I headed for the door.  “C’mon, Oliver,”
Read more