Three Topics Held Together with Duct Tape

Today is Bike to Work Day. I hoped to see more bikes on the train or around downtown. Unfortunately, I didn't notice even a slight increase. It was like any other day. I suspect that most commuters were like me and believed that bicycling would happen to other people.

It was depressing to see the typical caravan of vehicles dropping Bellarmine Boys off at the train station. It would be nice to see parents encouraging their children to use their bikes for more than just recreational purposes. It isn't like they don't have bikes. In fact, I'm almost positive that most of them have multiple bikes. And I wouldn't be surprised if some of them own bikes more expensive than my car.

Here is a quick observation about Bellarmine Boys based on riding the train with them the last few years. In the morning, every Bellarmine Boy comes individually wrapped in a shiny SUV. Each one also comes standard with a cell phone, a laptop, sports equipment (baseball, tennis or lacrosse) and cash (for onboard poker).

This morning, three of them were playing poker across the aisle from me. I happened to overhear their card game conversation because it would have been rude to plug my ears with my fingers to block out their voices. For Bellarmine Boys, volume control is not a standard feature. I don't know their names, but I will make an educated guess to give the following dialogue some semblance of reality.

Lawrence: (holding the deck) Are you ready?
Curtis: Dude, what happened to your finger?
Lawrence: I scraped it killing a snake.
Morris: Killing a snake?
Lawrence: Yeah, I was helping my brother watch the neighbor's horse and there was a garter snake and I killed it.
Morris: Killed it?
Lawrence: Yeah, because it was trying to bite my brother.
Morris: Your brother?
Lawrence: Yeah.
Curtis: You killed it with your bare hands?
Lawrence: No, with a knife. I cut its head off and scraped my hand when I did.
Curtis: You didn't have to kill it. You could have just tossed it.
Lawrence: Well, I didn't. I thought it was going to bite my brother!
Curtis: Yeah, but still.
Lawrence: And what if it bit the horse? Then my brother would be in trouble and the neighbors would sue him.
Morris: You could have lied and said you weren't there. Then your brother wouldn't get sued.
Lawrence: But we were there.
Morris: So what.
Lawrence: So what? Lying would have made things worse.
Morris: No it wouldn't.
Lawrence: Uh, yes, it would.
Morris: I don't think so.

At that point, I made my escape from the train, so I didn't hear the conclusion of Lawrence, Curtis and Morris' great moral debate.

As for last night's blogger gathering, Rich and Ealasaid wrote about it as it happened. Elkit, Silvia and Antwon gave them something to write about and I drank a latte eustachio. I also took photos that I'll post here and on Flickr later. Note to self: Need to remember to come prepared with better, more memorable punch lines for the next gathering.