Wolfeye wrote:Kradmelder: Good stuff! Might have something to do with you having a motorcycle- a car seems like shielding & like you're being greedy for conveniences. By the way: What bike(s) do you have? I'm looking into getting one & I want off-road ability combined with an ability to go cross-country while sitting upright. I'm thinking of maybe having a Harley converted to a semi-dirt bike (meaning it would mostly be a Harley, but I could handle things like curbs & driving it straight off the bed of a truck/van- you never know when that would come in handy or when you'd need to cut through some unpaved ground). I'm very new when it comes to bikes & I have a hard time finding things that explain it. Living in New York doesn't help, since everything's a pain in the ass & I don't live way upstate.
Speaking on the topic of people helping out & being sociable, I had a similar experience when I was in Hungary: I couldn't find the place I booked a room at & was having problems getting the internet to work on my phone (which was still pretty new to me). I couldn't call the place, since I didn't have internet to get the number & I booked it on Booking.com- not from the people at the actual place (so no "recently called" list). It was called Apartments4You. I wind up going to a place that HAS apartments, and people DO rent them out, but it's not a place that's like a hotel with a front desk to book rooms at.
So I'm wandering around, trying to find the right place, and I go into a gym because it was open (it was at night & there weren't a lot of people around or places that were open) & I asked the woman at the desk about it. She looks all kinds of stuff up, writes me things down, explains things to me, and tells me if I can't find the place I could just go straight down the Danube & I'll eventually run into one that probably wouldn't be that cheap, but it would be there.
So I'm walking around, I couldn't find the place, and I'm taking her advice to go down the Danube. I'm walking for a while & I run into these three guys that were speaking English with what sounded like a British accent (apparently, the British teach English in other countries like Americans do & people sometimes pick up that accent when they're speaking English). I ask them if there's a hotel up ahead & tell them my situation, then they offer to help me out. They walked with me for a good long while, in the cold, to help me find the place (we wind up at the same place) & then they book me a room at a hotel I didn't know about that was a bit further up. They walk me to the place & wait until I'm checked-in, I offer to give them some money for all the help they gave me & they turned it down (twice, actually), we exchange numbers & didn't wind up doing anything- but I was utterly floored by that. I told them I thought that this would NEVER happen in America.
We also had good conversation along the way, about a variety of things. I noticed the Hungarians are a pretty worldly people & it was a lucky thing I have some historical details & a philosophical ability or things would probably have been pretty dull. A conversation about mostly anything in detail is a rare thing in the US (in my experience) & it's rare that the subjects are on things that are more intangible (like cultural traits & historical situations having influence down the road). Oh- and no one freaked-out & accused someone of racism! I think it came up jokingly, but it was just that.
Dont get a harley. Their suspension is not geared for offroad. Nor do they have ground clearance nor the seating position for offroad.
They just turn money into noise. They vibrate and are slow with poor brakes. Harley is the ultimate marketting company selling image.
In america they are cheap because of duties on all other bikes.
Off road ktm is best but if you ride a lot of tar they are not ideal. Bmw is better on tar worse on dirt. The jap bikes stay away from sports bikes. You will kill yourself and they are very oncomfortable. The jap dual sport that can do off road are a good compromise and cheaper then the ktms and bmws. But i only buy white. I prefer to pay more for quality and to keep whites employed. Hence i only have ktm and bmw.
For that reason i understand an ami buying harley. But it is not a good bike nor suited for off road.
The concept of offering money, touchy and could be offensive. I often help stranded people. If they offer me money i feel offended and tell them i m not a hired man. To offer them money twice is worse.
The time some young man helped me fix my bike and find a place to stay, i just said let me buy you a beer. It shows appreciation but doesnt make him feel i see him as just wanting money. Americans are quick to offer money. For many other people money isnt the purpose.
It isnt only a white thing. Muslims, blacks whatever have often lent a hand and asked no money. Blacks are most prone to do so, but not all. A jew wot help except to help push you further into the ditch. I dont know asia.
I must say in america you dont often get offered help. Everyone is too afraid of strangers. That is why the reaction of jognny law makes sense. But if you meet american for work they are very friendly and helpful. One yank even lent me a car. A .mindset like helping someone just to screw them or for money is anathema to a white person here.
I have no intention to take fat chicks for that kind of ride. Or to be taken for a ride.
