Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by WillG on April 30, 2013 at 1:58am

Wat?

John C. Wilson said:

Thank you Daniel G.

Hello jolondon. You sound like a much nicer person now that you're less angry.  A keyboard is generally not your friend when you are angry. If you can bear it I'm going to give you some more advice. It will be the last time, cause I'm not coming back to this board. Above you talk about how you would challenge these kids if you had the chance. Thinking about revenge is pretty normal after you've been injured. You may think those thoughts quite a while after an incident. Adults in this society are not allowed to get physical with kids. Thinking about getting physical with kids is a bad idea. Publicly musing about what you might do to kids is extremely poor tactics. Even if you hit a kid while purely acting in self-defence, and you know in your  mind you have done nothing wrong, someone else may have a conflicting story and you can be in deep legal trouble. If you want something from a kid you have to get it by being smarter and quicker than he is. If you can't think of anything better than physical force and the thief is a minor you might have to watch that bike walk.

A few years back when I lived in Rogers Park I got mugged one evening. Anyone reading this already has a preconception about the racial identity of the muggers. That's how we live. The police came. I was already bleeding and concussed. The cops wanted me to use words like "garbage" to describe my assailants. Sorry, even when concussed I will not play that game. So the cops started to hit me, thinking force might be a good motivator. By this time of the evening I was surrounded by half a dozen cops, all white, and a dozen of my neighbors. None of my neighbors were white. They came to the defence of a white man. They shamed the cops and they stopped the cops. With words. Words are powerful.

I am so white my German History professor once asked me to stand up in front of the class to display what an Aryan looks like. Then he asked me to state my origins. More diverse than you would guess looking at me. And I didn't even know all my 'diversity' until I was an adult. Many people don't. Many people never do. One of the few things your grandmother will lie about is exactly where you come from.

Telling me someone is South Asian or Hispanic tells me nothing about how they look. Hispanics come in all colors of the rainbow. So do South Asians. My Rogers Park neighbors endlessly surprised me when they told me where they'd come from. My presuppositions were always wrong. I don't care where you come from. I care what you do.

I did not call jolondon a racist. I didn't think he was. I think he made an unfortunate choice of words. That happens to anyone when they are angry. Gabe, I know what you are. You're plain about it. You've got a home here at the Chainlink. The hall monitors here approve of the way you speak. Cyclists against the world. I want no part of it.

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Permalink Reply by Vilda on April 30, 2013 at 2:12am

Bye John C.

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Permalink Reply by Josh L. on April 30, 2013 at 2:13am

John you need to give it a rest....I appreciate your sentiments but your reading comprehension rates "poor."

Nowhere do I mentioned taking physical revenge or attacking them. I said I wasn't scared if they tried to take revenge on me.  If a 17 year old with a knife attacks me - and my only choice is to fight back - I'll let the courts rule on that.  I can tell you the cops that stopped these guys - and had them with hands on their cars for at lesat 25 minutes over maybe $200 in bike parts - would not have been "favorably disposed" towards these guys.  

Second, I manage South Asians;  I have businesses in South Asia and Central America;  and I have travelled extensively in both Latin America and South Asia  so I know what many South Asians and Hispanics look like. Note that I said they "looked" like ethnicity x, y z. Never said every one of these groups looks is a bike thief nor do I pretend to know what every Hispanic looks like. As I wrote, I just found it interesting how racially diverse they were and commented as such.

So, however well intentioned, stop the preaching.

Carry on.

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Permalink Reply by Paul G on April 30, 2013 at 2:20am

keeping on topic...I like doing this for my bike seat: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-keep-your-bike-seat-from-get...

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Permalink Reply by Jason on April 30, 2013 at 2:26am

I know we are all cyclist and take theft personally, but honestly, bike theft isnt that big of a deal.

We live in a city, there are much larger problems to get worked up about. 

Its mostly crackhead types, and teens doing it.  Petty theft.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on April 30, 2013 at 2:31am

Jason,

How about you decide what you want to get worked up about and we'll decide what we want to get worked up about? Bike theft is a crime against the environment. There are people who just give up riding after they suffer the injustice of a bike theft. Some of us expend considerable effort getting others to join the party and experience the joy of riding. To see that work undermined by theft is discouraging.

Jason said:

I know we are all cyclist and take theft personally, but honestly, bike theft isnt that big of a deal.

We live in a city, there are much larger problems to get worked up about. 

Its mostly crackhead types, and teens doing it.  Petty theft.

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Permalink Reply by Jason on April 30, 2013 at 2:43am

If getting something stolen makes you stop riding, you have larger problems than getting a wheel stolen. 

It's life, shit happens. 

Tony Adams 6.6 mi said:

Jason,

How about you decide what you want to get worked up about and we'll decide what we want to get worked up about? Bike theft is a crime against the environment. There are people who just give up riding after they suffer the injustice of a bike theft. Some of us expend considerable effort getting others to join the party and experience the joy of riding. To see that work undermined by theft is discouraging.

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Permalink Reply by yai danche on April 30, 2013 at 3:10am

I think these are people who didn't enjoy riding that much in the first place.  An acquaintance at work gave up for this very reason (2 bikes stolen), prefers to take the train.  I can see how passively sitting through a commute is more appealing than riding through sometimes tense traffic.  I admit when weather is bad, I do the same thing.  Anyways theft hasn't made indoor bike parking a priority for my workplace despite the fact that we have the rooms and have a freight elevator.  Apparently it's a hazard and would be too messy for housekeeping.  

Jason said:

If getting something stolen makes you stop riding, you have larger problems than getting a wheel stolen. 

It's life, shit happens. 

Tony Adams 6.6 mi said:

Jason,

How about you decide what you want to get worked up about and we'll decide what we want to get worked up about? Bike theft is a crime against the environment. There are people who just give up riding after they suffer the injustice of a bike theft. Some of us expend considerable effort getting others to join the party and experience the joy of riding. To see that work undermined by theft is discouraging.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on April 30, 2013 at 3:18am

The theft of my, or anyone else's, transportation is a big deal...

It is also not just crack heads and teens; pay attention to the threads on bike thiefs here and you will see there are a lot of organized adults stealing large numbers of bikes.

Jason said:

I know we are all cyclist and take theft personally, but honestly, bike theft isnt that big of a deal.

We live in a city, there are much larger problems to get worked up about. 

Its mostly crackhead types, and teens doing it.  Petty theft.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on April 30, 2013 at 3:21am

Or they could be somebody who does not have the financial means to replace their bike.  In the case of some of my bikes they are not easily replaceable due to rarity and age; seems worth being upset about to me if it gets stolen.

Shit may happen but that does not mean we need to take it lying down.

Jason said:

If getting something stolen makes you stop riding, you have larger problems than getting a wheel stolen. 

It's life, shit happens. 

Tony Adams 6.6 mi said:

Jason,

How about you decide what you want to get worked up about and we'll decide what we want to get worked up about? Bike theft is a crime against the environment. There are people who just give up riding after they suffer the injustice of a bike theft. Some of us expend considerable effort getting others to join the party and experience the joy of riding. To see that work undermined by theft is discouraging.

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Permalink Reply by Jason on April 30, 2013 at 4:58am

True.

I guess its just how I view life.  Things happen, things are going to happen, you should just be prepared.  While somones $1,000 bike was stolen, someone had their $80,000 car stolen, and someone else lost their life.  So im not going to stress over some bum stealing my bike...but thats just me.

Its the reason why I ride a semi crap bike and dont care how it looks, whats the point?  
As long as there is a market, theft is going to happen.

Ive been commuting 365 for about 8 yrs and have only had a quick release wheel stolen (forgot a lock when I went to work).  Guess ive been lucky.
notoriousDUG said:

The theft of my, or anyone else's, transportation is a big deal...

It is also not just crack heads and teens; pay attention to the threads on bike thiefs here and you will see there are a lot of organized adults stealing large numbers of bikes.

Jason said:

I know we are all cyclist and take theft personally, but honestly, bike theft isnt that big of a deal.

We live in a city, there are much larger problems to get worked up about. 

Its mostly crackhead types, and teens doing it.  Petty theft.

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Permalink Reply by Josh L. on April 30, 2013 at 6:10am

Sorry for my sloppy writing..I don't post often anywhere :)

I waited there 25 minutes but the cops told me that they couldn't pursue charges on my wheel theft because there was no witness that saw them remove it and the guys said that the wheel was just there on the ground.  I suspect I could have pushed it but the cop in charge kept repeating that "they: just let these guys out because they are "juvies."  

The girl whose wheel and seat were taken were in the squad car and ID'ing these guys. They seemed a bit scared and didn't want to come out of the car.  It was definitely their bike parts and they made a clean ID I am pretty sure.  As I wrote, they literally watched these guys grab the parts right through Chava's front window (they told me what happened).

So I don't know how it ended up.  Two of the six were cuffed and the cops definitely weren't taking this lightly.  Six cops there and three squad cars (one unmarked).   But my sense - and this is purely speculation - that the cops didn't want to formally charge these guys given their belief that their juvenile status would get them right out.

Cameron 7.5 mi said:

I'm confused by the OP's story. Were the thieves let of completely, or were they arrested and charged with the theft in front of Chava that had an eye witness, but not the theft on the LFP that only had circumstantial evidence? If the latter is the case, then the cop's decision was probably based on only pursuing the case that would hold up in court.

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