A cousin of mine was in town recently while her husband was on furlough and I took her out to dinner. Her husband was not with us, since he was with his family at the time. Unrelated: For some reason she wasn’t allowed to stay with her husband overnight while they were in town even though they’re married. Yay progress!
Anyway. While I was driving to the restaurant, she pointed out a man in his 20′s riding a single-speed bicycle ahead of us. She said, and I quote, “Isn’t that guy a little old to be riding a bike?”
She just couldn’t understand why anyone would bike somewhere if they were over the age of 16. Why didn’t their parents help them buy a truck? I couldn’t help myself. I poked fun of her reaction and pointed out to her the fact that you could actually survive really well on a bike in this city.
I regretted it afterward though, because once she got defensive she managed to somehow take her naiveté a step further. “Well, I guess since he was black he probably stole the bike anyway”
God damn. It was like a right-wing relatives email was coming out of her mouth.
I hate people. Its kind of a love-hate relationship, actually. Just more proof that I must be a masochist.