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Re: cool (and not cool) comment yesterday

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rec.sport.unicycling
Published
30 January 2005
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31 January 2005
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Sigurd
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  1. So I had hopped up onto this flower box thing, about 15 inches up, and
    was rolling hopping and dropping off it during passing period at school.
    These guys walk past and yell "Next stop...X Games!!" I couldn't tell
    if they were being sarcastic or serious, but hey, not a bad idea!

    And you know what never ceases to amaze me? Despite wearing leg armor,
    wrist guards, riding a unicycle with a 2.5 inch knobby on it, and then
    going up and down stairs with it, I still get asked if I'm a clown. I
    mean, as if I'm wearing an orange afro wig and a foam nose. I also get
    "Wow, cool! You could start a party service! You know, dress up and
    juggle for little kids!! Ride you little unicycle." I'm thinking about
    changing my response from "No, I'm not a clown" to "*(sigh) Yes, you're
    right, I am a clown. Because obviously I'm juggling and I look just
    like one, despite the fact that I'm riding stairs and jumping loading
    docks."

    Sheesh...

    --
    Sigurd - Aspiring street/trials unicyclist.
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  2. ... dang stereotypes .... 😄

    --
    DigitalDave - scabless

    'nf7-s ~ xp2400mobile'
    (http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=21988)
    '19,869 3dm01' (http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=839940)

    my will to live was stronger than my will to die. - iggy pop
    that which does not kill me, makes me stronger. - friedrich nietzsche
    1899

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  3. just think of something funny to say back. like if you think you could
    take them in a fight, say something about their mom. like "your mom
    didn't think i was a clown last night" and so on. or think of something
    along these lines. i met a guy in an airport once who was 7 feet tall.
    seriously. he was wearing a shirt that said " No i don't play
    basketball. are you a jocket?" all you or any of us, has to do is think
    of something like that. i bet you could sell a ton of shirts. Something
    like "no i'm not a clown. are you a XXXX?" i know i'd buy one.

    --
    markf - movie nerd

    stuck in iowa and unemployed.
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  4. I also like it when they ask you: What's your profession (because I can
    walk on my hands and do that for warmup before taekwondo class, where I
    go to with my unicycle)? And then you wait for a second and you see the
    expectation in the people's eyes, waiting for me to say: I'm an
    entertainer, and of course I help out in the circus. Do you want me to
    come to your kid's birthday party?

    Doh. I'm not the clown. I'm still the skateboarder with a different
    kind of skateboard.

    --
    wogri - That *** looks ***

    http://www.wogri.at
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  5. markf said:

    *just think of something funny to say back. like if you think you
    could take them in a fight, say something about their mom. like "your
    mom didn't think i was a clown last night" and so on. *

    Doesn't work in other languages 🙁
    Mom jokes exist mainly in America, I think.

    --
    wogri - That *** looks ***

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  6. I went for a muni ride today with UniBrier and two other Seattle area
    unicyclists. A group of mountain bikers made some sort of clown comment
    while talking with us.

    You just have to remember that to non-unicyclists the clown comments are
    original. Often the comment is not meant to be degrading. It's just
    the first thing that pops in to their mind when they see a unicycle.
    It's like a word association game. I say "unicycle". What's the first
    word that pops in your head? For most people the first word they'll
    think of is clown or circus.

    Unless the clown comment is made in an obviously derogatory manner it
    doesn't bother me much.

    --
    john_childs - Guinness Mojo

    john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com
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  7. wogri said:

    *Doesn't work in other languages 🙁
    Mom jokes exist mainly in America, I think. *

    fair enough. you could still make fun of their family/loved
    ones/something offensive like that which should [censored] them off. i've used
    this a few times and it has yet to fail in shutting up people asking
    stupid questions.

    --
    markf - movie nerd

    stuck in iowa and unemployed.
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  8. One of us seriously needs to make a shirt with like, a dead clown on it,
    and the words "No! I am not a clown!" on the back, so you can just turn
    you back on ther person to answer the question. Fashionable and
    functional...

    --
    Catboy - I enjoy the taste of dirt!!!

    'I have the amazing power to talk to cats! =^.^='
    (http://gallery.unicyclist.com/Catboy)

    RIP Unibiker
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  9. when someone asks me if I'm a clown/in the circus, I just say:
    "No, are you?"
    that shuts 'em up.

    --
    James_Potter - betcha can't stick it!
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  10. Catboy said:

    *One of us seriously needs to make a shirt with like, a dead clown on
    it, and the words "No! I am not a clown!" on the back, so you can just
    turn you back on ther person to answer the question. Fashionable and
    functional... *

    You could get a shirt from 'ihateclowns.com'
    (http://www.ihateclowns.com/ncstore/). Maybe 'this shirt'
    (http://tinyurl.com/7u4) or 'this one' (http://tinyurl.com/22ns).

    --
    john_childs - Guinness Mojo

    john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com
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  11. markf said:

    *fair enough. you could still make fun of their family/loved
    ones/something offensive like that which should [censored] them off. *

    That's something considered very rude in German, at least. I wouldn't do
    that.
    But I like Mr. Potter's comment: No, are you? 🙂

    Wogri, Austrian American

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    wogri - That *** looks ***

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  12. Something tells me that if I were to wear clown make up while riding the
    unicycle, THEN, I would hear comments like:
    "I heard about this unicycle sport called MUni--you should check it
    out"
    or:
    "Hey, where's your coker?"
    or:
    "Have you ever heard of Kris Holm?"
    or:
    "Clowns like you give a bad image to unicycling, you know that?"
    and so on...

    --
    dogbowl - rides a 26", but dreams of a coker!

    All I want out of life is to be able to ride the unicycle while smoking
    a cigar at the same time. Is that too much to ask for?
    www.dogbowl.com / www.eyeballplanet.com

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  13. LOL, try it!

    Or else they'd just change the word around from " are you a clown? to "
    you are a clown!"

    Andrew

    --
    KJ-52

    Now posting from my friends house, and not paying for it : )
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  14. When they ask if you're a clown say, "Why do you ask, are you afraid of
    clowns?".

    --
    KJK
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  15. I like Catboy's idea. A "No I'm not a clown!" would be better than "I
    hate clowns."

    Oh yeah, the other request I get is "Do a backflip!" My response is
    "After you."

    --
    Sigurd - Aspiring street/trials unicyclist.
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  16. "markf" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:


    fair enough. you could still make fun of their family/loved
    ones/something offensive like that which should [censored] them off. i've used
    this a few times and it has yet to fail in shutting up people asking
    stupid questions.

    If it shuts them up it is more than likely that they view you as not worth
    talking to, or else view you as just a young thug on a unicycle, someone to
    avoid. It certainly won't be because you have "p....d them off"

    To say something offensive like that, in particular to young males, is
    probably a bit risky. Not only are you putting yourself below their level,
    but if you annoy them in such a way, there is a significant chance that
    next time you pass them they may, with their mates, do something very nasty
    to you. On a unicycle you are a bit vulnerable to attacks. I know one guy
    who was knocked, quite intentionally, off his giraffe in the street. The
    offenders then jumped on his spokes. And he had done NOTHING to annoy
    anyone. He is now very nervous of riding the giraffe on the street.
    These people may well think their comment funny and original, but remember
    its you who is on the uni every day, whereas they may never have seen one
    outside of a circus before. Most people have only seen unicycles in the
    circus. Have we maybe not even taken the idea from the circus, and merely
    developed it? I saw my first unicycles in a circus. I thought at the time
    unicycles...circus, it never occurred to me that anyone outside of a circus
    would ride one.
    Get used to it, people will call you a clown, so what, it does not hurt
    you, and the speaker goes away happy with himself.
    Ahhhh!... if only being called a clown occasionally were the worst thing to
    happen in this life. If you cannot deal with that, wait until something
    serious hits you.
    The worst you should do is to just THINK " 3rd idiot of the day". Trying
    to talk to them is also quite likely to engender their respect and they may
    not then give out a repeat silly the comment the next day. A genuinely
    funny retort may work, but insulting responses are not the way for us to go.

    Nao

  17. Most of the comments we received yesterday would qualify on the "cool"
    side. There were several "you're really hard core" and "you've taken it
    to the next level" type comments. A lot of genuine curriosity.

    I agree it can be anoying to always be dealing with the same comments. I
    tend to like the "don't need the training wheel" to the "lost a wheel"
    comment.

    There must be a good generic clown comeback. I was thinking of something
    in the lines of,

    "Last time I was at the circus only a couple clowns could ride a
    unicycles but there were tons on bikes."

    or

    "I've heard more clowns can ride a bike than unicycle."

    Don't forget to smile...We're just trying to change their thinking, not
    crush them.

    --
    UniBrier - Its Time to Ride

    Steve

    Do your feet smell? Does you nose run?...You may be built upside down.
    -Old joke I found in a Mad Magazine many moons ago.

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  18. I normally say something like 'Yes I am a clown, just not the circus
    type' or 'No I don't even have a twin brother' and when they look
    confused I say 'oh a clown, sorry I thought you said cloan' It's always
    good fun to talk nonsense back. My personal favorite is when they say
    'where's the other half' I reply, 'my other half, I left her at home
    doing the washing.

    --
    MattPH - Muni Hungry

    You do WHAT on it?
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  19. One of the reasons that I started to Unicycle, was that I wanted to try
    and Juggle Clubs while I rode on a Unicycle. It has worked out that I
    don't juggle much now, but I still unicycle. The Juggling club I went to
    for a couple of years closed down, the guy who ran it got busier at work
    as a Clown.

    I couldn't do the work he did, to keep all those children happy for a
    whole party.

    I doesn't bother me too much to be called a Clown, some people say it
    quite seriously, but those in the know would be surprised if a Clown
    turned up with Leg protection, and hopped over obstacles.

    If one more person says “Where’s the other wheel" I think I might scream
    though!

    Innes

    --
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  20. A buddy of mine and I ride the riverwalk sometimes here in Memphis. I'm
    usually out in front and the clever so-and-so's who say "Where's your
    other wheel?" usually get the answer, "He's got it." and I hook a thumb
    back at my pal. He rides by and grins. "He's got my other wheel,
    too!"

    Everybody goes away happy.

    Another good comeback to "What happened to your bike?" is the old
    standby "Got this at a half-off sale. Who knew?" That one still seems
    to work pretty well.

    --
    Kayote

    Greg, your cartoonin' unicycler.

    http://www.cafepress.com/unicycles
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