Does Anybody Else Display a Message?

email hidden said:

I don't think there is any reason on a personal level to worry about
what others think of you, but in order to have the biggest impression
in order to effect change with a message, you need to appear "normal"
otherwise you are dismissed as lunatic fringe. Most of the people who
respond positively to your message are already on board at least in
thought. It's preaching to the choir in a way. Most people don't want
to be part of or associated with a lunatic fringe, so I think the best
way to get normal people to ride bikes is to show them more normal
people riding bikes. Otherwise they think cycling in only for what
they perceived of as freaks. This goes for any protest type activity
as well. Which would get more milage with "the masses" at home: a news
clip of 100 grungy kids whining about something, or 100 soccer moms
holding a petition?

Joseph- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

So please define "normal". Is it wearing a colorful bicycling jersey
that nobody else on the planet wears? I have nothing against bicycle
jerseys. I own a few myself. Is any bumper sticker "normal". Is a
large jacket with "Cannondale" imprinted across the front "normal"?
Or is "normal" just what Joseph thinks is normal.

A lot of white supremacists didn't think Martin Luther King, Jr. was
normal, and one even shot him to death. You seem to want "Middle of
the Road", which has accomplished nothing in our AutoCentric country
for the last 70 years. I claim that the "Middle Ground" is
devastating our country and our world. 25-40% of the US Trade Deficit
is from imported oil. Global warming? Are all these scientists
wrong? And every day, life goes on, and the "Middle Ground"
accomplishes nothing. My stance is one of action, not only bicycling,
but in expressing a challenge.
----
Jim Gagnepain
http://www.OilFreeandHappy.com

oilfreeandhappy said:

Bill Sornson said:

With a handy little link to your site that just /happens/ to feature
items for sale that "Make a Statement".

It's about as transparent as it gets, greasy.

BS (really)

Part of the signature, clearly separated from the message. Many
people do this.

But they don't "introduce threads" about what they sell and act like it's
just a coincidence.

Bill H. said:

On Apr 24, 3:55 pm, oilfreeandhappy <[email hidden]>
wrote:

Two points:

1) I think it's more than a little self-righteous to wear flags,
stickers, and whatnot that say "One Less Car." or some similar "I'm-
better-because-I-bike" message. Express yourself if you want, but
what you're really doing is claiming some superiority over someone who
can't, or chooses not to ride a bike.

I don't believe that my messages claim a "better than thou" attitude.
They're merely saying that "Not everyone needs to burn gasoline to get
from A to B, and the alternative can be FUN". Another person
interpreted my message as "Oil-Free and Loving It", and that's the way
I think of it. Again it's all about encouraging alternatives.

Quoted message said:

2) Secondly, do you honestly care about what some stranger thinks of
how much money you have? I don't. When I get on my bike, I'm riding
for me because I enjoy it, and it's great exercise. Someone thinks
I'm poor...I truly couldn't care less.

Agreed. I'm not sure what this is in reference to...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Jim Gagnepainhttp://www.OilFreeandHappy.com

You're not oil free. Not even close to being oil-free. If you've
purchased anything in your life, you've supported the oil companies.
I don't care if you've never purchased gasoline in your life. The
food you eat, the clothes you wear, the computer you're using...all
this was brought to you by oil-powered vehicles.

Read response above.

DI said:

"Dane Buson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
I hope he doesn't ride on asphalt paved roads.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Did I build the road? Maybe my tax dollars did. Even so, I'm
certainly not building the road as I'm riding my bike. As I
mentioned, I don't claim an Oil-Free life.

I have nothing against OIL. As a matter of fact, I think it's one of
the most important resources on the planets. Tiny intricate plastic
devices that can ONLY be derived from oil are used in complex
surgeries. As such, I would like to see our oil conserved for many,
many generations to come. Instead, we seem to burn it up, like there
is NO TOMORROW.
----
Jim Gagnepain
http://www.OilFreeandHappy.com

Bill Sornson said:

oilfreeandhappy said:

Bill Sornson said:

With a handy little link to your site that just /happens/ to feature
items for sale that "Make a Statement".

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It's about as transparent as it gets, greasy.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

BS (really)

Quoted message said:

Part of the signature, clearly separated from the message. Many
people do this.

But they don't "introduce threads" about what they sell and act like it's
just a coincidence.

You're right. It certainly wasn't a coincidence. I don't see
anything wrong in being passionate about advocating conservation. Is
it a problem If someone chooses to visit my website off my signature?
Is there harm in this? It's not a blatant Advert. It's simply an
option, if someone chooses to pursue the relevance to the thread. I
also mentioned One Less Car. They have a website. I mentioned Share
the Road. They have a website. The main focus is on the concept of
Make-a-Statement.
----
Jim Gagnepain
http://www.OilFreeandHappy.com

oilfreeandhappy said:

Bill Sornson said:

oilfreeandhappy said:

On Apr 25, 11:34 pm, "Bill Sornson" <[email hidden]> wrote:
> With a handy little link to your site that just /happens/ to
> feature items for sale that "Make a Statement".

Quoted message said:

> It's about as transparent as it gets, greasy.

Quoted message said:

> BS (really)

Quoted message said:

Part of the signature, clearly separated from the message. Many
people do this.

But they don't "introduce threads" about what they sell and act like
it's just a coincidence.

You're right. It certainly wasn't a coincidence. I don't see
anything wrong in being passionate about advocating conservation. Is
it a problem If someone chooses to visit my website off my signature?
Is there harm in this? It's not a blatant Advert. It's simply an
option, if someone chooses to pursue the relevance to the thread. I
also mentioned One Less Car. They have a website. I mentioned Share
the Road. They have a website. The main focus is on the concept of
Make-a-Statement.

But it's an insipid question that it /seems/ you come around and ask every
3-4 months.

Whatever.

Bill Sornson said:

But it's an insipid question that it /seems/ you come around and ask every
3-4 months.

Whatever.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

1. I've never asked this question in rec.bicycle.misc. I challenge
you to show me that I'm wrong.
2. Are you the self-appointed moderator of this group? I would be
willing to bet that any reasonable moderator would have no problem
with this post. Perhaps you could start your own group, and moderate
the heck out of it. Let's see how many stay around.
3. I've seen a number of your posts, and you (and some of the others
in the Bicycle groups on Google) do nothing but attack others.
----
Jim Gagnepain
http://www.OilFreeandHappy.com

oilfreeandhappy said:

Bill Sornson said:

But it's an insipid question that it /seems/ you come around and ask
every 3-4 months.

Whatever.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

1. I've never asked this question in rec.bicycle.misc. I challenge
you to show me that I'm wrong.

As I wrote, it /seems/ like you pop in this or other newsgroups every few
months and "innocently ask" if people "make a statement" while they ride.

Then, whaddya know -- you just happen to SELL PRODUCTS designed to "make a
statement" while one rides.

If you were a regular contributor to varying threads, then just having your
sig file would be one thing. But even then, if you posted your silly "do
you make a statement" thing every few months, it would obviously be
self-serving (AKA "SPAM"😉. Most people don't care for SPAM.

HTH (but doubt it)

In article <eN5Yh.132388$aG1.53428@pd7urf3no>,

nash said:

If someone expresses an interest, I'll gladly do what I can to
hold the door open for them. But I won't push them through.
<<<<<<<<<<<<

How is wearing a t-shirt pushing them through.

Well, actually I was responding to Jim's point about
"debates, logical arguments and even advertising."
I took that as cycling advocacy in a sense broader
than merely wearing stuff with cute captions printed
on it, and a certain type of advocacy that's not so
much pro-cycling, but anti-car driving. Okay, I don't
like excessive car driving, myself. But you can't get
people on your side by /accusing/ them. Even if you're
not really accusing them of anything, but they think
you are.

Quoted message said:

Are you afraid to just
agree?

I guess I /am/ too leery of unintended consequences
to just agree. From what I've seen in crossposts
to this newsgroup, some drivers take the mere act
of somebody riding a bike as a personal criticism
against them. It seems to me we're sometimes perceived
as shoving our "Green agendae" down their throats.

But if they're feeling guilt pangs about their ecological/
social auto-largesse, I guess that's a step in the right
direction.

Anyways, the medium is the message. And just riding a
bike seems to be a fairly potent medium in its own right,
without the need for message-ridden swag.

[brevity snip]

Quoted message said:

Heck I would wear a "Don't Smoke" T-shirt if I thought it would help but I
don't feel guilty if it turns some into smokers because they are spiteful.
Just planting the seed so to speak.

I wouldn't mind wearing a T-shirt that just has "Wheee!"
printed on the back, in big, block letters.

....

Quoted message said:

What bugs me more than drivers though is the [censored] on the road, like
potholes, gravel, dirt, nails, glass, wet leaves, rocks, etc., even more
than words.

And people in cars who flick cigarette butts out their windows.

cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Michael Warner said:

Alex Colvin said:

I'm trying to think of anything that I did because of a bumper sticker.

Honk? Flash your [censored]? Give up everything you own and preach in the desert?

--
Home page:http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

That's nothing. I freed Tibet.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bill H. said:

Michael Warner said:

Alex Colvin said:

I'm trying to think of anything that I did because of a bumper sticker.

Honk? Flash your [censored]? Give up everything you own and preach in the desert?

--
Home page:http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

That's nothing. I freed Tibet.

I didn't follow him (he was lost too).

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

Here are three changes to make to convince me that it's not about the
money:

1. www.oilfreeandhappy.com becomes www.oilfreeandhappy.org

2. T shirts become free.

3. "Add to cart" button becomes "Make a donation" button. Suggested
donation amount :$5. I remember ordering 100 Tshirts with my own
design (cheesy) for a local high school team, 3 colors, $4 a piece.

Can you take the challenge?

BTW, I don't like your T-shirt design. Too much stuff, and the
messages are too hard to read. Especially when the cyclist is passed
by the intendend audience traveling at 50 mph.

i forgot the main part - if those changes are made, I will order 2 T-
shirts from www.oilfreeandhappy.org, for the suggested donation
amount, even though I don't like the design.