Randominimity

I am pretty sure the title of this post isn't even a word but there's a gob of little junk to write about so here goes:

First off - I have in this blog and in other places dissed the MTA (and their bus operators in particular) as being evil and inconsiderate drivers of hulking obnoxious death machines. I would like to back off of that just a little bit. Okay - really just for one driver in particular. His name is Patrick and he drives the B61 bus that runs between downtown Brooklyn and Long Island City - here is what he did:

Today I was riding home from a tasty lunch at Chai with my (awesome and beautiful) friend Beth. As I zipped down Wythe (at superhuman speed), I noticed that a bus driver about a half block behind me was honking a fair amount. I assumed it was the usual belligerent bus driver honking like a maniac at everything in his path. I kept ahead of the bus, and managed to not make any rude gestures (since he wasn't riding my tail and honking). I turned off of Wythe onto Rodney and headed on home.

About an hour later, I checked my e-mail and the lady who bought my old house in Windsor Terrace had sent me a message saying that some bus driver had called to try and return my wallet - she gave me his cell number and I was able to call him and meet up with the bus about a block from my home to retrieve my wallet.

Patrick had seen the wallet fall out of my pocket while I was riding, stopped to pick it up and then chased me down honking his horn to try and get me to stop. Then he managed (while driving his route) to find a phone number for my old address that was on the driver's license and get word to me. When I met the bus, I explained that I did not have much cash and asked him to call my cell number, leave his full name and address and I would mail him a proper reward. At first he declined and after I insisted he said that he would call me. I will call him if I don't hear from him in the next day or so.

Thank you, Patrick! The MTA needs about 20,000 more employees like you.

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Completely unrelated to that story: I did a review of several pairs of cycling knickers which was posted on the Fixed Gear Gallery a few months ago. Originally, it was written as one long review of all the knickers at once. Dennis at FGG modified it to work better with his typical review format. I feel like the text flowed better in my original version, but understand completely the need for a consistent format. Thanks to Dennis and the FGG for putting it up on their site!