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She wants her bike back
By adamg on Tue, 12/22/2015 - 11:28am
Pilotblock spotted this sign at Dartmouth Street and Warren Avenue in the South End - a couple feet above a no-longer-in-use chain and bike lock.
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Comments
Did you
"think" you "were" back in Attleboro or Winchester and could just "lock" your bike to a post on "that block" and "expect" it to "be" there the next day?
Welcome to the big city, Dorothy.
Are you now going to blame
Are you now going to blame the girl who gets raped for what she was wearing? Or why she was walking around at night? Putting fault on the victim does not change the fact that people are jerks and think they can just take something that clearly does not belong to them.
How about we don't equate a
How about we don't equate a stolen bicycle with rape? Could we please tone down the drama? (Sorry about your bike, it's happened to all of us.)
This
is the attitude that keeps cities down. Simply because one lives in a city, property crime should be ignored? People should not expect to be able to get from place to place because their vehicle (bikes and motorcycles, in addition to cars) will be gone or seriously damaged when they get there, and that's just the cost of doing business in the city?
Yes, cities have higher crime than many surrounding areas (though, I've seen some pretty iffy suburbs in some parts of the US). But ignoring certain crimes "because it's a city" is a recipe for getting more crime.
No one
is saying it should be ignored. But I am saying that common sense should prevail. An attention-grabbing bike like this might just grab the attention of crooks, given the very visible location (not all the South End is inhabited by other rich trust fund kids, despite how people want to see it).
The same common sense that should prevail when some 5'2" female jogger is surprised that she got attacked while jogging on the Esplanade at 4:00 am. Should she be able to go running wherever and whenever she wants? In an ideal world, yes. But this is not an ideal world and there does exist a criminal element in urban areas. Common sense would dictate that you don't put yourself in potentially dangerous areas in the wee hours of the night, male or female.
Keep digging
Yes, dear - A WOMAN SHOULD BE ABLE TO GO JOGGING WHENEVER THE FUCK SHE FUCKING WANTS TO!
Now go fuck yourself.
Yes, should
And A&B, sexual assault, and rape are crimes regardless of times of day or location. That said, there are bad people in the world, so people should be aware of their surroundings.
Swirly:
Yes, of course a woman SHOULD be able to jog whenever she wants. BUT, in the real world, no one, male or female, should think that they stand a chance of remaining safe at 3 or 4 a.m. on the Esplanade - a dark, isolated place with few means of escape.
Has political correctness addled your brain?
And telling someone to "go fuck yourself" like that is crass and belies any sense of intellect. Perhaps you forgot to take your meds. Or perhaps you need some to manage that anger.
Dear Mansplaining Child
You would be best not to lecture me about this "real world", since you yourself clearly know little or nothing about it. I moved from a drug-troubled trailer park to Boston in the mid-1980s. I don't need your sexist bullshit.
Now go clean your room.
I, I, I
Me, Me, Me.
Just shut your trap already, nobody cares about your own personal experience. Oh, and stop using the vocabulary of the young social justice warriors, you're old.
Also, what he's saying is that men and women can/do whatever they want, whenever they want (AMERICA, BABY!), but use caution as needed.
Didn't Ma and Pa teach you to stay out of pedophile Uncle Jethros trailer? Same principle.
Not trying to pick a fight,
Not trying to pick a fight, but he specifically said no man or woman or (let's just get to it) HUMAN for that matter should expect total and utter safety in the CURRENT world we live in if they're out and about early in the AM in (as he explained) a dark and isolated part of the inner city. That's just reasonable expectations of life in general for any possible city dweller, so I'm not sure how it's sexist bullshit?
No one is stopping a jogger from going out at 4AM. So if you get mugged, kidnapped, or shot, that's horrible and authorities should do something about it and find who was responsible as fast as possible. However, it would also serve as a set example for others of what not to do at a certain time in a certain area because it might also happen to them. A set example should also not be necessary to come to this conclusion.
Not until we reach a utopian single-uniform-wearing sci-fi society will everyone be able to do whatever they want at any time without any second thought given to personal safety/self-preservation.
Ahh,
The ol' "You don't know me, you don't know where I been" argument.
I.e., what self-appointed victims fall back upon when they can't argue the facts.
And, why do you seem to dislike men so much?
Have you stopped beating your wife yet?
n/t needed. You like mud, don't you?
What kind of a jerk..........
"Have you stopped beating your wife yet?"
So, you and Jo know eachother?
Mansplaining? The term you
Mansplaining? The term you are looking for is street smart.
But
"overzealous" policing to try to put some teeth into that "should", that's a paddlin'. Carrying a gun for self-defense, you better believe that's a paddlin'.
Completely uncalled for language and attitude
Get a grip
Oh no
Please be careful you don't injure your delicate hands clutching your pearls so hard. Oh, gasp, bad language on the internet, and from a woman, gasp. You get right to it, chiding that foul-mouthed woman.
Nope, wrong guy lbb
Never said I was offended and Swirly's gender had zip to do with my response. Way to project, though. And, while UH is of the internet, and on the internet, it is certainly not THE internet. Adam maintains a much higher standard and has enforced it to the degree that similarly offensive comments from registered user have been deleted in the past.
Did you
"think" you were being "witty" when you posted your pointless stupid victim-blaming snark?
Welcome to a world that already has quite enough of your type and would like fewer, Peebrix.
So, where would you suggest that I park my bicycle
if I decide to visit this part of the South End?
Not
on a street corner overnight, that's where.
The way it works, see, is,
The way it works, see, is, that bike's already been hidden his grandmother's apartment, repainted, and sold.
She* probably figured
She probably figured it's not a "cool" bike (from a teenager perspective), and not a super valuable titanium / carbon model, so it's safe from thieves.
* I also like how we all assume the owner's a she because it's a 'girl's' model with a basket. I do too, just find it interesting how we group and assume things.
It was locked, too
See description.
Francis Buxton is always a suspect though I would
check the basement of the Alamo.
He has an alibi
Francis was taking his bath.
Most amazing bath tub I've
Most amazing bath tub I've ever seen.
While you're at it...
Please return my 2 bikes and my neighbor's five, stolen out of our locked sheds in our own backyards.
And, don't even bother to file a police report. They could care LESS.
I know, I know, they have bigger fish to fry but bike thieves know this is a no-risk crime. Only an upside for them.
I'm sorry that you'll never see your bike again. It sucks.
Do Report to Police
I have to chime in here at this advice. The chances are low, but do file a police report.
Why? Because I got my bike back from the police.
I mentioned the story here and there, though it has been a while since I last mentioned it. Regardless, when I was still a BU student, I once from a combination of laziness and tiredness locked only my bike wheel. I was reward from that poor choice finding lock and wheel there... and my bike no longer attached to it. Regardless, I still reported it to police - which was quite a sad moment to watch as it involves the police officer standing there noting to their little ledger while I hold my bike wheel with streams of students walking past, one in particular voicing out "damn, that sucks".
A week or two later - with me beginning to move on and figuring about a way to buy a new bike, I got an email. Apparently the police (Cambridge though, not BU nor Boston) had found my bike. I tried to ask if they caught the person and other details, but they told me they can't reveal details per active investigation - which is fine with me as long I get my bike back. I made my way there with my bike wheel, expecting I have to put the front wheel back on. Instead, when they brought my bike out with a new front wheel. I inquired if they added a new wheel, but they said they recovered it that way. I'm pretty sure it rode a little better too, so the thief probably gave it a tune up. It was like I left my bike for a week in the shop. To this day, I hang my "spare" tire in the living room. A reminder of my stupidity... and my level of luck I can have sometimes.
But that story said, I have to say again that it is extremely unlikely anything will come out of it. I think my story shows that it is above the threshold to make a phone call to the police.
Renters' insurance
It might also be worth looking into a renters' insurance policy, which may sometimes cover stolen goods even outside the home (and if you want to make a claim, a police report helps).
Good to hear!
To be clear, I did report the theft to the police (E-13) and their response was "Ho-Hum, that's life in the big city" sort of thing. They actually told me that I should have had my bikes locked to something inside my locked shed.
It was very clear that zero effort would go into finding the bike thieves who ransacked my neighborhood and that I would never see my bikes again.
Check Craigslist
Theives are known to flip 'em for a quck $50.
Commonsense
Use commonsense in your daily life, people.
IMO cable locks should come
IMO cable locks should come with a warning label attached that says "DO NOT USE THIS LOCK IN AN URBAN AREA! YOUR BIKE WILL BE STOLEN!"
STOP VICTIM BLAMING
that is NOT ok. Victims need safe spaces where they can just "be" without someone trying to tell them how to avoid victimization in the future.