"People in Oregon must be poor."

[Trek420]

happy birthday massbikebabe who wrote

"I figure 2 things happened that forces us to take childhood from our children.

1. Moms went to work...plain and simple, and I'm not trying to cause anger here, I was also a working mom. Soon as moms left the house kids were put in daycare, or tended to by elder relatives, who may not have the engery to chase them."

I dunno about that, my (and therefore bikelessinWi's) Mom worked which was unusual in the 60's. We kids were in daycare but it was the first co-op daycare in at least Sonoma county and for one thing being a co-op...both parents were there! This wasn't the kind of thing where parents dropped the kids off and "alrighty now, done with them", parents had to spend some time there.

A common joke in our family is when Mom starts to say "do you remember so and so? She's a Nobel Prize winning chemist or whatever now..." "Did we go to nursery school with her?" the kids turned out allright.

We grew up in the country and the whole "it takes a village" thing as kids with some hindsight I think my parents had almost a network of great families that we hung out with each others kids.

"2. Child abduction/abuse. I believe this has always been a part of our history however today the media is doing a marvelous job bringing it to our attention."

True, it's probably always been there just now more aware of it. Wasn't talked about then.

"So what's the solution?? I don't know."

Me neither. This will make me seem like an old fogey but I was just comparing all the electronic games with what we used to do as kids like take a carboard box, flatten it and slide down a hill with dry grass (try it sometime, it's a hoot.) I'd take the box over any game.

But the orriginal question was why don't more people ride or why do kids think those who do are poor, right? These are complex class issues.

I think we're always asking here; why don't they ride?

I have noticed where I live (the flats of Hayward) what I mostly see are bikes as cheap transportation and they have a look about them which says "I'd rather be in a car but here I am on a bike". Kids here may see bikes as the transport of the working poor. They don't want to be seen as that, even many kids bikes these days are designed to look more like a motorcycle.

On the other hand they may see folks who bike as rich. Where is the jersey that says "I'm just a poor gal on a really really nice bike"?

I've shared here how I stopped using my road bike to commute and take my GT hardtail. On the road bike I get a range of stares and sometimes outright hostility (elevator doors slammed instead of held that sort of thing), I'm seen as "other", "what are you doing here?" I think. On the GT because it's a MTB I'm less visible, look like one of them.

I'm rambling a bit but I'm fascinated by the "class issues" around this. Is there a sociologist in the house?