What if your LBS owner was a felon?

[bcipam]

Unfortunately, there are bad people out there. Unless I know for sure the history, I am wary of the sex offender label. Here is why.

A friend of mine had an aquaintance, a young (in his 20's) gay man. This man met another young man, the attraction was there, and they both went home to young man #2's house. They had sex, then young man #2 left the room, and came back in with his mother.

They informed man #1 that #2 was under age - and if he did not pay them a certain amount of money, they'd call the police and have him charged. So he had a choice, be blackmailed by this boy and his mother (for who knows how long), or be branded as a sex offender for the rest of his life. His word against theirs. How would you choose?

I would choose not to have casual sex... and cause the problem in the first place.

Also - here's my problem with this debate - we are not discussing some guy who when he was young, burglaried houses to buy drugs. Wrong no question and I would expect him to pay the price but afterwards I would give him a chance if he straightened himself out. BUT we are talking about someone, who in my mind and in my very hmble opinion, has committed the ultimate crime and sin... I personally cannot excuse the behavior of someone who preys on children... be it cyclist, or neighbor, or parent, or priest. This is a sin that cannot be forgiven. But thankfully there are lots of folks out there more forgiving than I and since he has a name and a reputable (as a cyclist) he'll no doubt do well without my business.

I don't shop at Walmart or buy Nike because of their business practices but will my behavior affect either business? No. But in my heart I'm chose to do the right thing.