I Need To Vent!

Jenny Busa

Jenny Busa

Registered
I work in the OR in a FLORIDA hospital and most people I work with know all about my motorcycle love, occasionally someone will ask why but never say anything rude like I heard today from one of the Stryker reps. He proceeded to say to me that he will see me in a trauma center and riding a motorcycle is stupid.
To make a long story short I just said that was not a nice thing to say but after I thought about I should've have said more. Ofcourse I wanted to tell him F off but I need to be professional.
What would have you said if it was you?
 
I think I would have told him to shut the hell up and to go back to his glass box for his own safety.!!
That being said, I have a cousin that is always asking when is it I'm selling my motorcycles so that no one has to worry about me. On his last visit I told him I was tired of him and didn't want to have another conversation about it, because he is the only one in the whole family always messing with me about it. I hope I got my point across, so that I don't have to make his next visit and "unpleasant one".:banghead:
 
I used to hear this all the time and can relate to your frustration. This usually comes from cagers who have no idea what riding a bike really feels like and how safe it could be if everyone would pay attention to the road and actually show some gumption while driving. That goes for EVERY DRIVER/RIDER that is engaged in traversing our roads.

After many years of riding the mean streets of LA and Orange Co., the people I know have come to the realization that I am not going just give up the ghost and subscribe to their method of commuting to work and play. This is a life style, not a game nor a death wish as many think it might be. I have been on 2 since the age of 12 and it is not somehing I take lightly, I know the dangers every time I throw a leg over and accept that fact and deal with it on a daily basis.

I usually just gently remind them that we are all on the same road and that there are no guaranties that we will not be involved in an accident at some point. Point in case, I was Knocked off the road @ 55 mph 3 yrs ago and I am still riding the Mighty Hayabusa once again. Many friends have asked me how I can still ride after such a close to death experience. I respond by reminding them that I did nothing wrong, it was not my dangerous riding, it was the driver(S) that made a quick and illegal lane change while I was in my own lane right beside them. The only change I have made in my riding is to be even MORE aware of drivers and thier distractions.

I like to say that I ride aggressively-defensive. If you ride, you know what I mean.

On another note: I have always had the support of family and friends that never disparage my riding, this is a great support system and reason to keep it safe on the road home!
I ride for me but stay safe for them.

Just my 2cts.

Bubba
 
Jenny Busa said:
I work in the OR in a FLORIDA hospital and most people I work with know all about my motorcycle love, occasionally someone will ask why but never say anything rude like I heard today from one of the Stryker reps. He proceeded to say to me that he will see me in a trauma center and riding a motorcycle is stupid.
To make a long story short I just said that was not a nice thing to say but after I thought about I should've have said more. Ofcourse I wanted to tell him F off but I need to be professional.
What would have you said if it was you?
Click to expand...
I usually say if the drivers pay more attention to driving rather than talking on the phone there would be fewer accidents. At the end of the day here over 70% of bike accidents are caused by numb nuts behind the wheel. At least you folks can carry guns .
 
The problem with perception in any kind of medical environment is that 90% (completely made up statistic - pure SWAG) of what they see has nothing to do with the enjoyment of motorcycling; rather it is the aftermath of an accident. The causes of the accident to them are irrelevant as in many ways, the many different causes have similar results. So, from their vantage point, the statistics regarding fatalities, sever injury, etc., are based off of patient cases.

Also remember, that there are even riders that other riders consider idiots - and these are sometimes well represented in the patient populations. Bottom line, is that medical professionals are typically jaded when it comes to motorcyclists (the term that I usually hear is organ donor)...

I just smile and refer to the single best piece of wisdom that has been conferred upon me:
"It has been proven scientifically, that being alive causes death."
 
Before I owned my first bike, I was planning on buying one in the spring. When January came my father-in-law was in a bad wreck that killed his two friends and hurt him pretty bad. He broke a good amount of bones, punctured a lung, and he caught on fire when the bike was hit and sort of exploded. It was a terrible time no doubt. He has a new bike by march even though he couldn't ride due to recovering from his injuries. May came and I bought my first bike. I got so much crap from him that I shouldn't buy a bike, they are too dangerous, and I have a wife. He has a wife and 3 daughters yet it was ok for him to buy another bike after he lived through a horrible wreck. Needless to say, I didn't listen and bought a gsxr 750. My wife hated riding on the back, I said if you think you can ride your own let's get you a bike. I bought her a bike, put her through a training class, and she is a great rider. My father-in-law was pissed!!! I got the same rant about danger, family, blah blah blah. Before I go on, yes, they are a risk. Yes, we can get hurt or die. If anyone has an opinion about something I am more than happy to listen. Hopefully, it can help me in some way. However, I don't need to have someone telling me that we shouldn't have bikes because they are dangerous and we have family, yet they do the same damn thing and that same person was in a terrible wreck that killed 2 and almost themselves.
 
I had this conversation with one of my doctors every single visit! Finally I asked him which one of the meds he has me on is more likely to kill me? He said there is a risk with all of them but you have to balance the risk with the rewards. I said bingo! People who ride are not focused solely on getting hurt or killed. If you look at a bike and say "that looks dangerous", riding is not for you. Bottom line is some people prize existing over living - that's just not for me.
 
The non riders will never understand the feeling we get when we are on two wheels. I slept on it, so I have decided his stupid comment means nothing and he probably wouldn't have the balls to ride even if he wanted to.
On a funny note note when I see him today I can run over his foot with the C- arm and say oops I only know how to drive on two wheels!:banana:
 
I would have said that if you have never experienced the freedom that two wheels gives you, you just wouldn't understand. There are risks in everything we do and we weigh up the risks against the pleasure or fulfilment we get from our hobbies whatever they may be.
I was diagnosed with Aortic Stenosis in 2007 (as I was waiting for a cancer op, not a good day lol) and the doc looked at me and said, are you a bodybuilder, yes I said. Then maybe it's time you started training more for fitness than mass...at you age (I was 55 then). Not a chance I said, I'm not going to give up something I love just to maybe live a few years longer, heck, I could walk out of here and get run over by a bus so what's the point, life is for living not hiding. He then proceeded to tell me all the tablets he wanted me on, no thanks I said, I will take my chances rather than put all that poison in my system. He wasn't impressed, he wrote to my GP saying he really wanted me to take a blood pressure tablet called Ramipril(even tho I didn't have high blood pressure). Ok I said, I will try it, in 4 days I felt like poop and then I read the side effects, one of which was sudden death!!! Went back to the doc and said forget it doc...sudden death..I can get that on the leg press pushing 1000lbs lol :lol:
 
My thoughts,

1. Mind your own business.
2. Gear saves lives.
3. You will lead an awfully boring life if you dwell on i could get hurt.
4. I would guess most accidents are caused by cagers. Tell the rep to make sure he is no the one who puts a biker there.

All that being said, I am an IT guy at a local medical center. I am responsible for 4 hospitals 50 clinics and a number of other outlying buildings. I have seen more than i care to chat about sometimes and the danger is real. Dont let it rule your life though.
 
Not to sound flippant, nor cliche, but in the end it's not death that I wish to avoid but life that I wish to live. Giving up the things that give me a reason to live would constitute an unacceptable existence, regardless of risk. The feeling I get from twisting the throttle on an open road is the most addictive drug I've ever encountered, (after much research), and I wouldn't trade it for 30 more years of a pointless and empty ride on this planet. Ride safe my brothers and sisters, but for the love of life, RIDE!!!
 
We all hear it from time to time! I love that my wife supports my passion to ride; when someone asks her if she'd prefer I didn't because of our 2 sons, she tells them not at all! I wouldn't be the same if I couldn't ride, and not in a good way; she tells them! I've got a coworker who likes to bring up the fact that I've been down a few times, and if I had a "real bike" (he owns a Harley Davidson V Rod)... I told him, anybody can avoid going down if their bike is a garage queen! You have it but you hardly ever ride the thing!! LOL
 
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