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by Kristin Leary |
A
few weekends ago, I pulled my bike out of storage and
performed the yearly ritual of washing, waxing, and
polishing its chrome. This event symbolizes that the
motorcycling season is upon us. Each spray of the hose and
rub of the wax built my excitement, passion and expectations
for another fabulous season of riding. I was ready to take
on the open road. So
I did. I headed out Highway 36 for a quick trip to Taylor's
Falls. Little did I know that this would be the same route
the "Teddy Bear Gang" would be on as well. You know them.
The members of this gang strap stuffed animals to the back
of their motorcycles. Why? I don't know. If you know, please
help me understand why anyone would want to do this. It
doesn't make any sense to me. On
this short, one-hour trip to Taylor's Falls I saw it
all&emdash;monkeys, puppies, pigs, lions, turtles, giraffes,
and cows. They were big; they were small; they were brand
new; they were twenty years old and faded with their
stuffing falling out. Now that's attractive. As
I took a break from the traveling zoo at the scenic overlook
of Taylor's Falls, I couldn't help but notice the Harleys
parked nearby, on which were four of the largest men I'd
ever seen. They were real tough guys, feeling even tougher
as people admired their bikes. I must admit it. I too was
impressed with their fine choice in motorcycles; they were
beautiful. As I walked past, I couldn't believe my eyes.
These tough guys weren't really tough guys after all. They
were members of the Teddy Bear Gang. It
was difficult for me not to go up to them and ask them a
series of questions. I knew well no matter how politely I
may ask the questions, I'd still insult them. Part of me was
willing to do this for the sake of broadening my knowledge
of this type of bike accessory. I wanted to know what
possessed them to purchase a stuffed animal, bungee it to
the back of their motorcycles and have it flop around back
there. I wanted to know why they selected the animal that
they did. Does it symbolize something to them? If so, is
this the only way they could express it? The questions would
be endless. I
opted against confronting this group of bikers for a few
reasons: the doubt of receiving a logical answer I could
respect, the unwillingness to listen to them objectively and
the fear of being out-numbered. (Four big bikers on Harleys
to one small female on a Yamaha 400. You do the
math.) I
will never know the rationale behind the Teddy Bear Gang.
Nor will I ever be able to take people seriously who have
stuffed animals on the back of their bikes. I know that life
is about appreciating others' differences and choices, but
this one is very peculiar to me! M.M.M.
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