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Barbecued Biker
A tagline on a story this week is a homage to a popular subtype of humor e-mail I get from friends from time to time: photos of (usually) Chinese people carrying impossibly huge loads on little motorbikes.
First the story, then some examples of the genre.
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Overloaded
After a reader snapped a shot of him on the freeway, the Melbourne, Vic., Australia, Herald Sun newspaper tracked down the motorcyclist who had figured out a way to transport a gas barbecue on his bike. "Stuart" admitted it was not his first odd motorcycle transport: the 27-year-old native New Zealander has also moved a couch on his bike. "People say it can't be done, but I proved them wrong," he said. He admitted such transports were dangerous and pledged not to do it again -- perhaps because the police were looking for him after the photo in the newspaper. (Melbourne Herald Sun) ...Said Chinese motorcyclists who viewed the photo: "He was only carrying ONE?!"
I do have the photo that the motorist took (hover over the photos for pop-ups on what you're seeing):
Here are some examples of the genre from Asia, from my files:
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Has nobody in China ever heard of the Side-Car? That last guy could then pack an extra three people & charged a fare.
Posted by: Ulises from CA | February 25, 2008 8:34 PM
This reminds me of when I was a teenager on holiday in Greece. We were at a small Taverna in a quiet village and the local policeman turned up on his police motor bike with his wife and 2 kids on! I wish I had a picture of it.
Posted by: Julie UK | February 26, 2008 6:07 AM
I was in Honduras for two years in the Peace Corps, and piling the transportation to the brim was the norm -- we almost always had furniture or boxes or piles of stuff in the aisle of the bus on the way back from the city. (Which was a real problem the day the bus engine caught fire.) So few people had transportation that those who did usually took everyone and everything that they could. This also included animals, mostly chickens. A chicken loose in a moving bus is NOT a fun thing.
I, myself, have ridden in the top luggage rack of a bus with all sorts of suitcases and other junk (that was REALLY bad, I almost fell off a few times), in the back of a pick-up with thirty other people with everyone standing and holding onto each other so no one would fall out, and with eight other people in a small car. And those are just the times that stand out.
It's definitely not safe, but if that's the only transportation going through that day, you've got no choice. Waiting until the next day just gets you back in the same position -- except maybe, if you're lucky, you're the one inside and not outside. Being stranded is no fun; I got stuck in the middle of nowhere once and had to walk seven miles to get to a town with transportation because the car I had been riding in died; fortunately, I had only a small backpack to carry. And there's the time I got stuck sleeping on the street with a bunch of other people because the bus that was supposed to show never did. So, under those circumstances, the rule is if it's moving, GET ON! Not safe, but if I had waited for safe, I'd probably still be there waiting for a ride...
Everyone who DID have transportation was extremely generous; if they saw you on the side of the road and they had room, they'd give you a ride whether they knew you or not. I can't tell you how many times I was waiting for a bus and had someone with a pick-up with people riding in the back stop and give me a ride. And they never asked anything in return. That generosity is something that I still miss.
Posted by: Laura, Columbus OH | February 27, 2008 9:30 PM