I instantly regretted my decision, and then I had about 30 minutes to really reflect on the bad decision I made. You see this morning I didn’t bike to work – a complicated affair of inaccessible showers at work and a flaky weather girl saying “it’s gonna rain all morning” – and ended up waiting for the bus for 30 minutes. Thirty long rainless minutes.
Did I mention I now bike to work in 35 minutes? So by the time I wrote this first paragraph, I could have been sitting at my desk – sweaty, smelly and happy? This really rubs me the wrong way.
Silver lining to this cloud: I’m writing this on the bus on my Blackberry, so you have something to read. 
Speaking of biking, I had an adventure yesterday on my way back from work. I almost fought a French (meaning from France, not just french-speaking) dude. Well, two dudes really, but I don’t know if the other one was French.
You see, there’s a small section of the bike path that is actually a very wide sidewalk that cyclists and pedestrians share. BTW, the bike paths are also shared spaces. The problem on the sidewalk part is that there is no lines to tell people where they should be walking/biking.
So here I am on my bike, right behind those two dudes. I slowly move to circle them on their left, but they quickly sidestep to the left. I stood still for a moment – to let them take a few steps so I can have some distance to make a wide swerve to their right. At the last second, they again step right in front of me.
I figured that it wasn’t a problem, that I was just going to slowly follow them. I knew the actual bike path wasn’t too far off, and that they would have to stick to the right at that point. So I’m about 2 feet behind them, matching their pace when the French dude turns around and starts yelling at me.
“You know this is a sidewalk?*” He shrieked with his very feminine voice.
“Yup, I said, that’s why I’m just quietly following you. Notice how I didn’t ring my bell or asked you to move to the 10+ feet of empty space to your left?”
“BUT THIS IS A SIDEWALK! SHOW SOME RESPECT!” He yelled as he stopped squarely in front of me, forcing me to stop. He grabbed the handlebars. I stepped down and put my bike on the stand.
“Since this is a sidewalk, may I kindly suggest you WALK to the SIDE or should I kick your ass?”
I had never seen a French dude run that fast. The other one stood there, raising his hands in the universal “I want no troubles” gesture.
I swear I’m not on steroids.
*Of course the whole conversation was in French,and it went like this:
“Tu sais que c’est un trottoir ici?”
“Yup (I say yup even in French), c’est pourquoi je fais seulement vous suivre. Je n’ai pas sonné ma cloche, je ne vous ai pas demandé de vous déplacer vers les 3 mètres d’espace libre juste là.”
“MAIS C’EST UN TROTTOIR! UN PEU DE RESPECT QUAND MÊME!”
“C’est effectivement un trottoir… Alors tu TROTTES ou je te botte le derrière?”
And now, a quick question:
Should I shave my hair? I’m getting to this point where I kinda have long-ish hair on the top, and it’s getting really hard to style it in any way except for the slickback. I could wait about 4 months to gather the hair in decent a topknot – and from there sky floor is the limit – or I could shave it off and keep it short for a while. Have a look:
Top shot – this morning.
Unstyled – a few weeks ago.
Slicked back.
I’m on the fence about the whole thing, so I’m asking you for some assvice. WWTID?
Why? Are you going to be Uncle Fester again for Halloween?
.-= Dave2´s last blog ..Mode =-.
You shouldn’t shave it until you decide what you’re going to be for Halloween.
And, all I got out of the French convo was “derriere”…which made me giggle
.-= Becky´s last blog ..Dude, I’m Screwed =-.
@Dave2: Well, it all depends what Avitable says in his announcement that he keeps promising but never sends…
@Becky: If only Avitable would send out his mysterious announcement… I giggle at “derrière” too.
I like a little length…as long as it doesn’t drive you batty!
.-= Hilly´s last blog ..How Hilly Got Her Disco Back… =-.
See, I’m the wrong person to ask because I like men with short hair. Like bald or buzz cuts and such. I’m not a long-hair-on-guys kind of gal. So my opinion is “SHAVE IT, BABY!”
And you? Speaking French? Telling off some pussy-assed Frenchmen? *SWOON!*
.-= Coal Miner’s Granddaughter´s last blog ..All in the Family =-.
I vote for a mohawk. You’re almost there – just spike it up with a little gel and you’re good to go
And then you’ll be even scarier when meeting up with Frenchmen on the bike path…
If you shave it within the next ten days, and you want to meet-up in Toronto when I’m there, then let me know and I can shave mine as well and we can take some… interesting… pictures.
.-= Ren´s last blog ..Macro Monday #24 =-.
@Hilly: I’m getting to the batty stage…
@CMG: I like my hair completely shaved or buzzcut, or long enough to tie back. It’s the in-between phase that drives me nuts! And stop it with the swooning, you’re making me blush!
@Suze: I’m not that scary with a mohawk.
@Ren: That would be interesting…
It would be about the same time/cost for me to go to Toronto or New-York… I have not been in NYC in a while, so odds are I might just wait for ReNYC to meet you. 
Shave your ball’s!
@THE BROTHER: But they look good with the slickback look.
If you think you’ll be kicking ass anytime soon I’d suggest shaving your head. In the first photo your hair makes you look unsure of yourself. In the second you look too debonair to be taken seriously as an ass kicker.
Bald. That’s the way to go. Telly Savalas. Yul Brenner. Mr. Clean. They all looked like they could kick some ass (and, in the case of the latter, make your kitchen sparkle).
.-= delmer´s last blog ..Roboform Update =-.
That’s not man bush.
Shave it. It’ll grow back quickly. But for a while you can look just like me!
Fuck what the Internet would do. WWAD?
.-= Avitable´s last blog ..World Leaders Review Obama’s Performance =-.
@Delmer: Don’t you think looking debonair is much more scarier than looking scary? Remember Garland ‘The Marietta Mangler’ Greene from Con Air?
@Avitable: You’re bald? This I gotta see. Pictures please!
threats in french are funny. you shouldn’t hate verbalized the intent, you should have just decked the french fucker.
and EXACTLY what CMGD said:
See, I’m the wrong person to ask because I like men with short hair. Like bald or buzz cuts and such. I’m not a long-hair-on-guys kind of gal. So my opinion is “SHAVE IT, BABY!”
.-= hello haha narf´s last blog ..Mom’s Room =-.
I kinda like the hair, but you look good bald, too.
Maybe the mohawk is a good idea!
That story was AWESOME.
.-= Sybil Law´s last blog ..Sybil Homemaker =-.
@Hello Haha Narf: Kicking someone’s ass is a lot of work. I figured I could get away with just stating my intent in this case.
And thanks for the hair-vice. 
@Sybil Law: I know! I look good regardless of what I do. It’s a curse, really.
And that story? 100% true.
I vote for messy grown out hair.
But I like you bald too – as long as you aren’t covered in white face paint.
Those guys weren’t pussies – I’m pretty sure a lot of people are afraid of you.
You’re like the Canadian Chuck Norris.
.-= Sheila (Charm School Reject)´s last blog ..Vacation All I Ever Needed =-.
@SheilaCSR: ROTFL at the Canadian Chuck Norris. I need a beard now.