Yes indeed,dear readers, The Rider has been awfully quiet these past few weeks. There are a lot of reasons for that. The most important one being that this is the silly season in South Africa, I am running around doing two to three weddings a week at the moment. I also have just returned from our capital, Pretoria, where I had to bury a very nice lady, who died of cancer. The third is- my ISP gave me a really hard time. My internet speed slowed down to .001 MB/s in daytime, and after careful examination I found out that although my Internet was uncapped, it was shaped. They choked the life out of me… And then the lightning provided a way out. It struck the telephone line, killing my ADSL router instantly. And in stead of buying yet another ADSL router, I talked to a young man in our church, who provided me with much faster wireless internet technology. So I am back on the air…
I also just became a bit tired of posting some mediocre photos on my blog. Maybe I am searching for a bit more meaning and quality in life…
But then a little a**hole jerked me out of my slumber today. I saw his comments on my mobile phone, which still needed approval.
And then I became very, very angry, and decided to answer him. And then I wanted to start talking to my friends on the blogging world again… I have missed you guys.
The post is this one: https://vosperdruiter.wordpress.com/2014/09/13/noise-weekly-travel-theme/
It was one of Ailsa’s Travel Theme posts, about “Noise” and I posted some old photos of the last Poison Rally I have been to.
This youngster saw just my one post and decided that A- I must be an old fart who doesn’t know how to have fun, B- I am against motorbikes and rallies, and C- my readers also must be old farts who doesn’t know the meaning of the word “fun”…
So I published just his one comment, and will translate it for you…
“hou net op moun Weet julle hoeveel geld bring ons bikers in vir die dorp Dit is net een naweek .In plaas van moun kom join ons.Ander shut up and live with it You say single minded i say people having fun You are to old to know fun “
He says I must stop moaning- if only I knew how much money bikers bring into their town… and it is only one weekend. He invites me, in stead of moaning, to come and join them. He complains about my use of the word “single minded” and says they are just people having fun. I am too old to know fun…”
Well- after just returning from a funeral, I was not in the best of moods. To be judged and compartmentalized by someone reading just one post, and thinking they know me then to brand me too old for fun… it first made me mad. And then it became funny…
I live 400 km away from Kroonstad, where the Poison Rally is held annually on the first weekend of December. I usually work over weekends, and this is the one weekend in the year that I can attend a rally. Whenever I can, I do join for the fun. And I do spend a lot of money in the sleepy town of Kroonstad (where I did my military service…) But then a young couple asked me to marry them on the 5th. So, dear Biker for Live (sic) I would dearly have loved to join you. I just could not.
The theme I published about was “Noise” and bikes indeed makes the most beautiful noise I know. My BMW with the Remus Titanium Pipe contributes to the decibel pollution whenever I can.
If I had any other job, when someone would accuse me of being too old to know what fun is, I would have replied… “That is not what your mama said last night…” But me being a very prim and propper oldish guy (in some youngsters eyes maybe, but then they only have a license to ride a 125cc anyway…) I would never say such things about lovely mothers…
Do I know what fun is? Well, I do have 4 kids… 🙂 And they all know me…
I have been to Cape Agulhus THIS YEAR on one of my bikes, remember I live on the other side of the country. I have been through the wind and the rain on bikes since 1983. So yes, in some eyes I might be old…
In my eyes- I will always be forever young, forever noisy, never too late to have a happy childhood…
So dear Biker for Live (sic) if ever I do meet you, you owe me a beer. And then I could tell you about some fun stories…
And that comment you tried to publish about my dear friend M-R being too old to know what fun is… she and her husband worked on the film set when Mad Max was filmed… What could be cooler than that? There might have been a time when I thought like you- “what does anyone older than me know about fun, anyway?”
But never, ever judge people on one impression. You might be totally wrong. And that person might actually have a much more fun filled life than you could ever imagine.
So dear Biker for Live… Live and let live…
Your very old, very silent friend The Rider…
Seen on facebook, don’t know who to credit…
The Rider 