| I've noticed how many people within my personal life just judge people based on a couple of things without really knowing them. I've also noticed that everyone has something to give, some type of experience to share, or just knowledge to share. This story is something that happened to me earlier this week. It's about how I opened up to a different 'type' of person that I wouldn't normally hang around, the experience I was able to have, and how I had to break through a massive comfort zone.
So while we were hanging out at the bar with a couple of my friends. They're both really geeky. They attend anime conventions, play magic the gathering, and things among that nature (we'll call them L and M). One of the girls there (we'll call her "C"). She introduced me to her friend (call him R) a week or two ago. He seemed cool, he had a lot of social intuition. Anyway R came out to hangout as well. This is when I realized R was in a biker 'riding club'. I've never hung out with Bikers before and was slightly hesitant. I hoped that since I hung out with R before and everything went well (and I didn't even know he was a biker that time) that things would be okay this time.
So anyway I met the guys R was hanging out with and we were all talking for some time. C was working at the bar that night, so after they closed we were all standing next to all their bikes and talking, waiting for C to finish (she was driving me somewhere she thought I was too drunk to drive my car and she took my keys).
This one guy (we'll call him D ) him and I got into an intellectual conversation about the differences between knowing something and experiencing it. I had been asking him a lot about bikes. I told him I never had an opportunity to sit behind a bike before.
So he let me sit behind his bike and I got to have a feel for the weight and balance of it. After that we just went back to talking. He thought for a minute then he took off his helmet, handed it to me and said "take my bike for a ride". I was immediately filled with fear. I've never road a bike before, it's someone's bike and well... I was just fucking scared. There was a little bit of them encouraging me to ride. I did tell them I had a philosophy of experiencing things. I guess it was time to live by what I preach and just fucking do it.
I had to learn where the brakes and stuff were. Apparently he didn't have front breaks and he told me that the rear break was controlled with the right foot.
Anyway so they started the bike for me and I got to rev it up to warm it up. They asked me how it felt and the only word that came to me was "manly".
They helped me put it into gear and told me to ease on the throttle. In about .2 seconds I went from standing still to being jolted into riding. It was waaaay more powerful than I thought it would be. I was shot out into the road and forgot where the break was.
I ended up going father across the road than I wanted to (running out of road) so I saw a ramp for the sidewalk. So I went up that and just rode on the side walk. I was going way faster than you should be riding a Harley on a sidewalk so I tried the left break. Whatever I thought was that break didn't work.
At that moment I had this realization that I was in extreme danger at that point. I mean I riding a Harley down a sidewalk with no breaks. I didn't even know how to shut the bike off and coast.
So I thought. I'm either going to get seriously injured with this experience or I'm going to die. The weird thing was I didn't have any regrets in that moment. I knew I was living my life and that involved some type of risk. I felt at peace that I was doing what I wanted with my life. Living it to it's fullest and being happy doing that.
I looked again at my right foot and noticed another little bar/lever. I pushed on that and figured out that was the rear brake. I rode the sidewalk until the next road came up. Breaked, turned on that. Rode the road back to where the guys were. Parked it. They shut off the bike. It was an amazing experience. I got high fives and respect among peers for getting out of my comfort zone, living life, and trying new things.
Looking back. If I would have judged them from the get go and never taken the time out to get to know them I would have never had the opportunity to ride a Bike. It was an amazing experience and now I REALLY want one. You never know who will be able to teach you new things, share new experiences with you, or will be able to give you such a emotional connection you've never experienced. Be caring to all humans and take the time to get to know all of them on a nonjudgmental basis. Get out of your comfort zone, try new things, meet new friends.
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