The more you get around and watch people, the more obvious it becomes that
human stupidity is the only natural resource we will never run short of. You
cannot cure stupidity, except in people who have agreed to work at it. What
does this mean to the unicyclist on the street? Be nice, try to inform
rather than antagonize, try to answer questions with polite answers.
As for the old lady, there is nothing you can do for her. Since she is not
interested in learning about unicycles at that moment, just ride on, and give
her a wide berth, to try to reduce her bad impression of unicyclists.
There will always be people with no common sense. Common sense isn't
'common' at all. For us Americans, here are a couple of choices of places to
watch lots of stupid people on TV (there's plenty in other countries, but I
can't name the shows):
* "Professional" Wrestling. Anyone with a working knowledge of physics can
tell if there is force behind the jumps and blows.
* COPS (the suspects). A constant look at adults who are not smart enough to
take care of themselves like adults should.
* Tabloid talk shows. Just listen to the audience. If that's not amazing
enough, ask yourself, if you were a typical person with the types of personal
problems that make you a guest on the show, would YOU tell the whole country
about it? For how much money???
Sorry. That's enough venting.
John Foss
unicycle@aol.com