The bike shop has continued to be busy. My absence was noticed in both bike shops when I went to Virginia two weeks ago. It feels good to be missed because then I know that the work I do is appreciated. I gave out a lot of bikes in this last week and a half.
A friend of the house donated some very nice bikes to the Elkhart shop. I was inclined to sell the one, as its value when was around $300. A lot of people had been asking if they could work it off and I had been telling them that I was going to attempt to sell it. The bike shop could use more cash flow. After a week, one man (Mark) who had a striking resemblance to a character from the Lord of the Rings movies had helped out around the shop for a few hours without working towards anything. At the end of the day, Mark said he wanted to work it off. I knew that what the shop needed was for me to sell it, but I also knew that this man had probably never had a really nice bike. Who was I to deny Mark something nice that I knew, were I in his shoes, that I would appreciate?
I let Mark work the bike off, with the promise that he would trade to me his old bike. He came the next week and spent the whole afternoon working for it (unfortunately not being very productive). I gave him the bike, he gave me his old one, and he went on his way. The next day, someone else came into the shop and worked for a few hours for Mark's old bike. Happy transactions all around.
Yesterday, Mark walked up to the shop. Uneasiness turned my stomach turned. When I asked him where his bike was, he shrugged his shoulders. He said that it had been stolen while it was locked up. I gave him an incredulous look, to which he told me of the camera, the security guard, the unidentifiable hooded figure who had been taped stealing the camera. I didn't believe it, my theory was that he had sold it at a pawn shop. That's because Mark wasn't looking sad at all, not even a bit disappointed. He was more interested in looking at the other bikes to see what the next one was that he could fix up and take. But this one wasn't for him, this one was for his girlfriend. Why did she need another bike, hadn't I already given her one? Of course, her bike has been stolen as well. Doubtless.
I let him know that I wasn't going to let him work off another bike, for neither himself nor his girlfriend. At least not for a month. I explained that this was policy to prevent people from taking bikes and selling them at pawn shops. At this he got a bit flustered, said that he understood, and walked off. Several hours later, he came back, this time on a bike. He asked me if I recognized it. It was his old bike. He said that the guy who worked it off was actually his friend, who was going to let Mark work it off from him. Mark said the other guy didn't want it because it had been too long since he had ridden a bike and he was really sore.
Another story, a little boy (6 years old maybe?) has been trying to buy a bike from me. I said I would sell a decent BMX bike to him for $10, a stellar bargain. He brought me his money, $3. I explained that it wasn't enough, he had to bring me $10. So he came back soon, this time with $6.14. Apparently he hadn't learned how to count money as of yet. It was too nice of a bike, I couldn't let it go for less than $10, so I told him that he should come back the next day with $10. When he showed up the next day with the same $6.14, I told him that he could do some work then I would give it to him for the money that he had.
Have you ever given a 6 year old child work to do? What a weird feeling. I gave him some steel wool and a rim to scrape. And wow did he work. Most adults don't work that quickly or that well. He did an awesome job scraping for about 20 minutes until his older brother showed up and yelled at him for leaving the house when his other siblings weren't home. He left and I didn't get the chance to give him his bike. I guess it'll have to wait.
This one is difficult because I feel torn because of so many different things. I know that his family is poor and I want to give him the bike. I don't want to give it to him for free because then he won't treat it well (true for almost anyone) and he won't be as proud his accomplishment. He also might tell his friends that he got it for free and they would then demand the same thing from me. What really threatened to break my heart about this situation was that this boy was so committed to getting this bike that he was willing to one, give his live savings (three dollar bills, eight quarters, and a few dimes, nickels, and pennies), two, work for it, and three, be committed enough to remember and to actually come back several times over the course of two weeks. Stress the heart some more with the knowledge that since he's 6 years old and around 3.5 feet tall, hes probably going to get this fairly nice bike stolen from him by an older kid faster than you can say 'I think I'm going to cry.'
The combination of these stories provides a lens to view the difficulties of operating a community bike shop and dealing with real people who have real needs. The cash-only policy for nice bikes exists for a reason, as does the requirement that people do work or give money for bikes and parts. But often the emotional reasons behind bending policy can play the strings of your heart like a harp. I'm sure Mark needed whatever money he got from the two bikes that I assume he sold but I wish he and his girlfriend were enjoying the bikes as they carried them so smoothly around town and to work. Maybe all is well because both bikes will be eventually recycled back into the community, a few other bikes are in better condition because of the work he did, maybe he learned something, and hahahaha, hes still on the same trusty steel steed that originally brought him to my shop.
