It was late in the day, things were winding down, the machinery was all shut off from another day of manufacturing one of a kind Wackemall Machetes and we were all talking amongst ourselves about things we'd done back when we were younger. "Hey Billy," Veggie said, "you remember back in 1980 when you passed those 15 tractor-trailer rigs in a row on that two lane highway 52 then rolled into Fat's Truck-stop only to find out your Daddy was driving one of those rigs?"
"I sure do. Daddy was mad as hell at me."
"Billy's Daddy threatened to bend him over his knee and beat his butt right there in the middle of the restaurant in front of all those truckers." Veggie laughed.
"I thought he was going to do it. And you didn't even try to stop him."
"It wasn't my place to tell a father how to raise his grown son," Veggie laughed. "Besides, if those truckers had gotten a good look at my green skin I would have had more problems than I could handle."
"Yeah," I replied, "people weren't as accepting back then. I only passed all those trucks because I was trying to keep up with you. Why were you going so fast?"
"I was trying to outrun the train," Veggie answered. "How fast were we going?"
"That was the night I broke my speedometer. It ran out of numbers at 140."
It was then the Veggiecycle interrupted us with another poem from the many he would recite.
"Bumpy-bump, Bumpy-bump,
this road, it is the roughest.
I've rode dirt roads that were smoother
and the steel rails are the toughest....
"You're right," Veggie laughed looking at the Veggiecycle. "I remember it exactly the same way."
"What I want to know," I asked, "is why were you were riding on the railroad track?"
"The GPS malfunctioned," Veggie answered.
"You had GPS when we were riding back in 1980? Nobody had GPS back then."
"Remember," Veggie replied, "we never used a map. Of course the GPS was experimental and we did make some wrong turns."
"A lot of wrong turns," I added, "Like that time we loaded up for Canada from Mexico and ended up in New Zealand. I still haven't figured out how we managed to ride motorcycles across continents and oceans without knowing we were lost."
"Some of those genetically modified foods we were fighting were really powerful," Veggie laughed and everyone in the room started laughing with him. "There's no telling what Monsanto put into them."
"Hey, who's up for some seafood?" Steve asked. There's this place in Greensboro I've been wanting to try."
"I could stand a salad," Veggie said. Veggie had long been a strict vegan and the only seafood he ate was kelp and seaweed and then only if it wasn't GMF. Donny offered to give Veggie a ride in the service truck, the prospects stayed behind to watch the shop and the rest of us got on our bikes for a round about ride from Burlington to Greensboro with Steve leading the way. About an hour and a half after having left the shop we slowly rolled into Mahis Seafood Restaurant. Unbeknownst to us or the kind folks at Mahis, the restaurant would never be the same again.
Continue to No Apologies Necessary.
"I sure do. Daddy was mad as hell at me."
"Billy's Daddy threatened to bend him over his knee and beat his butt right there in the middle of the restaurant in front of all those truckers." Veggie laughed.
"I thought he was going to do it. And you didn't even try to stop him."
"It wasn't my place to tell a father how to raise his grown son," Veggie laughed. "Besides, if those truckers had gotten a good look at my green skin I would have had more problems than I could handle."
"Yeah," I replied, "people weren't as accepting back then. I only passed all those trucks because I was trying to keep up with you. Why were you going so fast?"
"I was trying to outrun the train," Veggie answered. "How fast were we going?"
"That was the night I broke my speedometer. It ran out of numbers at 140."
It was then the Veggiecycle interrupted us with another poem from the many he would recite.
this road, it is the roughest.
I've rode dirt roads that were smoother
and the steel rails are the toughest....
"You're right," Veggie laughed looking at the Veggiecycle. "I remember it exactly the same way."
"What I want to know," I asked, "is why were you were riding on the railroad track?"
"The GPS malfunctioned," Veggie answered.
"You had GPS when we were riding back in 1980? Nobody had GPS back then."
"Remember," Veggie replied, "we never used a map. Of course the GPS was experimental and we did make some wrong turns."
"A lot of wrong turns," I added, "Like that time we loaded up for Canada from Mexico and ended up in New Zealand. I still haven't figured out how we managed to ride motorcycles across continents and oceans without knowing we were lost."
"Some of those genetically modified foods we were fighting were really powerful," Veggie laughed and everyone in the room started laughing with him. "There's no telling what Monsanto put into them."
"Hey, who's up for some seafood?" Steve asked. There's this place in Greensboro I've been wanting to try."
"I could stand a salad," Veggie said. Veggie had long been a strict vegan and the only seafood he ate was kelp and seaweed and then only if it wasn't GMF. Donny offered to give Veggie a ride in the service truck, the prospects stayed behind to watch the shop and the rest of us got on our bikes for a round about ride from Burlington to Greensboro with Steve leading the way. About an hour and a half after having left the shop we slowly rolled into Mahis Seafood Restaurant. Unbeknownst to us or the kind folks at Mahis, the restaurant would never be the same again.
Continue to No Apologies Necessary.
