We all set around watching Bobbie's television debut in disbelief. Not only had Stew interviewed Bobbie but he had interviewed the deputies, police officers, state troopers and other eye witnesses who had watched Bobbie lead the animals back to the zoo.
Stew had also managed to get his hands on some cell phone footage of Bobbie facing down the charging bull elephant and he included it in the report that aired first on Fox 8 and over the course of the next 24 hours, world wide. Everyone who had seen her in action thought Bobbie to be some kind of goddess. Now Stew was back for extended interviews and hundreds of motorcyclists and other fans crowded the yard and the entire neighborhood hoping to get a look a Bobbie, an autograph or at least a smile from what we all knew was a natural born leader.
Now the entire world wanted to know who Bobbie Sonner was.
Old folks in motor homes were parking all over Burlington trying to get near her. The Burlington Police were working overtime trying to keep the streets cleared and traffic flowing. We didn't dare take Bobbie home because the Greensboro neighborhood where she lived was the very same way. Donny and Wooley had to go to Bobbie's house and request the Greensboro Police move the campers from her yard and the cars from her driveway.
On television, people were debating if Bobbie was the second coming of Christ Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha or some new miracle sent by God to found yet another great religion. Others feared she was the Devil. Fact is: none of them knew what they were talking about, they were just on TV talking.
Soldiers, Sailors and Marines stood guard in their off duty time, some even AWOL and all of them awaiting a new command from a new kind of leader.
Representatives from every major motorcycle gang and club in the nation met in our parking lot and declared our property a neutral zone, a sacred place where bikers never cross one another and nothing bad would ever happen to anyone for if it did those responsible would have to answer to every outlaw 1%er in the nation, maybe the entire world. There's only a handful of such places in existence, to know we would be forever safe here was quite the honor but it did have it's problems.
You see, with so many people all over the place we couldn't get anything done. Zero work was going on, the bills were still coming in and as much fun as I was having reliving my own days as a patch holder I knew if something didn't change very soon we were going to go broke. Just when I was trying to get up the nerve to attempt to tell them all to leave an old biker walked in with cash in had and said, "I've got $500 if Bobbie will autograph the tank on my hog."
"Consider it done," Bobbie smiled. "What color would you like for me to use?"
I worried Bobbie might get cramps in her fingers or fall out in the floor but she worked non stop for the next 36 hours airbrushing and signing motorcycle gas tanks and fenders for each and everyone who asked. Some paid her a hundred dollars, others paid her a thousand dollars. And we didn't even have to guard the money, the gang members stood guard for us, fetched Bobbie anything she wanted and even brought burgers and drinks for the rest of us.
Steve and I watched on Ebay as tanks and motorcycles signed by Bobbie turned up for sale in California within hours of the time Bobbie signed the first tank. We knew they were counterfeit but what could we do? Suddenly our sweet little Bobbie had become a very hot commodity. And as much fun as Bobbie was having I knew she would never want to be thought of as a commodity.
Nor did I want her to be but the phones were ringing off the hook with calls from agents, publishers, toy manufacturers, movie makers, you name it. There was even a gun manufacturer that wanted to make a Bobbie Sonner edition fully automatic assault rifle in hot pink. I shouted a lot of profanities and hung up the phone on them without ever hearing their offer.
_________
Meanwhile, in Greensboro, the City Council was discussing changing the city motto from, "To be, rather than to seem" to "To seem, rather than to be." They were also erasing the historic names of city streets and replacing them with generic names in the hopes of seeming to be something they weren't ever going to be, namely, prosperous. You see, the Tall Whites and Grey Aliens who controlled the city were still stealing everything including the items that were nailed down.
The board of the Downtown Greensboro Interdimensionals announced they were planning to dismiss the only known human on their staff. Long hated by most of Greensboro's residents including myself I really hurt for the guy as I knew he didn't know what he'd gotten himself into when he came to Greensboro to take the job 15 years ago. Now, in order to save face for themselves the board was putting all the blame on him. I knew what he was going through as I'd been there myself. I wrote him a public letter of recommendation, posted it to the Internet and sent him an e-mail to show him where to find it. He deserved a lot better than the Downtown Greensboro Interdimensionals and I hoped he could find it.
The Grey Aliens were busy erasing our history, renaming streets, shopping centers and neighborhoods. They called it progress, a new beginning but some of us knew better. Some of us understood that to erase the past would only mean we would repeat the past. And to make us think they didn't exist they filmed prank videos of fake aliens doing things they never do.
__________
I watched from a distance as Bobbie and the Veggiecycle talked. "I don't know about all this," Bobbie said, "All these people, all this confusion, is this how being a leader is going to be?"
"Only if you let it," the Veggiecycle said. "So far you've done nothing to stop it."
"But I don't want to just tell them all to go away," Bobbie said. "That would hurt their feelings."
"It's a narrow road" the Veggicycle said as he began reciting another poem from his life.
"Narrow roads will test your skill,
keep you on the line,
teach respect, patience
and riding slow to make fast times.
Narrow roads will keep you sharp..."
"Do you have a poem for everything?" Bobbie asked.
"If he doesn't he'll make one up," I interrupted, "but he makes some very good points, don't you think?"
"He does," Bobbie agreed, "but what do I do?"
"Maybe it's not what you do," the Veggiecycle said, "but what they do."
"What does that mean?" Bobbie asked.
"You're a leader," I explained, "give them a task, a chore, instructions to follow."
"And you think they'll do it?" Bobbie asked.
"That's why they came," the Veggiecycle said.
"Just be careful what you ask," I added, "your influence and power is far greater than any of us know."
Bobbie started walking towards the door. "Where are you going?" I asked. "Do you know what you're going to tell them?"
"No," Bobbie answered, "but I saw some buds on Veggie this morning so I thought I'd go see if he's finally awake and maybe talk to him about it."
"You can't go wrong talking to the green dude," I said. "Take him that box right there, he'll love whats in it."
"What is it?" Bobbie asked as she picked up the box.
"Organic fertilizer," I answered. "You know, chicken poop. It's hot stuff when you're a hungry plant."
Bobbie just smiled. "I'll make sure he gets it."
Continue to End Of The Innocence
Stew had also managed to get his hands on some cell phone footage of Bobbie facing down the charging bull elephant and he included it in the report that aired first on Fox 8 and over the course of the next 24 hours, world wide. Everyone who had seen her in action thought Bobbie to be some kind of goddess. Now Stew was back for extended interviews and hundreds of motorcyclists and other fans crowded the yard and the entire neighborhood hoping to get a look a Bobbie, an autograph or at least a smile from what we all knew was a natural born leader.
Now the entire world wanted to know who Bobbie Sonner was.
Old folks in motor homes were parking all over Burlington trying to get near her. The Burlington Police were working overtime trying to keep the streets cleared and traffic flowing. We didn't dare take Bobbie home because the Greensboro neighborhood where she lived was the very same way. Donny and Wooley had to go to Bobbie's house and request the Greensboro Police move the campers from her yard and the cars from her driveway.
On television, people were debating if Bobbie was the second coming of Christ Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha or some new miracle sent by God to found yet another great religion. Others feared she was the Devil. Fact is: none of them knew what they were talking about, they were just on TV talking.
Soldiers, Sailors and Marines stood guard in their off duty time, some even AWOL and all of them awaiting a new command from a new kind of leader.
Representatives from every major motorcycle gang and club in the nation met in our parking lot and declared our property a neutral zone, a sacred place where bikers never cross one another and nothing bad would ever happen to anyone for if it did those responsible would have to answer to every outlaw 1%er in the nation, maybe the entire world. There's only a handful of such places in existence, to know we would be forever safe here was quite the honor but it did have it's problems.
You see, with so many people all over the place we couldn't get anything done. Zero work was going on, the bills were still coming in and as much fun as I was having reliving my own days as a patch holder I knew if something didn't change very soon we were going to go broke. Just when I was trying to get up the nerve to attempt to tell them all to leave an old biker walked in with cash in had and said, "I've got $500 if Bobbie will autograph the tank on my hog."
"Consider it done," Bobbie smiled. "What color would you like for me to use?"
I worried Bobbie might get cramps in her fingers or fall out in the floor but she worked non stop for the next 36 hours airbrushing and signing motorcycle gas tanks and fenders for each and everyone who asked. Some paid her a hundred dollars, others paid her a thousand dollars. And we didn't even have to guard the money, the gang members stood guard for us, fetched Bobbie anything she wanted and even brought burgers and drinks for the rest of us.
Steve and I watched on Ebay as tanks and motorcycles signed by Bobbie turned up for sale in California within hours of the time Bobbie signed the first tank. We knew they were counterfeit but what could we do? Suddenly our sweet little Bobbie had become a very hot commodity. And as much fun as Bobbie was having I knew she would never want to be thought of as a commodity.
Nor did I want her to be but the phones were ringing off the hook with calls from agents, publishers, toy manufacturers, movie makers, you name it. There was even a gun manufacturer that wanted to make a Bobbie Sonner edition fully automatic assault rifle in hot pink. I shouted a lot of profanities and hung up the phone on them without ever hearing their offer.
_________
Meanwhile, in Greensboro, the City Council was discussing changing the city motto from, "To be, rather than to seem" to "To seem, rather than to be." They were also erasing the historic names of city streets and replacing them with generic names in the hopes of seeming to be something they weren't ever going to be, namely, prosperous. You see, the Tall Whites and Grey Aliens who controlled the city were still stealing everything including the items that were nailed down.
The board of the Downtown Greensboro Interdimensionals announced they were planning to dismiss the only known human on their staff. Long hated by most of Greensboro's residents including myself I really hurt for the guy as I knew he didn't know what he'd gotten himself into when he came to Greensboro to take the job 15 years ago. Now, in order to save face for themselves the board was putting all the blame on him. I knew what he was going through as I'd been there myself. I wrote him a public letter of recommendation, posted it to the Internet and sent him an e-mail to show him where to find it. He deserved a lot better than the Downtown Greensboro Interdimensionals and I hoped he could find it.
The Grey Aliens were busy erasing our history, renaming streets, shopping centers and neighborhoods. They called it progress, a new beginning but some of us knew better. Some of us understood that to erase the past would only mean we would repeat the past. And to make us think they didn't exist they filmed prank videos of fake aliens doing things they never do.
__________
I watched from a distance as Bobbie and the Veggiecycle talked. "I don't know about all this," Bobbie said, "All these people, all this confusion, is this how being a leader is going to be?"
"Only if you let it," the Veggiecycle said. "So far you've done nothing to stop it."
"But I don't want to just tell them all to go away," Bobbie said. "That would hurt their feelings."
"It's a narrow road" the Veggicycle said as he began reciting another poem from his life.
keep you on the line,
teach respect, patience
and riding slow to make fast times.
Narrow roads will keep you sharp..."
"Do you have a poem for everything?" Bobbie asked.
"If he doesn't he'll make one up," I interrupted, "but he makes some very good points, don't you think?"
"He does," Bobbie agreed, "but what do I do?"
"Maybe it's not what you do," the Veggiecycle said, "but what they do."
"What does that mean?" Bobbie asked.
"You're a leader," I explained, "give them a task, a chore, instructions to follow."
"And you think they'll do it?" Bobbie asked.
"That's why they came," the Veggiecycle said.
"Just be careful what you ask," I added, "your influence and power is far greater than any of us know."
Bobbie started walking towards the door. "Where are you going?" I asked. "Do you know what you're going to tell them?"
"No," Bobbie answered, "but I saw some buds on Veggie this morning so I thought I'd go see if he's finally awake and maybe talk to him about it."
"You can't go wrong talking to the green dude," I said. "Take him that box right there, he'll love whats in it."
"What is it?" Bobbie asked as she picked up the box.
"Organic fertilizer," I answered. "You know, chicken poop. It's hot stuff when you're a hungry plant."
Bobbie just smiled. "I'll make sure he gets it."
Continue to End Of The Innocence
