Lesson: Easier to Pick on Rich Women that Leather Clad Biker

I recently came across a story published in a Pennsylvania newspaper. The story was about a group of animal rights activists protesting the wearing of leather. It seems the activists had expanded their focus from furry clothed rich women to leather clad bikers. It seems to me a fatal flaw in calculating the reaction of the target group was made by the protesters. Typically, when these groups wishing to protest the wearing of fur picket a fur shop or lay in wait outside a fancy restaurant with containers of fake blood, their biggest risk is the screams of the mortified snobs with fake blood stains on their chinchilla or fox overcoat. Maybe a disorderly conduct charge, but when a rich woman gets her $25,000 fur coat stained, does anyone really feel bad for her? No, not really! I’m all for it. Animals do sometimes need protection. They need activists pursuing their cause. I love animals. Most taste awesome. Cute ones are, well, cute!! Killing little bunnies or minks for fur coats seems wasteful, especially when we have an abundance of cow hides produced by the beef industry. Man has been using cow hides for thousands of years, mostly for warmth and protection from the elements. Leather is tough, long lasting, renewable, warm and when harvested appropriately, practical. The use of fur, however, especially when not in conjunction with any ancillary use of the animal such as for food, seems wasteful and wrong to me. This is why the following story tickled me so.

It seems that this particular animal rights group targeted the wearers of leather, specifically a motorcycle “club,” at one of their social events. It seems the leaders of the animal rights group had grown tired of throwing fake blood at rich snobby women wearing furs, and sought to ramp up their efforts and go after the leather clad set. Where better to find such people than at a motorcycle CLUB rally. The report that follows is taken from excerpts in a PA newspaper:

“We protested “in a hope to show them our outrage at their wanton use of leather in their clothing and motor bike seats.” “In fact,” said the organizer, “motorcycle gangs are one of the biggest abusers of wearing leather, and we decided it was high time that we let them know that we disagree with them using it … ergo, they should stop.”

According to witnesses, protesters arrived at the biker event and began to pelt the gang members with balloons filled with red colored water, simulating blood, and shouting “you’re murderers” to passers by. This, evidently, is when the brouhaha began. “They peed on me!!! ” charged one activist. “They grabbed me, said I looked like I was French, started calling me ‘La Trene’, and duct taped me to a tree so they could pee on me all day! ” “I … I was trying to show my outrage at a man with a heavy leather jacket, and he…he didn’t even care. I called him a murderer, and all he said was, ‘You can’t prove that.’ Next thing I know he forced me to ride on the back of his motorcycle all day, and would not let me off, because his girl friend was out of town and I was almost a woman.”

Still others claimed they were forced to eat hamburgers and hot dogs under duress. Those who resisted were allegedly held down while several bikers “farted on their heads. ”Police officials declined comments on any leads or arrests due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, however, organizers for the motorcycle club rally expressed “surprise” at the allegations. “That’s preposterous,” said one high-ranking member of the biker organizing committee. “We were having a party, and these people showed up and were very rude to us. They threw things at us, called us names, and tried to ruin the entire event. So, what did we do? We invited them to the party! What could be more friendly than that? You know, just because we are all members of motorcycle clubs does not mean we do not care about inclusiveness. Personally, I think it shows a lack of character for them to be saying such nasty things about us after we bent over backwards to make them feel welcome.”

When confronted with the allegations of force -feeding the activists meat, using them as ad hoc latrines, leaving them incapacitated in fastfood restaurant dumpsters, and ‘farting on their heads,’ the organizer declined to comment in detail. “That’s just our secret handshake,” assured the organizer.

Seems to me a perfect example of good intentions gone bad. As children, we learn touching the stove results in a burn, cursing in front of Mom results in soap in the mouth, not studying results in failing a test and so on. It’s a cause – effect dynamic. Life is packed with them. Some are obvious, some are not. Use your head folks. Seems this was an obvious one. It was Isaac Newton who postulated “for every action in the universe there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Throw fake blood at a biker gang and you will in fact be farted upon.

Well, signing off for now. Ride strong, ride safe and in the end, make sure you ride home.