Where Was I When Things Changed?
By Wile E
Anybody who knows me knows what an easy goin’ guy I am… (yearight) but sometimes somethin’ happens that really fires ya up… and a
week after it happens you’re still just plain disgusted and wonderin’
“Where was I when things changed? What the hell did I miss?”
I’m gonna go back a few years and bring up an awesome memory of
what Bikers, without exception in my mind, used to be like. I was at a
Nam Knights Fundraiser for one of their Brother’s families. He was killed
in a bike accident and his ol’ lady ended up with life changin’ injuries due
to a kid in a cage. The place was packed with Clubs and independent
bikers supporting the Knights and their cause. The day was rockin’ by,
Buzz and his Knights had put on a great event and had raffled and auc-
tioned a pot load of items for the cause. The 50/50 was drawn and an in-
dependent biker won. He was handed a wad of bills that woulda choked a horse... there hadda be several hundred bucks there. I remember him lookin’ at the money and discussing something with his wife. Finally, he nodded his head, reached down, peeled off a couple bills, gave them to his wife and handed the rest of the cash back to the Nam Knights “For the family,” he said.
I wasn’t particularly surprised, hell, it was what I had seen time and time again from my biker brothers and sisters, and I sort of came to expect it. It was bikers takin’ care of bikers… a very generous act, but it was just what bikers did: support the cause with all their heart. What I found out a short time later is what really choked me up and made me realize the lengths Bikers go to when they’re out to help their own. It turned out this Biker had lost his job a while back and things were gettin’ tough at home. But even though things were tough for them, they knew they were much luckier than the people they were there to support. The short discussion I’d witnessed was the wife asking her husband to keep enough money outta that wad to pay the electric bill so they wouldn’t get their power at home shut off. He agreed and turned over the rest to someone he and his family felt needed it even more. That’s the kinda thing that make this biker’s eyes “sweat up” and make it hard to talk. Talk about goin’ above and beyond the call. Man! That made me proud to be called a “Biker”, no matter what “distain” someone using that term meant when saying it.
Well that was a few years back and apparently shit has changed in this biker community. Jump ahead to last month’s Memorial Day run that Dixie Biker Illustrated put on and sponsored. Once again a great event, a great cause, and I know that the funds raised by Monk, Boots and the DBI staff are gonna go where Monk says, and he’s gonna make the money go there regardless of the bottom line. Monk and Boots are not in special events or “benefits” for the money, it’s a passion with them and the rest of the DBI staff. Ask me, ask any DBI staff member. Shoot, since it’s inception, DBI’s tagline is For Bikers, by Bikers. Knowin' Monk and Boots the way I do, that's not gonna change.
We’ve always had RUBS and WHORES with us, but the one thing I felt is that they really did show a “bikers heart” when it came to supportin’ the cause. That’s changed now, however. We seem to have a new breed followin’ us now: the “Motorcycle Enthusiasts” or “Motorcycle Fanatics”. I’m not sure what to call ‘em so I think I’ll just call ‘em MF'ers, for short. I’m not really sure where these MF’ers came from, but they found their way to the Memorial Day run and I got my first real glimpse of ‘em. Quite simply, it made me wanna puke to hear their whiney-ass crap. Bikers? I think not. MF’ers… DEFINITELY.
Well, what disgusted me is this: The Memorial Day run turnout was huge. It was OVERWHELMING. The number of poker hands humongous, and the paperwork to check substantial. Monk announced the winners of the poker hand, (10 of ‘em, I believe, not the normal “best and worst” crap.) 50/50, etc. A couple of MF’ers approached Monk after the announcement indicating they had turned in a better hand than the announced winner and wanted to know what Monk was gonna do for them. I was just sitting there watchin’ and Monk, being the stand-up guy he always is, a true fair person, made a decision to pay ‘em like the winners they claimed to be. I felt he was screwin’ up, and I woulda sent their whiney, MF’er asses on their way, but that’s just easy goin’ me. Monk gave ‘em money that woulda went to the troops. He didn’t want anyone thinking DBI was anything but “above board and fair”. I was hoping these guys were tryin’ to make a point and were gonna give Monk the money back “for the troops.” Unfortunately, I watched these MF’ers take the money and walk away. They apparently weren’t out there for the cause, but only there for themselves. On the other side of the coin I did see the old-time generosity from a couple of the winners, and just people there in general, handin’ in money “for the cause”, not to mention all the people that WERE there to support the troops. While I realize people with the “biker’s heart” still outnumber the MF’ers out there, it was a real wake-up call for me that day.
There’s a second thing that just didn’t seem right to me, either. I paid $10 bucks to Dixie Biker Foundation “for the troops”. For that I got a chance to play poker, ride, meet new people, drink cold beverages in the hot Florida sun, wear free red, white and blue beads and get a free meal. Well, the turn out was more than expected. I drew a lousy poker hand, (maybe I shoulda demanded a refund?) and didn’t get any food because the turnout was so huge that they ran out. Well Monk offered a $5 refund to anyone still holdin’ a blue meal ticket since the “supplier of the food” ran out. The way I looked at it, the money was for the troops, NOT to buy dinner, and I was disappointed to hear that over 150 people took advantage of the refund Monk offered. Just cuz DBI didn’t deliver on something they’d advertised. And I’m not sure that DBI didn’t come through…whoever supplied the food blew that. Yet the supplier of the food still had the opportunity to cash in on the OVERWHELMING turnout. Those refunds represent over $750.00 that never made it to the Troops. Did the $5 bucks really mean that much to you “Bikers”? Or should I say, you MF’ers? Then I think how much the Troops COULDA gotten with $750 bucks. What can I say? There seem to be more MF’ers out there than I realized.
Inkslinger said it well last month in his “What to Do, What to Do” editorial. Bikers, RUBS, and even MF’ers don’t wanna get ripped off by so-called fund-raisers where the funds never make it to the cause, or are so “skimmed” that only a small percentage gets to the cause. YOU, the Biker, oughta know the difference between a Bike Night and a real “cause”. Hell, yes, take your share of the 50/50 at the “Owl Hole’s Bike Night.” They don’t friggin’ need it. But for God sakes, if it’s a fund raiser for our TROOPS or someone sittin’ there in a wheelchair with a mess a steel stickin’ outta their knee... stand up and DO what the BIKERS I used to be surrounded by do. Give it up. Give it even if it hurts. It probably won’t make a difference in your life, but it sure will in theirs. No, on second thought, keepin’ the money probably won’t make a difference in your life, but giving it up just might. Try it, you might like the way it feels. Especially you MF’ers out there sneakin’ into our events.
See ya all on the by-ways.
Who Changed the Rules for Our Benefits, Runs, etc.
And Wile E Coins a New, Improved Acronym
Originally published in the July 2005 issue of Dixie Biker Illustrated.
