I think the quote of the police captain saying,
”
bikers are nice people if you throw them a party, but turn into
criminals if you don’t
”
is absolutely hilarious.
Editor,
I think the quote of the police captain saying, “bikers are nice people if you throw them a party, but turn into criminals if you don’t” is absolutely hilarious. I love the captain’s sense of humor. He missed his calling. It should have been stand-up comedy. Except they generally don’t let comedians like the captain carry guns. Except when they’re cops. Chalk it up to one of the weird things about American culture, I guess.
I am a biker. I have been riding motorcycles for 35 years. I am college educated. I have never been in jail. I have never violated the law, except to speed occasionally. I would guess I make probably three times what the captain does in a year. I own two Harleys at $25,000 each. I own my home. I own two cars.
I am a more typical biker than the captain imagine. Harleys aren’t cheap, and generally dirtbags don’t own them, except for the 1 percenters. Most bikers are very rarely criminals, party or not.
Hey captain, waddle your butt out of the donut shop and talk to a couple of the “criminals.” You might be surprised to find that they are your neighbors, your friends, your constituents. You might be dumbfounded to find that the “criminals” have good jobs, steady incomes, mortgages and kids in college. You also might be surprised to know that Harley riders as a group are some of the largest contributors to national charities such as MDA (last year to the tune of several million dollars).
I’ll take my money to a town that can handle a bunch of money-spending, restaurant/bar-filling, tax revenue-generating motorcyclists. Sturgis, Laughlin, Daytona, Las Vegas and, yes, even tiny little Garberville seem to be able to handle something Hollister apparently can’t – people spending buckets of money and enjoying themselves.
Call me anything you want, but don’t try to call me in Hollister. I won’t be there.
Steve Thomas, San Francisco
