mid-life crisis | blogitto ergo sum

March 27, 2011

#174 – I bike, little brother

Filed under: family affairs,life matters — yael [ya-el] wagner @ 20:29
Tags: guy wagner, little brother, mid-life crisis, motorcycle

that’s the way he is.

Friday, March 4th, was my youngest brother’s, Guy, birthday. I called to wish him a happy birthday.

Guy is the most quiet out of us lot, neither on FB nor on plaxo or LinkedIn, doesn’t do Skype and is email-resistant. We don’t communicate much. He keeps promising he’ll get a Skype account, but nothing happens. At least he is consistent when it comes to promising. To make things worse, guy and his wife do not pick up their land line. Ever. and there’s no answering machine. yes, he is my brother, I’m sure. go figure.

how we talk you may wonder. not too often. when guy is concerned, communication didn’t change much since he was a kid and i lived in Canada. our parents served as the communication center that received and distributed news and updates. of course, there’s always his mobile, that he even picks on rare occasions.

yet, it’s my kid brother’s b-day and by sheer luck and outlook i remembered, so i called.

he actually picked up. wow. “Hi Guy” i said. “Happy birthday.”

“hey”, was the surprised response.

“thank you”.

then there was a pause.

“i heard that you have a new mean of transportation” he finally said. not the conversation topic i was expecting.

“yes” i replied, “and i love it.”

“why did you do it?” was the supportive “I’m so happy for you” comment. “do you really think you need a motorcycle?”

what followed was one of those conversations that most likely will become part of our family’s mythology… such jewels should be cherished since they came from the silent one:

“what is it, your mid-life crisis?”
“what do you need it for?”
“you know, the older you get your reflexes slow down, you react slowly…”
“have you given it a serious thought?”
“this is not safe for you”

i didn’t exactly keep quiet. i had comments about his “boring life”, i reminded him that if i need to choose between changing diapers, which he’ll be doing for at least another two-three years or riding the bike, i choose the bike any day of the year. 37 minutes call, 33 minutes about motorcycles, mid-life crisis, boring, exciting… meaning of life… “you had a motorcycle years back.”

“no, i didn’t. i got the driving license, and then i got my Austin, remember?”

“i was a kid then, how can i remember?”

well, maybe the kids should be quiet.

looking for bikers death statistics, i found fact #19: “Motorcycle riders between the ages of 16 and 24 are significantly over-represented in accidents; motorcycle riders between the ages of 30 and 50 are significantly under represented.” that’s the good part. can i censor the rest of fact #19? “Although the majority of the accident-involved motorcycle riders are male (96%), the female motorcycle riders are significantly over represented in the accident data.” (source: http://www.motorcycle-accidents.com/pages/stats.html) if you really want to know what kills people in the US, a detailed 2000 analysis can be found HERE.

2 weeks later, i share the conversation with my mom. “he cares for you” she said, obviously more touched by his concerns than me. don’t get me wrong, she was laughing whole heartily at his age-related statements. of course the silent one didn’t mention our conversation to our parents. well done, guy. here’s your blog gift.

Source: http://www.everydaypeoplecartoons.com/cartoons

PS: prior to publishing, i wanted to give the silent one a chance to respond, i.e. review and comment. after the fourth unanswered call to his mobile, i gave up.

“hey mom, can you please tell your uncommunicative son that there’s a blog with his name on it coming out?” yes, i engaged the messaging center.

a week later i did get hold of the guy. “my comment is that family discussions should be kept in the family” was his long answer. he is OK with you reading it though. “i know you see it differently”, he said, “go ahead.”. Thank you guy.