A Gripe and A Question

I figured every post today can't be about the election... but I thought I should write this before it gets buried.

Yesterday, I rode my scooter to work and parked a block away. I don't usually park between two cars, but there was street cleaning going on, and my choices were limited. I found a nice wide spot between two cars (not big enough for a car, but tons of room for my scoot), and made sure to part slightly closer to the car facing me, leaving plenty of room for the car in front of me to get out.

Well, you see where this is going, don't you?

When I came out to ride home in the evening, the first thing I noticed was that the scooter was on the side kickstand, not the center column stand that I always use. Second, the disc brake lock I use was not in the center where I normally position it, but up against the wheel arm. I assumed someone had been screwing around with it, and then I tried to start it. In order to start a scooter (I don't know if motorcycles are the same way), you have to squeeze the left brake handle while hitting the ignition button.

That's when I realized the left brake handle was broken off.

I managed to get it started and ride it to my scooter dealer to drop it off and took the bus home; hopefully they'll be able to fix it today. But here's what gets to me: Most likely, the car in front of me backed up and knocked my scooter over (less likely but still possible, someone was fucking around with it or attempting to move/steal it, and knocked it over); and the person takes the time to lift it up and put it back on the kickstand, but not leave a note stating what happened with contact information. Maybe I'm being all naive and "why can't we be friends," but goddamn it, that's what you do when you knock into someone's vehicle, especially when your vehicle is thousands of pounds heavier than the one you hit. Apparently, Hit & Run Harry didn't see it this way (or, seeing he caused damage, thought "oh shit," and took off).

Grumble.

I was talking to my father about this last night, and mentioned I was thinking of getting some Post-it notes printed up with a little retro scooter graphic on them, with this text:

Look out!!!

There's a scooter parked behind you!
Please be kind and be careful
when you leave your parking space.
Thank you!

I thought I could keep this in my scooter's compartment, and when I *do* have to park between two cars, I could stick one of these on the driver's side window of the car in front. I even thought about putting something like "feel free to stick this on my scooter when you leave and I will dispose of it for you" so people wouldn't just throw them on the ground.

My dad didn't like this idea. "All you'll do is piss the person off, and they'll either hit your scooter on purpose or do something else to it." Now, as cynical as I am about human nature at the moment, I don't think that someone would be completely filled with rage by this note. What do you think? Good idea? Or inviting more trouble?

Say a prayer to Ceiling Cat for my poor ouchie scooter. Hopefully this won't be too expensive.

UPDATE: Paul happy. I just got a call and my scoot is all fixed, and it was less than a hundred dollars.

Scooterworks is the greatest scooter company on the planet. If you ever want to buy a scoot or need yours serviced, go there. And tell them I sent you.