Hello all,
I have been riding a uni regularly for about two years now. Learned how in college (1987) and did not take it up again until my wife bought me one for a Bday present in 2002. I have ridden in the past two years in Kosovo, Germany, Clarksville TN and now Iraq. I am now a solid skill 2 and working on skill three and four tasks.
Here is the question for you guys. How do you feel about the “Circus/ clown” comments and or the circus music being mimiced as you ride by some people? Mind you, this does not happen often, but when it does, it REALLY PISSES ME OFF.
I consider the uni an excellent form of exercise and a skill that I am proud to have. It’s the fat, out of shape turds that really make me want to hop of the uni and smack them. This was not an issue when I was first learning and kind of embarrassed, now that I am good, it is.
My reaction is usually to ignore them or I make a comment of how good an exercise it is.
They’re just simple-minded Muggles. They know not what we do. I’ve been asked the circus question so many times, I’ve lost interest in explaining/proving.
My typical answer now to the “Are you a clown” question: “No.”
Well, I haven’t been riding for long so I have not yet had any negative comments. I have had the usual stupid comments, like “where’s your other wheel?”. Mostly people just say “good job” or “wow that must be hard”. I like when rollerbladers say that, because I say “well, I can’t rollerskate, so what your doing looks hard to me”. People seem to think you are “showing off” when riding a uni, but just riding one isn’t showing off, as far as I’m concerned. And I’m a big show-off, so I know!
yea or even an advanced trick. i used to pull one footers way back when to impress people when they said something like that now its usually a glide or unispin. and i dont say anything at all either- i pull the trick and ride away. stun them.
it doesn’t bother me. Seriously, doens’t bother me a bit. People usu
ask these questions out of sincerity, genuine curiosity or a a
conversatoin starter. I hope we’re not really getting bent out of
shape over the clown/gladiator song thing.
If it’s a kid in the company of a mom, i’ll usu. reply that some people
think i’m a clown and flirt with the mom a little. If it’s a surly teen
i’ll just lie and say something about Cirque de Soliel. And I’ll
sometimes carry a clown nose in my pocket and put it on, and ask “like
this?” The latter is usu. followed by an abrupt UPD.
Sometimes people make daft comments as a clumsy way of trying to start a conversation with you. (“If I show you I’m a bit zany too, will you acknowledge my existence?”)
Sometimes it’s to “buy in” to your (perceived) zaniness, to make them feel good about themselves. (“I can’t ride a unicycle, but I can make a wisecrack to a man who can.”)
Sometimes it’s for the benefit of their companions, to reinforce their position in the pecking order. (“I couldn’t do that, but I can demonstrate to my mates that (a) unicycling is not worth doing, and (b) I can take the unicyclist down a peg.”)
Sometimes it’s simple crude hostility. (“I hate people. Especially those with talent and imagination.”)
I’ve put these in approximate order of annoyingness.
Those who appear to be trying to start some sort of a conversation, and even those who are pathetically trying to “buy in” usually get a formulaic but reasonably friendly response.
Those who are showing off to their mates or just being crudely hostile usually get the bidigital.
Having an unusual hobby does not make me public property. I don’t shout supposedly comments at strangers, and I don’t expect strangers to do it to me.
I find the way to take down those who are showing off to their mates is to insist they have a go if they say they can do it, just don’t bother to explain about how to sit on the saddle or mount, there’s nothing like watching someone sit on their spuds and then fall on their face. In extreme cases of hostility, run them down.
o man i love to do that, i tend to instruct them to put the cranks so that when they step on them the unicycle will shoot backwards and into them, leaving them rolling on the ground. whats funny is when they insist on trying again, i remember leaving one fellow bleeding from his shins and having sacked himself 3 times, i didnt even instruct him to put the pedals wrong, he did it all to himself.
But the thing is we’ve done that to chav’s that really seemed to be cocky arrogant t*ats, and as soon as they get on the thing and start giving it a real go they turn out to be pretty ok to get on with. They seem to respond better to things they can describe as ‘nuts’ or ‘trippin’, so trials & street pulls them out of the woodwork.
Thanks Cathy,
I did do a search before I posted but these threads did not come up. Lots of good comments. I think I’ll choose to keep ignoring the negative comments and respond to the positive.
I am also 6’2", 210 lbs and one of my other hobbies is weight lifting. If I really get pissed, which I usually don’t, I can hop of my uni and that will usually end the comments.
Mostly people just say “good job” or “wow that must be hard”. I like when rollerbladers say that, because I say “well, I can’t rollerskate, so what your doing looks hard to me”. People seem to think you are “showing off” when riding a uni, but just riding one isn’t showing off, as far as I’m concerned. And I’m a big show-off, so I know! 