What I Didn’t Carry

 In one of my earliest posts, I described what I carried—literally and figuratively—in my messenger bag.

In those days, four decades ago, I was too angry and stupid—and, I believed, too broken—to do anything, professionally or personally, that required me to interact with another human in a way that would require me to reveal my intelligence, talents or vulnerability—or lack of those qualities.

I can assure you, however, that during those days of dodging taxis, pedestrians, dogs—and, sometimes, myself—while pedaling slaloms through Manhattan traffic (Remember, there was no “bicycle infrastructure!) that as strange and, at times, illegal as my cargo sometimes was, it in no way resembled what Huntington, West Virginia police found in Kristopher Osborne’s by backpack when police stopped him, ostensibly for riding his bike without a light.

He was carrying drugs—as I did on at least a few occasions. But he also had a gun (For all I know, I might’ve delivered one!) in his knapsack, which was full of explosives.

Asleep At The...Handlebars?

Is it possible to ride while sleeping?

I may have done just that on at least one occasion.   In particular, I recall a time I picked up a small package on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and delivered it to an office in the Wall Street area--a distance of about 8 kilometers, in traffic.  When I arrived at that office, I opened my eyes and had no idea of how I got there.  And, when I stepped out of the building, my bike was locked to a parking meter.

When you are a messenger, nobody much cares about whether you slept or about anything else you might've done on your bike, as long as the document or package is delivered in a timely fashion, as they say.

It also helps not to have outstanding arrest warrants.  That is what Angela Yates is learning as I write.

Police officers found the 43-year-old sitting on a bicycle, passed out, in a Middlesboro, Kentucky gas station.  They woke her up and found that, in addition to her arrest warrants, she had a criminal summons.

During her arrest, the police searched her property and found a syringe containing a clear substance they believe to be crystal meth.  They also found eight other syringes and other drug paraphernalia.

Yates was then taken to the Bell County Detention Center, where she was strip-searched.  A quart-size bag containing what officials believe to be marijuana, along with another liquid-filled syringe, were found in her possession.  

She faces a number of charges.

If she is using those substances, I can't help but to wonder how she even got on a bicycle!