No Honor For Cheaters—And Thieves

 Not many people feel sympathy for Lance Armstrong these days. I admit that I am not part of that minority—at least, most of the time.

The news I heard today, however, sparks a twinge of empathy for him.  We now have at least one thing in common, aside from riding bicycles:  we have had our mounts stolen.

Turns out, one Ethan Harris has pleaded* guilty to theft of property between $30,000 and $150,000 and burglary of a building—for stealing some of the disgraced racer’s bikes from a storage unit in Austin.

A

Armstrong and Harris 

Apparently, there is still a market among collectors for anything related to the rider w hose seven Tour de France victories were vacated.

*—Is it “pleaded” or “pled?” I used the former in keeping with the report I read.

Fluid Dynamics

 What’s in those bottles?

Gatorade, perhaps?

What’s A Mother To Do?

 A driver strikes a 7-year-old boy riding a bicycle.

That is all-too-depressingly familiar.

Driver was distracted. Also too familiar. 

The boy is OK now.  I wish that were more familiar.

Driver admitted she was distracted. That is definitely unfamiliar.

She tries to “make it right” by giving the boy a new bicycle. That is new territory for the boy and his mother.

The mother notices the new bike isn’t as good as the one the driver wrecked. The boy, however, is happy because he likes the color of his new bicycle better than that of the old one.

While the mother is relieved that her son is OK, she doesn’t know how to respond to the driver’s gesture.

If you were the mother, what would you do?