Monday, June 23, 2014

Being Bitten By The Bug


"The motorcycle bug is something not easily shaken ... 
once I got one, I was going to have the itch forever."

-- Tess McRae, 
"My Quest to Become a Real Motorcycle Boss,"
  Queens Chronicle

Stag beetle on a motorcycle 6-23-14


"If you've got the poison I've got the remedy."

-- Jason Mraz, "Remedy (I Won't Worry)"



Ding! Ding! Ding!

It's time for the One Good Thing "idiom of the day."

Whoop! Whoop!

Today's idiom is: "bitten by the ___________ bug." 

This idiom means "to develop a passionate interest in a specified activity." Here are a couple of helpful example sentences from  the Oxford Dictionary:

"Joe was badly bitten by the showbiz bug at the age of four."

"Seems that Bob has been bitten by the sales bug after his experiences at Imvector."

I had the distinct privilege of helping someone be bitten by the bug yesterday, specifically, the motorcycle bug.

My 15-year-old friend Elizabeth has been saying for some time now that she wants a motorcycle, but until yesterday she'd never straddled a bike. So after checking with her parents, I showed up at her house on my motorcycle, Suzi, to remedy the situation. I brought along my extra helmet, Elizabeth provided her own black, high-laced punk boots and studded pleather jacket, and off we zoomed.

It was a perfect day to ride. Ohio's countryside was shamelessly showing off her summer loveliness. Elizabeth looked exactly right and breezily natural in her first-time biker gear. She even has perfect motorcycle hair that whipped and swirled behind her and even did that pretty tumble-down thing when she took off her helmet.

I figured the ride would either scare her off motorcycles forever, or win her over for good. So when we rolled back up to her house, I asked the obvious question:

"So, do you still want one?"

Elizabeth's answer was a breathless and unequivocal "Yes!"

The motorcycle bug has been buzzing in Elizabeth's ear for a while, but after yesterday, I'm pretty sure it has its pincers securely sunk into her soul.

Yep. She's infected alright.

All I can says is it's a good thing I was there to help.