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Another Of Life’s Lessons Smacking Me Right In Face. I’m Grateful.

scottmastrocinque

GT Godfather!
GT di Razza Pura
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
5,680
Location
Lima, Ohio
I’m writing this while sitting at a restaurant, having a bite to eat and to cool off in the A/C.

I left Owensboro, KY this morning after spending the long weekend with 4 truly spectacular gentlemen.

Two are from here, Bill Hagan and Lannis. The other two, George and Kevin were Honda riders, (ST1300, New DSC Goldwing).

While riding home all this morning, I was reflecting upon my thoughts about myself.

I struggle deeply with non-verbal communication, especially brief forum posts. Without the assistance of intonation and non-verbal cues, facial expressions, hand gestures, eyes, body position, etc, I often find it impossible to differentiate snide from genuine, or more importantly, I completely miss humor or jocularity.

Unfortunately I have had this happen more than a few times here. Granted, some retorts or comments I received, I interpreted correctly as they were full of malice or aggressive in nature.

However, some I have wrongly interpreted and I deeply regret this. I don’t do it intentionally. It’s part of my particular form of autism and God has been kind enough to reveal it to me so I can see it firsthand in my oldest son who is exactly like me.

So, I have clashed a couple times with Lannis here, and I have come away from this weekend with a sense of great remorse for those clashes, because I forgot the most important part of being part of an internet community as special as GuzziTech.

We are a famiglia here. Connected by our mutual love and obsession of these peculiar, often-maddening, yet so lovely and truly life-enriching, Italian motorcycles.

More importantly, we are real people behind the moniker or avatars. We have life stories and experiences and are all wonderful, unique and precious.

I spent a great deal of time talking with these 4 men and I discovered how vibrant, rich, and full their lives are and have been, and I was truly amazed at their experiences which helped to form them into precisely just who they are.

Lannis is a giant of a man compared to me. A veritable tall oak tree! (I’m a typical short Italian, 5’8” on a good day.). He is very intelligent and speaks eloquently. It is a delight to listen to his stories. Along with Moto Guzzi, he is a British motorcycle aficionado and quite the Anglophile. Also, it was immediately apparent how well read he was and his knowledge on a variety of topics was extensive and he is a history buff extraordinaire. He has been married for nearly 50 years to his wife whom he has known since 6th grade! (As my partner and I have been together for 26 years, a feat I am very proud of, I sat in awe of a relationship spanning nearly 5 decades.) It spoke volumes to me of this man’s character and the more time I spent with him, the more respect I had for him and the greater my shame and disappointment in myself for my shortcomings online.

Thinking about this for the last several hours, I wanted to share this experience if only to caution anybody reading this, not to make the errors I have, even though some were unintentional for sure.

It’s so easy to discount the individual on the other end of a forum post because we don’t see them in front of us, and this leads us to not view them as fully human.

It’s way too easy to discount others we aren’t looking face to face with.

Out of sight, out of mind…

It is very important to realize that all of us have stories, experiences, gifts and charms and even defects and deficits, that simply cannot be experienced in a few words on a computer screen.

So, as you work you way through this e-world, slow down, take a moment to reflect about how you are acting and what you are writing. Remember that there is another human being on the other end, and they deserve no less than what we want for ourselves.

Niceness counts. It really truly does!

Be gentle, be humble, be patient, consider others before ourselves and above all, never forget that we are a famiglia, and we need to treat each other as such. Always.

It’s okay to disagree and even argue, but civility should be our core creed in everything we do here because family shouldn’t hurt family.

Camaraderie. It is the ultimate goal here and should be the guiding principal of our actions.

To Lannis, a true gentleman, I offer my respect and heartfelt apology for my previous irrational and foolish trespass, I ask for his understanding and pardon, and I look forward with genuine anticipation, to the next time I can sit and converse with him again.

All my best wishes and respect to you, Sir.

And to Bill Hagan and Kevin and George, I say the exact same thing. You are all exceptional men and it was truly an honor and a privilege to be so welcomed by all of you. I am truly grateful for the experience.

Until we see each other again, I say…

Mille grazie, e ci vediamo!

Oh, and if you are in the vicinity, I highly recommend the Muttoneer Run 2023! It was a fantastic time and the camaraderie and company was the very finest I have experienced on 2 wheels.

Gentlemen, it was truly a pleasure!

- Scott

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Scott, we are who we are, the product of our evolution, the good and the bad.
Nobody is “Perfect” we all have our idiosyncrasies, they are what make us all unique ”Like that idiot in the left lane
who can’t decide when it’s safe to turn “ :rolleyes:

We can just try and appreciate people like you , Bill, Todd etc… that are part of what / Who make up our little community !

Don
 
Sure realized sometimes I was rude after it was all over. then, too often the opportunity to affect a change of attitude toward them is gone and never the same.

Part of being human is making human mistakes. Part of being godly is realizing those mistakes.

Now figure out a way to lower the pegs on my V9 so I am not so cramped riding it.
 
Done all the re-bulding of the comfort seat. It is as high as is reasonable and my overall seat change expense right no is over a $1,000. Way too much already.

The footage location on a V9 makes the distance from even the higher seat I made to the footpads way too short for me. I struggle to even keep my legs on the pegs let alone lift them to shift, brake or remove my legs to touch the ground.

I have a MG V50 that is even smaller and mostly unridable for the same reason. My old BMW's are comfortable. The best is my Harley Fat Boy. Being "only" 6 ft. tall it surprises me how tiny motorcycles are made today. My old BSA and Triumph are standard riding position and relatively comfortable. Riding with knees high in the air tells me the newer bikes are made for midgets.

There is no reasonable way to remove the entire footage mounts on a V9 and relocate them both lower and not so far back. The V9, with my new suspension and other changes, rides nicely. Just too small and the V85TT is way too high for me to touch the ground and even then, footage to seat is relatively close. Kind of sad my Moto Guzzi's are not very usable for any more than short rides. Thank god for Harley Davidson.
 
Like Cypher said ".........What do you SAY to something like that?" As 'Renaissance Man' ;) , I had a great time this weekend, enjoyed the conversation, and like you, learned a lot about the difference between interactions in cyber-world and the world that has rain and heat and dark, slick, wet roads. Riding hundreds of miles at night in torrential rain to meet friends is a Real Thing, it's not just a talk-about thing.

Some genuine self-reflection is a good thing for everyone, any time they have a chance. Thanks for the encouragement to do more of it as I meet and interact with folks. Looking forward to next time!!

Lannis
 
Scott...thank you, man. I feel a whole lot better when I read someone referring to us as famiglia. And thank you for posting the photographs of these elder statesmen of motorcycling. I, being 66, appreciate seeing fellow gray-haired riders. We carry on the work ethic and civility of our forebearers. Hopefully our kids do the same. So ride on carefully, my friend. Ride on.
 
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