"Your Hat is Blinking"

Yes, another witty Des Moines smoker camped on a downtown street corner has added her astute two cents' worth regarding my commute gear.

Y'see, my beater helmet wears a Planet Bike flasher up top, so in fact, my hat was blinking at the time. As was my butt, though she made no comment about that end, at least within my earshot.

I think she was trying to make fun of me, but I laughed all the way home.

As an aside, does anyone else notice that it's the smokers -- people standing outside in the dead of winter, usually without coats, indulging a life-shortening addiction -- that look at cycle commuters with the most intense mixture of pity, derision, and flat out "that guy must be psychotic" awe?

Maybe they're just the only people who regularly stand outside in the winter...