Enough is enough. It’s 2018. Let’s deconstruct prejudices against those brave enough to ride their scooters to campus from 40th and Walnut.

Personally, I’m tired of the preconceived notions people have of me, a WOCSR (Woman of Color Scooter Rider). When I charge directly into crowds of people on Locust in order to get to Fisher Bennett 30 seconds quicker than I would on foot, people seem to think that I’m “unreasonable”, “dweeby”, or even “totally fucking annoying! Like, Jesus Christ, watch where you’re going!”. All because I quirkily skrrted on their $600 Gucci sneakers with the full weight of me, god, and my scooter? Sad.

Most days, I’m resilient enough to brush off the ignorant remarks of my peers (who are clearly just jealous that they will never get the mad pussy that accompanies owning an adult-size Razor A5 Lux), but I’m not always so brave. I see you people, with your respectable forms of transportation and wonder if I should just get a bike.

Although, why should I conform to the normative standards of the dominant culture? Are my lived experiences not valid? What are the implications for citizenship if we police the methods of travel that others use? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

I know how difficult my scooter makes the lives of others, but this is a sacrifice I’m willing to make to subvert the rules that merely reinforce centralized modes of transit (the bike lane, Uber, etc.).

Hopefully… one day… people will realize that it’s actually super hot and liberating to carry around a 20 pound metal weight into every class they have. I know I do.