More Frustration

Great. I need a new bike, right? Because mine is horribly small, and slowly falling apart. I use my bike a lot, to get to Aikido, to friends' houses, the whole deal. I save my folks a lot of time and effort by biking.

And how do they thank me? Certainly not by buying, or even contributing to help to buy me a new bike.

Yes, I shouldn't believe they'll always buy me what I want. I understand this. But this isn't just a "gimme" toy, it's a tool that will help both me and them. If I have a bike that fits, I'll be less inclined to start driving, and I won't need to mooch rides, since I can ride to just about anywhere I need to be. If I dostart driving, then they're stuck with naming me the primary driver of a car, meaning that we lower the insurance level on one of our current cars, or have to buy another car to name me primary driver of. Either way, they're probably losing lots more than the few hundred they'd have to shell out to buy or help buy a bike.

If I don't get a new one, I will eventually outgrow mine, or it will fall apart. Either could happen in a year, I'm certain. At that point, if I've outgrown it, riding it will be problematic for the knees, among other things. Problems with growing knees. There's a good idea.

Dad says that the last bike his parents bought for him was when he was in grade school. That's lovely, Dad, but we're not living in the late '60s or early '70s anymore. A bike isn't much of a novel toy, at least not for me. It's a rather important vehicle that saves effort for both you and me.

I shouldn't have to pay the full cost for something that benefits both parties.