American Exceptionalism

Robin and I were discussing bicycle touring gear a few weeks ago and I told her I liked having a USB battery and a solar panel. She told me she liked to take breaks while seeking out power outlets at gas station or cafes. I've done this a lot too. It is a nice break, and it's a good feeling whenever an outlet is available.

While I was in Seattle, I was downtown and had forgot to charge my phone, and needed a map to find the nearest Mexican restuarants. I walked around for about 20 minutes and didn't see a single external power outlet on any building. I finally found one outside an apartment building. I plugged my phone in and sat on the little stone wall that was outside. After about 5 minutes, a man walked out of the building and told me, "that's not a public outlet, and you can't be here." I told him, "thank you", and left.

In Pacific City, Oregon, I was charging my phone on the side of a Shell station, where I left my bike leaning while I went in to get some snacks. When I got back outside, a man told me, "you can't sit here like that." I told him, "thank you", and left.

In North Bend, Oregon, I walked into a 7-11 and walked around the perimeter of the store, and then was about to leave. The clerk asekd me, "didn't find what you wanted?" I told him I was looking for a restroom. He told me, "oh, nope, no restroom." I wanted to say, "oh, nobody who works here goes pee?" But instead I left.

Additionally, in North Bend, Oregon, I walked into a Subway and got a sandwich. I sat down and plugged my phone into an outlet. The clerk saw me doing so and said, "that won't work." I asked her why and she told me the switch was off, and that she'd try to, "go in the back and find it." After 15 seconds she told me she couldn't find it. My phone had been dead for a while and I wanted to charge it, so I walked around the Subway and tried all the outlets. The clerk watched me do so. I found one that worked, which was the same one the fountain soda machine was plugged in to. At the same time, the clerk got my attention and told me, "it should work now!", pointing the original outlet next to my table. I went back and plugged my phone in there and it worked. The clerk also shouted, "we keep them off so that homeless people don't come in here. Remind me to turn it back off when you leave."

Furthermore, in North Bend, Oregon, there was a tall suspension bridge to cross just before entering the town. It was probably 200 feet high and a mile long. There was no shoulder on it, and I didn't want to be in the way, so I got off my bicycle and pushed it up the skinny sidewalk. When I got to the apex, I waited for no traffic to be coming my direction, then got on my bicycle and pedaled as fast as I could down the other side. The speed limit on the bridge was 35 and I was going at least 40. When I got near the end, I heard a car behind me, so once a larger shoulder appears on the road I put my hand up to wave, "thanks!", even though I was still going ~40mph. I glanced left to see who I was waving to and it was a middle-aged man in an old-looking blue pickup truck, leaning over the passenger side of his truck and emphatically giving me the finger.

One last note about North Bend, Oregon. While I was there I saw a Subaru Outback with a Trump sticker on it. I didn't know that was possible, and was surprised the two objects didn't have some sort of explosive reaction.

In Gold Beach, Oregon, I stopped to eat some fish and chips. As I was leaving town, the road was 2 lanes in either direction, with no shoulder, and a 30 mph speed limit. A car behind me honked at me, so I turned around to see what was the matter. I saw one red SUV behind me, and nothing else. I didn't know why the SUV didn't go around me in the other lane. I continued looking backwards at the red SUV and the driver, as well as a woman in the passenger seat, continued to yell and wave their arms. I pulled into some driveway and they went by. They pulled into the next driveway, which was a supermarket. I rode over there, pulled up about 15 feet away from the driver's open window and asked him, "what's the matter?" He asked me if I was riding in the middle of the road. I told him I wasn't. He told me I was. He told me he would, "have the police come and see what they think." I heard the woman in the passenger seat yelling into her phone, apparently spelling her last name for the police dispatcher she was talking to. The man shouted to nobody, "I'm NOT VERY HAPPY with the police force in this city!!" Gold Beach, Oregon has a population of 2,305, according to the 2016 census. As interesting as it was watching these two lose their minds about nothing, I pedaled away. I'm curious to know how the police handled them though.