She was born 21 years ago, the same day John Lennon died, and it seems all the wit and cockiness of that confused musical genius slid right into her.

I know her parents, and the day Jackie was born I stood in the hospital hallway with her dad as he walked back and forth. When the doc announced her birth I thought I was gonna have to haul her daddy to the psycho ward. Man....the way he got excited!

When she was just a little girl it was obvious she was gonna be a heartbreaker. She sure did know the moves! If she didn’t get what she wanted, she wouldn’t yell or scream...no, not her! She knew that would just piss people off. She made ya feel like a louse for not lettin’ her have her own way! She’d shed a quiet tear, thrust out her chin and act like you were breakin’ her heart and you were forgiven! Naturally, you’d give her whatever she wanted.

As she grew older she began to show an inner maturity that always made ya forget her age. And beauty? Before she hit puberty she was already obvioiusly headed towards bein’ a lovely woman. All the boys is school fell in love with her.....and so did I.

“Uncle Bum? We goin’ for a ride? Ya said we could!”

“I gotta date honey...Maybe tomorrow.”...She made me late more than once for something important.

As she grew into a young woman I began to give her guitar lessons, and before ya knew it she started a band and was makin’ good bucks playin’ school gigs and teen dances.

When she turned 18 she decided she was gonna get her bike license so I turned her onto the Motorcycle Enrichment Program, gave her an ABATE membership and soon she was ridin’ legal and safe.

Now I know what yer thinkin’ ...... Bummer has a rep for thinkin’ of women in a pleasurable way, but it was nothin’ like that. Even when I was young I wasn’t into young chicks....I’ve always been attracted to women who’ve had some experience behind ‘em. And she’s more like a daughter anyway.

I was talkin’ to her just the other day....

We ride motorcycles. That’s what we do and who we are. We know more about biking than any government agency or politicians. Hell, I got an old shovelhead that I doubt any of those a*%holes could even start..but she starts for me! On the first kick too [when nobody’s lookin’].

We know how it feels to ride in a cold hard wind surrounded by semi-trucks and old blue haired ladies. We ride in fog and on slick blacktop. We KNOW what the hell we’re doin’, or we wouldn’t still be alive to do it year after year.

The law has the right to tell us what we have to do in traffic. That’s just plain old common sense. We need to have structure and road laws or people would be slamming into each other all the time. But that’s where it should end. Instead of messin’ with you and me, the EPA should be lookin’ at corporations whose factories foul the water we drink and the air we breath, not our bikes.

Instead of allowing the government to mandate personal safety requirements, programs like the Motorcycle Enrichment people should be given a huge budget to educate riders on safety and the public at large on motorcycle accident prevention.

None of us can fix the world, and what right do we have to decide what “fixed” is anyway? But we do have the right to decide what to wear, what to ride and where to ride it.

As I’ve bragged before, I have two sons in the military who decided to do that before continuing with college, tho money wasn’t the issue. I’m very proud of ‘em, and I know they respect things I’ve done and what I’m doing now regarding ABATE. Soon I’ll get Jackie involved by convincing her it’s not gonna gobble her up.

Being aware of what yer rights are and how to maintain them should be taught more thoroughly in schools. And isn’t that better than just to exist within a society, taking what ya can and gorging yourself on what it can give ya? In my opinion those who are politically active and aware are far more valuable socially than celebrities, businesspeople and the filthy rich of a so called classless society [yeah, right...get down Bummer!]

Turn someone on to ABATE, sign someone up. Give it as a gift. We need it. YOU need it. They need it.

“It only takes up the time ya wanta give it baby. If ya take an office, just take one that doesn’t require more than ya wanta give. But make sure ya do what ya say yer gonna do!”

Well, I haven’t talked her into anything yet, but I will. Ya see, I feel that ABATE is more than just a motorcycle organization. It’s a statement. It’s saying, “I’m a citizen and I know my rights! I will not bend over, back down or give up! This government is MY government and I OWN it!! The people working in it are working for me. I pay their salaries and I decide what their job discription is!

People become so complacent. They sit back and watch as everything they hold dear becomes history and instead of doing anything about it they figure, “Ain’t nothin’ I can do.” How sad, because there is.

The big shot politicians that decide what’s best for you might pursue the big bucks or have their own personal agendas, but we have something they need to survive.......our votes, and that’s the bottom line my friends.

Now don’t misunderstand me. I’m not a crusader. I’m not saying that ABATE is anymore important than your rights are....but isn’t that quite a lot? When you’re being told what to do, what to wear and how to do the thing you love best isn’t that an major intrusion and doesn’t it piss ya off?

Urging Jackie to become involved in ABATE is a gift to her. It’s turning somebody on to something that eventually makes them feel like they have a chance, an opportunity to take a stand on issues that affect their lives. I know it’s not as important as world peace or hunger or disease control, but ya gotta start somewhere, and where else but where ya live?