Someone is trying to kill me...

...and his name is the bicycle repair guy.

Do you ever get the feeling that someone is trying to kill you? Yeah, probably not. I hadn't either until the other day. Here's the story:

I got a flat tire on my bike and needed it changed. I walked around the neighborhood until I found a very talkative bike repair guy who had set up shop on a street corner. I showed him my tire and he got right on replacing it. He talked to me while repairing my bike and was quickly clued into the fact that I can't speak Vietnamese. However, I continued to listen until I recognized a question: Where are you from?

I told the man in Vietnamese that I was from America and then he continued to chirp away. All was good until he told me my bike was fixed. I paid the guy, jumped on my bike and headed into traffic...when I quickly realized that I HAD NO BRAKES!!!!!*

I managed to come to a stop and immediately went back to the repairman. I showed him the brakes weren't working and he quickly began to "fix" them. Once they were "done" he gave me a thumbs up and pointed the bike back towards the road. Once again I got on the bike and pedaled into traffic...until I realized I STILL HAD NO BRAKES!!!!

Again, I managed to get back to the dude in one piece and showed him the brakes weren't working. He again got to work and again "fixed" the brakes. Again, they still weren't working. Finally, I had an ephiphany -- this guy is trying to kill me!

I took the bike to the bike shop to get fixed...and am now watching my back carefully.

* This was written for dramatic affect. In reality I had my front brake but no back brake. The bike still could barely slow down and if you know about brakes (as my friend Sam) you shouldn't just use a front brake because you can flip over.