Am I just a Negative Nancy?

My boss just bought a Segway. One of my co-workers’ boyfriend is a Segway salesman, and we’re talking about having guided Segway-based tours of the Fisherman’s Wharf area. I’m hearing a lot about Segways lately, and this morning they convinced me to come out and ride one.

Here in San Francisco, the Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance banning Segways on the sidewalks. But apparently every new Segway comes with a card describing the loopholes in the law, so that if pulled over by a cop you can point to the card and declare that your electric vehicle is greater than one-horsepower and not subject to the ordinance.

This makes me a little sick. First, these aren’t people that care about rights and the law unless it affects their ability to sell scooters. But yes, just because they have a financial interest doesn’t make them wrong.

So I’m thinking about this and imagining walking down the sidewalk (which I do every day) and having some 15-year old zip past me on a skateboard (which happens not infrequently). That’s unnerving and troubling. Now the same scenario, with some rich 35-year old guy on a $5000 scooter knocking people over on his way to get his latte? My first blush reaction is that I’d chase him down and kick the living shit out of him.

So here I am being all negative about these things. Is this just resistance to change? The Segway manufacturers claim that this is the next step in human evolution, and I’m just a naysayer turning up his nose at progress.

Yeah, it would be cool if Market Street were full of these things instead of cars. But I don’t think they belong on sidewalks.