See POCPhil sell a scooter to a demanding, spoiled little cow on MTV’s “My Super Sweet Sixteen.” Man, the POC showroom is looking good. See the whole Chanae episode here (I won’t give away the ending, mostly because it’s just too painful to talk about). (Thanks for the link, Eric.)
Oh, that just makes me ill. I wonder how her minister father’s ‘flock’ would feel about where their tithes and ‘love offerings’ are going. And she talks about her love of God? No wonder Christians are finding it harder and harder to be taken seriously. Is that girl so self absorbed and clueless about what a corpulent joke she is? Maybe MTV should just go back to music videos. No wonder I stopped watching them.
Land Rovers apparently don’t have seat belts.
I have updated the video clip to include the end of the show and the scooter giveaway.
http://www.iscootct.com/forum/index.php?topic=74.0
Think her parents bothered to get her rider training?
I’m sure they threw their weight around to get her into an MSF course, then she blew it off because there was something good on TV. If she doesn’t wear a seat belt, she’s certainly not going to wear a helmet.
So, if/when she is seriously injured or killed on one of the scooters that “Jesus wanted her to have” do you think it will be Jesus’s fault, Satan’s fault or will it just be good ol’ fashioned social darwinism?
Not to belabor the obvious, but Phil dinnit help matters much when he told Ms Trigliceride that piloting a scooter [that will top 100 mph] is “just like riding a bicycle.”
I think that quote might have been 50% sarcasm and 50% exasperation. I’m betting they were in the store for 8+ hours, bumping everything over and setting up lights all over the place, and phil was saying anything he could to get the spoiled freak, her parents, and their entourage, plus an entire MTV crew to get out of his store and out of his life forever. Every time I or a friend has ever been on TV or interviewed for something, I/they talk for 45 minutes and the editor picks out the dumbest thing I said and uses three seconds of it, out of context.
If she crashes, it was obviously god’s will and he’s calling her home. But more likely she gets distracted with something else and forgets about the scooters and they rot in the back of the garage. And daddy buys her a car.
Nice to see Phil get so much free publicity though. That line about being just like a bicycle was pretty unfortunate because I bet a ton of idiots believed it.
Phil tells us this, B, or is that how you imagine it went down?
From where I stand (no stranger to how video crews work) MTV’s footage of Phil saying that a 100 mph scooter is no harder to ride than a bike is NOT a “gotcha” moment. Not to malign Phil, whose shop is the very model of what a scooter dealership should be, but was that the first time he’s ever said that to a credulous shopper? And if not, does the fact that he only says such a thing to annoying, spoiled freaks somehow excuse it?
Like Matthew said: “Unfortunate.”
i don’t see why everyone is getting so worked-up over this one thing, it’s stupid. riding a scooter IS as easy, if not easier than riding a bike. is it safer? does it require more awareness/education? sure. is the learning curve of making it go, stop, and stay up any different than a bicycle?
think of someone getting on a bicycle for the first time, are they any more coordinated than someone getting on a twistie? does it take that much longer for the person on a twistie learn to keep upright, go, and stop?
your not going to teach a kid to ride a bike, and then throw them on the berm of a 45mph road, or city traffic, same with a scooter. yes it goes very fast, and you could go on the freeway with it, but only a dumbass would think or allow that to a newbie.
i don’t think by implying that it’s “just like riding a bike” is saying anything other than that. where and how fast/safe you ride it is a completely different conversation that i feel people are trying to interject into that simple statement.
The problem Stefan is that most of us have come across people who have made the connection in their mind that “scooter being easy” equals “scooter is safe”. For example, deciding that they don’t need a helmet for a bike so they don’t need a helmet for a scooter. I’ve heard folks say they’d wear a helmet if they were riding a motorcycle but since it is “just” a scooter there is no need. Or sandals are okay. Or you can ride on the sidewalk like a bike.
We don’t doubt that Phil tried his best to explain the need for safety, protection, and training to this family but that isn’t the part that MTV showed. They showed the part where he gives, to use your phrase, “dumbassess” license to behave ignorantly.
but that’s the thing. i don’t think anyone watching that would go “oh, it’s as easy as riding a bike, maybe i’ll get one?” or any responsible parent will look at one and say “oh, they said on mtv that it’s as easy as riding a bike, so it’s o.k. for my little chane!”
people that think of a scooter as a toy, already made up their mind. it’s the job of the community, salesperson, parents, and manufacturers to get the point across that it’s not. they edited out or never filmed a substantial amount of what phil went over with them (as stated in phil’s post on the bbs).
i just don’t think that statement changed or made-up anyones mind as to how safe a scooter scooter is, other than those nit-picking it here. most were probably too wrapped-up in the fact of what a spoiled brat this kid is (premise of the show).
safety is a personal choice when law doesn’t apply. i ride ff, armor, etc… because i’ve gone down, twice. i preach to all who will listen the safety of riding in full gear, taking classes, riding aware, etc.. but you can’t force people to not be stupid, just try to hope something sticks.
if phil said “this is not a toy, and should be treated with the utmost seriousness” and it made the air, i doubt it would change the mind of someone that already looks at it as a toy. maybe a few, but not anymore than those that heard “it’s just like a bike” and said “damn, that does it. i’m going to get one now i know it’s just like a bike.”
Just to put MY spin on this entire situation – Yes I do routinely tell people riding a twistie is as EASY as riding a bicycle. Because it is. My basis for this assertion:
1- I can ride a twistie
2- I can ride a bicycle
3- Based on my expert opinion – riding a twistie is easier than riding a bicycle.
Riding a bicycle requires balance while alternatively pressing your body weight down on each pedal as a means of propulsion while balancing the vehicle and maintaining directional control. This is WAY harder than riding a twistie. And mountain bikes with 27 speeds? Don’t get me started.
The difference is we’ve all been riding bicycles since we were 4…the scooter is new. I’m sure the first time you got on a bicycle you weren’t the freestyle master you are today after 20+ years of experience. The same goes for the scooter.
EDITING – Those people (The MTV folks were worse than the victim, they were profiteering off her ignorance and desire to be famous) were in my shop for about 3 hours that day. They don’t show 3 hours of driver training, fitting her (and her whole family) for safety gear. Etc. It’s like 15 seconds of POC in a 20 minute show.
“Oh my GAWD! Phil just told that snotty brat it was easy to ride a scooter….what if she gets hurt?”
Guess what? At one point each one of us on this list was as ingnorant as she was/is. Ok, sure it may have been when we were 7, but at some point someone had to tell us we could do it, or would you rather have had me say “Riding a scooter is the hardest thing you’re ever going to do…I don’t think you’re ready for it”?
Fact is we all (scooterists) think we’re pretty special, and there are people we just don’t want to see joining our ranks. Sorry folks, if you wanted to be one of an elite micro-culture you should have taken up chainsaw juggling or javelin catching. Being snobby about something that 90% of the worlds least educated and least developed poplulations do on a daily basis is pretty silly.
Phil
POC
I think everyone is being way to critical on the young girl. Remember all she really wants is a scooter and a party with all her friends. What 16 year old doesn’t. It is not unusual for a girl (or boy) on that show to receive a Porsche or Mercedes Benz.