WorkCycles Fr8’s invade London
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009All sorts of people ride WorkCycles bikes: Moms, dads, steelworkers, delivery girls, photographers, teachers, IT guys, cops, punk rockers and even royalty. A few weeks ago we received a call from a distinguished sounding gentleman with a +44 country code telephone number. Thank god for caller ID. The conversation went something like this:
Us: “Goedemiddag, WorkCycles. Je spreekt met (insert WorkCycles employee name).”
Caller: “Please excuse me but do you speak English?”
Us: “Ya. Dat can. How can I be of service?”
Caller: “Pardon me. Would you happen to have any Grey Poupon? Ha ha just a little English humour… No, actually I am interested in your WorkCycles F-R-8 bicycle. It looks like a most dignified bicycle yet refreshingly modern and versatile. Would you recommend it for an individual for whom it is important to look, well, dignified?”
Us: “What’s Grey Poupon?”
Caller: “It’s mustard but never mind that. I’m intereste…”
Us: “Mosterd? We have not mosterd here. We make only de bicycles.”
Caller: “Yes, sorry for the confusion. I’m interested in the F-R-8 bicycle.”
Us: “Oh, you mean de WorkCycles Freight bicycle? You speak it out not as F-R-8 but freight. It is a great bike and it can carry very much freight, such as 3 children and groceries or 150kg of tools. What must you carry and where will you ride de bicycle?”
Caller: “Well I’m not really at liberty to discuss the situation in detail but suffice it to say that it must be possible to carry a five year old child in a dignified manner and ummm… a crown.”
Us: “A crown? How do you mean?”
Caller: “Yes, a crown; like with velvet and silver and jewels and well, you know… a crown. I’m sorry but I’m just not at liberty to explain.”
Us: “Dat is OK. English clients have always strange requests. What is de diameter of de crown?”
Caller: “Almost 8 inches”
Us: “Dat is not a problem. We have a strong plastic crate in order to carry de crown. Dere is enough room to put the groceries next de crown. Do you need an elastic to prevent de crown from bouncing out?”
Caller: No I don’t think that will be necessary. The bicycle will only be ridden slowly.”
So to make a long story short the gentleman purchased the Fr8 and requested that it be personally delivered to Buckingham Palace, insisting that no further address info was necessary. The guards would be expecting the delivery but kindly do not disturb them during the changing of the guard. That would be most inconvenient.
Anyhow, being an American I don’t know much about these English things but I googled Buckingham Palace and found that at least part of the Royal Family lives there. By golly; that’s what the guy meant by the crown! But I couldn’t find any information about a five year old child in the English Royal Family. Do I smell a scandal brewing here?
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