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When they ask, "Can I ride it?", how do I politely decline?


Catlord17

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The other day I went to a park around 11 pm where there was a sidewalk leading away from the park, that I planned to ride on to avoid anyone in the park bothering me while I practiced.  Sure enough, the moment I gear up, along comes a drunk guy on a hoverboard, and after asking a few questions, he asked if he could ride it.  My automatic response was, "Oh, I can't let you do that."  Thinking, I don't want you hurt and I don't want my property damaged or possibly stolen.

He immediately took offense and left.

Since I can already tell I am going to have to deal with this question again, and probably a lot... and drunk or not, I don't want strangers riding or using or trying my EUC... how do you suggest I politely decline without potentially causing people to get upset?

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No one rides "precious" :angry: except me.  <said in a creepy Gollum voice>

That isually scares them away.  :whistling:

Or just say sorry, it's brand new.  I don't have the protective learning cover with me.  I don't want to get the shell damaged because it's pretty difficult to learn how to ride - much harder than a hoverboard.

If it's a hot girl in a tight tank top then sure whatever, but let's do it on the grass!  :w00t2:  Yeah, I know, I'm kinda fickle like that.  :innocent1:

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I just re-iterate that it's a steep learning curve and i 'forgot' the protective wheel padding for beginners.

Anyone who that isn't enough for is likely either rude/arrogant/drunk/personality disorder in which case them getting upset isn't your problem.

I find I only really turn down kids.....i like teaching nervous adults as they listen to you and their trepidation makes them careful. Kids on the other hand with their unpredictability, varying manners and very varying attention span arent worth it. I make an exception if they seem particularly polite/sweet.

Random anecdote: was in hyde park on the grass last summer.....bunch off overweight topless 'chavs' (google it) kicking a football whilst blaring wutang clan from their stereo (says it all). They shouted 'c***' at me a couple of times but ignored me. Later a girl that was with them came over to ask about my wheel. She seemed impressed and went back to them. Later one of them came over and asked if he could have a go. I was less than polite.....

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I'm somewhat flexible on this if I have my Inmotion V5F with me which has three (!) layers of padding on it.

"Can you rollerblade, ice-skate, skateboard, or surf? No? Bugger off, mate!"

People who with no experience don't have a prayer of learning in under an hour. Those that do, I've seen pick up EUC in about 2-6 tries, or under 15 minutes, a few even much less than that.

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If you're relatively small/light and they're big you could say, "Do you weigh over X? Oh sorry this model is limited to X. Some of the other models can handle bigger riders though." 

That said, I have let a few dozen people "ride" my Firewheel. Usually I have one arm and often a friend has the other arm and we make sure they don't fall over. Mainly it's just so they can get the feel of the wheel and understand how it works to lean forward/back to move. There was one kid, maybe 15 years old, that I met with his family at an outdoor restaurant and he wanted to ride. So his dad and and I get him started and he rode like 30 feet without either of us helping him! He'd done skateboarding and used a hoverboard so maybe a little more experienced with the process, but still!

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If a kid asks, I let them try, unless I am in a hurry. Many kids don't dare to try, even when I ask them (I do sometimes when they seem to be fascinated by the wheel).

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If its a non threatening person I tell them the truth.  "These are pretty expensive and I don't want it to get damaged".  If its someone I'm unsure of I just scare them and say "I wouldn't recommend it, I have faceplanted several times and I don't want to see you get hurt", feel free to site an example here too like "first time I rode it I fell over and couldn't walk for a week".  This normally works for most.  

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On 5.8.2017 at 9:52 AM, Catlord17 said:

When they ask, "Can I ride it?", how do I politely decline?

Well, in Vienna, Austria, this is really easy, even if you don't speak a word German.

You just say with your deepest voice, and an interrogatory ending:  "Oida ???"

To explain what that exactly means, and how to pronounce it, I need the help of a nice young polish lady :

 

 

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haha ive let quite a few people ride mine, its funny to watch them try, and it makes me look even more cool doing it so effortlessly when they struggle to even put a foot on it.. but thats because my ninebot is a cheap beater that i plan to keep for just that purpose and as a backup. when my new wheel gets here i wont be letting random strangers jump on it

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