Too Pretty to Pedicab?

   Whether you like to say it out loud or not, there is a definite pedicab stigma. People are constantly coming up to us girl pedicabbers and saying “You are way too beautiful to be doing that!”…and it bothers me. Ok. So since I’m pretty what should I be doing? Should I be a prostitute? A super model? A pretty Persian girl on Shahs of Sunset that chills and does nothing but uses daddy’s credit cards for Fendi, Prada, and Gucci? Well somebody has to pay for my Gucci obsession and it sure is’t going to be mom or dad. Would it make people happier if I wasn’t doing this? Maybe if I was uglier it would be more ok in society to drive a pedicab.

One time an Indian family came up to another pedicabber and requested a tour. Sean, who was in line at the Air and Space said—‘sure—but Shaad’s up so she can take you guys. She gives a mean tour!’ This dude stopped dumbfounded. Jaw dropped hit the floor. And boom. “But she is a vooman! She cannot take us! Absolutely not”—“no trust me—shes stronger than I am—she can take you guys better than I could….” And so I assured them a few times and after 3 minutes of back and forth they finally got on. This mother father jumped off m pedicab about 3 times when I got to lights and wanted to push behind me beause he didn;’t think I’d be able to do it. I basically told him “If you get out of my cab one more time to push I’m going to push you off my cab and steal your kids! Stop doing that —I assure you I am  wo MAN enough to do it. Now- FINALLY when he learned my story—and why I actually pedicabbed around like this he stopped his shovenistic behavior and gave into my super hero powers….and we had fun.

Heres one more thing I have to say—- I will NEVER stop pedicabbing ok? NEVER. Even if I’m a million billionaire. Maybe if my husband didn’t ike it for certain reasons I’d reason with him—BUT….. I’m just saying I will never stop. Its not for the money. It saved my life, my leg, my muscles, my mental state—made me stronger, and happier. If  I believe that pedicabbing was the reason I was able to live without furthering treatment, and extra surgeries—- why would I ever stop? That would be ridiculous.

So please—if you see a pedicabber out there and you are wondering why he/she is doing this job—- know that everyone has their reasons. Everybody has a different reason whether it be …. To make fast money, to enjoy the weather, because if they continued their office job—they would commit suicide……. Or…….to have flexibility, to do what I want, to travel during the year and work for a couple of months, or to be able to finance their theater career—we are all different. Some do it to lose weight, to get in shape, to get through college, to get healthy, to find an alternative to going out clubbing and getting wasted—- to get paid to exercise, or because gym memberships are too expensive in dc. Some do it simply because they graduated from Corcoran with 3 art degrees and are very liberal artsy fartsy and prefer to make money this way—- Some just do it simply to live like a rock star. Most of us graduated from a four year university—we are educated—we know more about the city than most, we know whats going on, where to go, what is good—and we love sharing it with you. So know that no one is too anything… to be a pedicabber.