sometimes bent is good
Humans are social creatures and, as such, are generally predisposed to follow society’s morés. For better or worse, that’s how we maintain acceptability to those we choose to associate with.
Sometimes, we become conscious of our behavior. And sometimes, we realize that our behavior, although successful in outcome, isn’t necessarily right.
I admit that I only became familiar with the shift lever after the disfiguring incident. The twisted piece of metal looked sad, and my immediate thought was to do what I could to straighten it out. I let my own ideas dictate my behavior, and even when researching the part online, the exploded parts diagram in front of me, I wasn’t cognizant of its true nature. I let my estimation of how it operated dictate my actions. It seemed the right thing to do.
I just assumed that bend wasn't supposed to be there.
The way I thought it should be.
I knew the repaired lever didn’t feel exactly right when riding. It felt like it should be a little more outboard than it was. I assumed that was because the arm had bent at the root, a bend I wasn’t capable of fixing.
Today, I stopped by the parts counter at the shop and purchased a replacement. When I got in the car and tore open the package, I was shocked at what I found. The bend that I had hammered out was supposed to be there. It was other, more subtle bends from the incident that had disfigured the part – bends that I couldn’t begin to understand and wouldn’t have been able to fix even if I did.
The way it really should be: new part on top, repaired part on bottom.
True, I made the bike operational again. My neanderthal bludgeoning achieved my goals. But at what price?
Let the pedal be a pedal.