“His unwanted opinions saved me, what else can I say?”
These were the heartfelt words of ex-motorcyclist, Joanna Banks, as she recounted the time a random man approached her to give her a completely original message that she had definitely never heard before: “You know motorcycles are dangerous, right?” “In the ten years I’ve been riding motorcycles, It never occurred to me that risks were involved,” said Joanna. “If only my friends, coworkers, and family would have told me every chance they got. I hate to think about what might have happened if I hadn’t allowed the artificial concerns of a complete stranger to dictate my life.” Immediately after this encounter, Joanna sold her motorcycles so that she could spend more time doing safer, more socially accepted things. These include texting while driving, sitting on the couch for hours, drinking large quantities of alcohol, social media addiction, and exploring various levels of anxiety and depression. “It’s good to finally be experiencing life in a way that’s not detrimental to my physical and mental health,” Joanna said.
Every year, Joanna meets up with the man who saved her to thank him for taking a moment out of his perfect life to give unsolicited advice to her.
“It’s thanks to people like him that I now know what true danger looks like,” said Joanna. “Danger is daring to experience joy amongst the joyless.”