"the stupid often don't realize they are, in fact, stupid"
My wifey calls exactly this "the hamster theory",
as in:
a hamster doesn't know it's a hamster "People up here seem to instinctively know you don't
sit on someone's motorcycle without permission, ever".
Yeah, that should be the case in every corner
of the world, sadly respect & common sense
is an artform long lost and forgotten by many.
Still, I think it depends a lot on the situation,
and it's very true that kids don't know any
better and can simply cannot resist the
temptation of hopping on a parked bike.
I'm guessing a lot of us started exactly
that way, maybe sneaking into someones
garage (uncle, cousin, familyfriend, etc)
on any given sunday and dream-riding
on a
real motorcycle complete with
real controls, pegs, mud and that addictive
smell of mixed dirt and gasoline, hell I know
that that is what got me hooked when I was 6.
Now let's also face the fact that maybe 90%*
of male adults are still dumb children on the
inside and resistance to beer, chocolate, t&a
and motorcycles is futile, so can you really
blame anyone at all?
* The other 10% are just plain bitter folks or
fear them cause someone they know killed them-
selves on a motorcycle (as if it's the bikes fault).
So always leave your bike in gear and go ahead,
make the little bastards day and let'em hop on
and dream for 2 minutes, if it's an adult greet the
smuck and try to coax him into buying a savage,
either way there's usually no harm done and it's
not like it's a classic vincent or anything