Hey everyone, as most of you know my name is Chase. I’m from a small farm town about an hour south of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I went to Tatnall school (same as Professor Hunt) and I came here because I like California, I like the USF campus, and Ive always wanted to live in a city with good food and lots of activities. Im 19 and a half years old, and I’m an undeclared liberal arts major, but I hope to be either a marketing major or a sports management major.

Over winter break I started working as a door to door salesman for Cutco, a cutlery company that specializes in kitchen knives. My cousin gave me the job, and basically I go to peoples houses and make them my pitch to buy these knives. Since I live in a farm town, and most people live far away from each other, I had to drive everywhere which took a lot of time and gas, but its different here in San Francisco because everything is relatively close and there is public transportation, as well as bicycles. I am continuing my job in my free time here, with the few people that I know who live out here, and their friends/recommendations. In the meetings I have done so far, I have used public transportation, and have been late to meetings, and lost customers due to this.

The times I was late were when I used the SF MUNI. One time, the bus was 15 minutes late, and a road detour caused me to be half an hour late, and my client had plans for that day so I only had 10 minutes to make my pitch which wasn’t enough. Another time I used Uber to ensure that I would get there on time, because my clients house was 45 minutes away via MUNI. I got there on time, but my client didn’t buy anything and I wasted 20 bucks on the uber ride, as well as another 45 minute bus ride back to the dorm. I think that if I had a bike, I would have arrived on time and for free, which is the best of both worlds.

A bicycle is better than taxis or the MUNI because of many reasons. One of them is kind of a double standard. Biking to a clients house would probably leave me a little sweaty and tired, but I could explain to my client that I biked “all the way across town” to make our “important” meeting. I think most of them would be impressed that I did that just for our meeting, and show that I am a hard working, passionate college student. But, if I found that this approach wasn’t working, I could always bring a second pair of clothes, a towel, and some cologne to clean myself up in a nearby stores bathroom.

Another reason that a bicycle is better than other forms of transportation is that it would allow me to get to know San Francisco better. San Francisco is a city full of nature and beauty, so riding around in it would be amazing, and I would get to know the streets and explore different parts of town.

The last and possibly best reason why a bicycle is better than an uber or the MUNI is that its just good exercise. We’ve all heard of the “freshman 15”, but I haven’t just heard of it, I actually acquired it, not even joking. Im not self-conscious about it or anything, but it would be nice to shed off the extra pounds that the first semester of ordering pizza, late nights out, and sheer laziness gave me.

So I’ve given some good reasons why a bike would be beneficial to my job here, so now Im gonna tell you about the cons. First off, it could get stolen easily, and I would have to constantly be cautious of this and worry about it. If I ever break it or it needs maintenance, that will cost precious money and time that could be used for other things. More importantly, I could get hit by a car, run over by a car, fall only my face, or get into a fight with a fellow cyclist. These are all likely options given my personality, so it might be safer and smarter to take the MUNI.

Ok so now lets play a little game and you guys can guess whether or not I think getting a bike is a better than continuing to take the MUNI or Uber. So who thinks that Ill say having a bike is better? *count hands* And who thinks that Ill think its better to take the MUNI or Uber? Ok, now to see if you were paying attention I want you to tell the main pros and cons of having a bike in my situation, and whichever there are more of, will be the result of the quiz. *Go through game*

So, I think it would be better to have a bike, so hopefully professor will lend me one for the semester or Ill just buy one. Thank you guys for listening, and do you have any questions?

*If yes, answer them.*

*If not, say thank you and sit down. *