Parked my bike outside Equator Coffee by 5th and Market. Locked it and got a seat looking out the window so I could watch it in case someone was trying to steal it. Lo and behold, not 5 minutes after I sat down, a couple guys were standing around it, eyeing it suspiciously. I was trying not to Nextdoor* them, but I started making eye contact, and they were like “is this your bike?”

*racially profile

Turns out the one guy had his bike seat stolen, and it was a black and white Novara seat. My seat is a black and white Novara seat, on a not-Novara bike. It’s probably a $10 seat, that I got from my friends Iris and Jim in Pittsburgh because Jim had taken it off his bike. Then, when I bought my bike, it had a leather saddle, which is cool but doesn’t do well in the rain, so I took it off my bike and put on this Novara seat. So, weird story, and he was convinced I had either stolen his seat or bought it off a guy.

Dude calls cops. Ok, I got nowhere to be, I can wait for the cops. But A. cops are going to take for_ever_ to show up for a small bike part theft (and I don’t blame em, really) and B. how the hell am I even going to prove it’s my seat? I start texting Iris, who can back me up, I guess. I mean, it’s better proof than this guy has.

And like, I don’t even care about this seat! But the cops are called. And his story checks out; he has another bike seat with him; says he was going to put it on my bike, so at least I’ve got a seat. I’m eyeing his extra bike seat, which is also worth about $10, and I’m like “want to just trade?”

So we do. Go down to a local shop, borrow some tools, trade the seats, and we’re all happy. Hell, his new one (plain black) looks better than my old black and white one, on my bike, anyway. I’m pretty sure he’s actually legit, despite my first inclinations with randos on Market St, because if he’s running a scam it’s the weirdest/dumbest scam of all time.

Strange morning. Anyway, counter-story to the typical Market St Rando story: not everyone is a terrible bike thief? Sometimes a guy who has some crazy story about his bike seat is actually telling the truth? I’m not sure what to learn about this, except that I feel like I did a Good Deed, and that feels good?