It's the State of the Union

Had an interesting and disturbing bicycle lock experience this week. A good customer had locked his bike to a bike rack in front of a popular restaurant in downtown Menlo Park and when it came time to unlock the combo cable, it did not work. The lock somehow reset itself. I was asked to check it out the following day. Rode a bike over to the locked bike and tried to open the lock unsuccessfully. There I was on a busy downtown street corner cutting through a 12mm cable lock. At least 20 people walked right by without saying a word. Even the Menlo Park meter/parking patrol drove by without comment. Cut through the lock in less than 10 seconds ( very disturbing since I was using a minimalistic tool which won't be mentioned ). On the way back to the shop, I was walking the two bikes and I passed the same meter/parking control officer writing a citation for an illegally parked vehicle. Again, I was of no concern. I returned to the shop in a state of dismay. Not only was I able to cut through this substantial lock in no time at all but no one was even the least bit curious as to what I was doing. I now understand why bicycle theft is a billion $ business in the United States. It's the State of the Union.