Why we're told to never say never

On the afternoon of March 5th 2008 as I was surrounded by 5 stuffed-to-the-brim, over weight suitcases that were ready to load into the car, my dad asked once more: "are you sure you don't want to take my extra poncho?"   "No," I responded as I rolled my eyes in disgust, "I have no more room".  "Besides," I thought, "there's no way I'd be seen dead in something as tacky as a poncho."  And I held true to my word, until a few days after I bought my bike when I found myself in a store, soaking wet, purchasing a dark blue poncho.

Later that year as the weather grew colder I proclaimed to the world to those around me that as soon as the temperatures reached the freezing point, I'd be off my bike and would only go from point A to B by tram, bus or metro.  When the tulips started blooming in the spring I realized that I had biked through the past few months, bitter cold and all.

Then we jump forward to today, January 4th, 2010 when I found myself in another of the ongoing list of "nevers" that I've been racking up for years. Two and a half years prior to this afternoon I was researching my soon-to-be home and came across a photo of bikes piled high with snow, to match the winter white backdrop of the rest of the city. I not only stated, but vowed on my life ... nearly, that I would never, EVER, ride my bike surrounded by a blanket of white or (heaven forbid) while the snow was actually falling!  That scene went through my head multiple times as I rode home crossing partially frozen canals while snowflakes fell on my head and snow crunched under the wheels of my bike.

And now, as I type this, with you dear reader as my witness, I resolve to never say never again!