A bicycle messenger delivers reels 
of film for processing. Indispensable 
to such time-conscious industries as 
film, advertising, and publishing, 
messengers must learn to cope with 
clients ’ anger over late delivery. 
messenger company. It is one of the few 
companies that are highly regarded by 
messengers. Hank treats his riders well, 
and although he frequently complains, 
he tolerates their eccentric or even er- 
ratic behavior, largely because he iden- 
tifies with it. Andy is less tolerant of the 
nonconformism. His frustration results 
from his attempt, while working at an- 
other messenger company several years 
ago, to organize a union. He concluded 
that messengers have an almost reli- 
gious devotion to their independence: 
I became convinced that if you told four bi- 
cycle messengers that they would each get a 
thousand dollars if all four of them showed 
up at a particular street comer at a particu- 
lar hour, thereby producing a community 
experience, you could be damn sure that 
they wouldn't be able to do it. That they 
would not do it. 
Sometimes messengers have left for- 
mer careers for reasons other than per- 
sonality conflict. Donald, a 41 -year-old 
messenger, is able to support his wife 
and 15-year-old son on his earnings. 
Donald was a film processor, but aban- 
doned his profession because, as a Jeho- 
vah’s Witness, he could not condone 
the role he played in producing porno- 
graphic material. As a messenger, not 
only does he feel his conscience is clear 
but he can also leave work at his own 
discretion to devote more time to pros- 
elytizing for his creed. 
Messengers relish their indepen- 
dence: “You basically don’t have to 
answer to anyone.” One former mes- 
senger, who now works as a graphic 
artist for a small publishing company, 
misses her previous life style: “When I 
go down the street, I’m jealous of the 
messengers. It’s really a lot of free- 
dom.” 
Although taxi driving is a common 
occupation of many New Yorkers who 
are unable to find work in their fields, 
bicycle messengers find the idea repug- 
nant. They dread the loss of freedom 
and maneuverability. They take special 
delight in their ability to weave in and 
out of traffic, ride the wrong way down 
one-way streets, and cut through the 
bottlenecks that regularly stall mid- 
town traffic. Bill, a former doctoral stu- 
dent in experimental psychology, com- 
pares the skills for messengering to 
those needed for slalom skiing: 
There are a lot of things involved in mov ing 
quickly and watching the road surface and 
watching cars and avoiding cars. Of course, 
you have to react to all these things as soon 
as they happen, as quickly as possible. And 
that involves timing and slowing down and 
braking and so forth. And cadence, of 
course, that’s very important. And you’re 
reacting to the traffic — you have to look 
ahead and kind of predict where openings 
are going to be and where are the best places 
to go. 
Traffic is not the only challenge mes- 
sengers must face. Bicycle messengers 
are usually given several runs at a time. 
Although the dispatcher tries to assign 
runs that are relatively close to one an- 
other, the messenger must decide the 
best pickup-and-delivery sequence, cal- 
culating the seemingly illogical system 
of avenue addresses. Messengers have 
to think ahead and plan the fastest pos- 
sible route through the maze of one- 
way streets. If a package is delivered 
late, it is the messenger who receives 
the brunt of the client’s and the dis- 
patcher’s wrath. 
There is also skill involved in main- 
taining the bicycle. Messengers consid- 
er their bicycles to be tools, and many 
devote time and effort to drying them 
after a rainstorm, cleaning off excess 
grease, and overhauling moving parts. 
Some have an almost spiritual relation- 
ship with their bicycles. 
In the course of my work I saw doz- 
ens of messengers on track bikes: ex- 
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