A Dollar a Delivery, L I G

I linked over to the NPR story on Bike Messenger'ing in Kabul Afghanistan as reported by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson after looking at the HB(thanks for sharing). Have a listen by clicking, it is worth it. The 5 minute audio is quite interesting and caused me to form a mental list of the positives and negatives of having the coolest job in the world in Afghanistan, a country location that Time Magazine dubbed "The Right War". Here are a few:


Positives
-1 dollar a job is the bill rate, the courier gets 50 cents or like 40'ish rupees
-no jackass bucket heads running around in Lexus SUV's on their way to the Toon to deal with
-the Panthers never play in Kabul Stadium
-the local coffee house gives hook ups to the messenger brethren(which could be also a negative because the cafe is usually a target for IED's and suicide bombers)
-no Speed Week NASCAR hoopla in Afghanistan, yet anyways
-security is way more relaxed
-there are plenty of dirt roads in the city!
-real mountains are close by
-US Military Troops usually have Marlboro Reds
-as the man said he would rather die than to beg
-late thought-the winters would be real!


Negatives
-1 dollar a job is the bill rate, the courier gets 50 cents or like 40'ish rupees
-An explosion from either the good guys or the bad guys(which I think are the same) could cause unnecessary flat tires or end life without warning
-the potholes from falling ordinance create obstacles that can break bikes in half
-the bike shops don't carry Trek
-it is very hard to come by an Aerospoke wheel
-because of the constant perpetual curfew no post work Alley Cats every really manifest
-you may see any of your co-workers at any second get blown up