18. Do many messengers do it as a career? How long do most messengers do it?

1. Hermes:
" After someone starts messengering they will quickly find out if they're cut out for it. Hence probably MOST people who start quit after 3 or 4 weeks. If they make it past 3 months or so, they will probably be at it for a few years. Very few messengers are 'career' messengers. Most find that messengering is something they only want to, and CAN do for a short period of time, say 3-4 years. There are a few that have been messengering 20 or more years. They are scary people. In my personal experience it is the quality of the messenger community and the financial viability of messengering that are the deciding factors that determine how long a messenger will last. If their city has a BMA, and/or a messenger scene that they're active in, then they will tend to continue messengering for years. Also if a messenger is making enough money to save up to actually (heaven forbid) go on a holiday, and relax periodically, they will tend to remain a messenger longer."

2. TONE:
"Most would-be/wanna-be messengers find out how long they will be a messenger for after the end of their second week of work when they get their first check. Some people don't even bother coming to pick up their second checks. I've even heard numerous stories of rookie messengers disappearing by lunchtime on their first day of work. Seriously in the beginning it REALLY sucks. Dispatchers treat you like shit and don't respect you because they don't know how good you might be or even if you are going to last. After a month to three months when you prove yourself then you start to fit in and get the mint runs, that is of course if you are any good. Also if you have been a messenger in another city or another company (Don't brag!) you will come off as hopefully being professional and after a few short test runs your dispatcher will know how good you really are and you'll start fitting in faster. There are a number of messengers who do it long term. By long term I mean more than five years. So many people move on to other things. If they don't then they sometimes become dispatchers, drivers, or start up their own companies. Only a small handful of bikers will actually stay on a bike for twenty years plus. Those are the vets and they get mad props from all the messengers, but like Hermes said.. some of them are a bit loose in the noodle. Personally I have worked full time as a messenger since the summer of '97 for about three to four years. Before that I was a messenger for the two summers while in school. I have always ridden a bike in New York though, and I still keep a strong connection to the messenger community. I keep telling myself I will stop messengering by such and such time, but find myself still immersed in it. I know one thing.. no matter what I do I will always ride and know I have a place where I can fit in... even if it means a tight fit against a taxi and a bus with my shoulder sliding along the bus. At least I will be happy. Do you consider it a career? I guess I look at it as a lifestyle."