When her husband informed her one night that he was looking to buy her a scooter, nail tech Rita Moore [second from right] asked, why? She’d seen a couple of her friends happily riding around town astride their new scooters, but, she told him, she had absolutely no intention of riding one herself. Her husband countered that their town — population 7,000 — was perfect for a scooter. And besides, he said, it would be fun.

Turns out hubby was right. Soon after that conversation she purchased a Honda Metropolitan II scooter and, says Moore, “It changed my life. I never thought I could have so much fun.” Two days later, her husband came home with a Honda Ruckus — sometimes called “the Man Scooter” — for himself. “We can’t get enough of riding around town. Sometimes it feels like we are on vacation in the islands,” says Moore, a nail tech at Shear Paradise in Clinton, Ill.

“The scooter’s 49cc engine keeps the maximum speed under 30 m.p.h, which means a motorcycle license and helmet aren’t required in our state,” explains Moore. “And they get 100 miles to the gallon!”

She is an enthusiastic member of the “Scooter Girls,” a group of five women who meet on Saturday mornings for coffee and the occasional rummage sale. “We joke about being in the Christmas parade, but we haven’t submitted our application for that — yet.”

Despite the fact that she lives a short walk from the salon, she’s glad for the opportunity to scoot to work. “I just want to ride my scooter everywhere I go. I look for every excuse to run an errand during my breaks, and can’t wait to get off work to go for a scoot about town,” she says.

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