S'cuse Me?

I am pretty vocal proponent of triathlon. Gee you think? (Still wondering if sarcasism translates to blogging). I make no bones about being a triahtlete and trying to bring people into the sport and helping them get tied into positive groups. I perfer they all join AZTRICLUB and shop at the TRIBE, but nevertheless anything I can do.

I as I have done many times, I buy a cup of coffee and drink it at Tribe while jawjacking with Kevin the owner and the two mechanics and if their busy with bike work I will work with customers on clothing and retail items.

I was sitting on a barstool at the counter one day, with my coffee, and talking with a woman browsing the clothes rack, lets call her Athena+++. She was very unassuming and just flipping through clothes, you would think she had never done a triathlon in her life. She acted just like any person without much enthusiasm for what she was doing. She was looking the women's tops and such and had asked me for some advice;

Me: "The Louis Garnaeu stuff comes in European sizes which run fairly small. The Ironman brand is a good choice and Zoot also has a looser cut."

A+++:"I usually wear men's bike jerseys since they run fairly large and then run in technical tops. I wanted to get a XXl finishers jersey after Ironman Arizona but the expo was sold out the day after....."

CRASH. BANG. A MAN SCREAMS LIKE A LITTLE GIRL.

A+++: "Oh my Lord, are you okay? How did that chair fall out from under you like that? Oh goodness you burned your arm and ruined your shirt when coffee spilled all over you..."

Me: (Quite shaken): You...you did Arizona. (More a statement than question)

A+++: "Yes. I took every minute I could on the course but I finished."

Me: "HEY KEV, ADD A SHIRT TO MY ACCOUNT I RUINED ANOTHER ONE...

Kevin: "GOT IT. STOP SPILLING COFFEE ON YOURSELF TOOL."

Me: "... Ma'am you and I need to talk, can I buy you a cup of coffee..."

What ensued was a great converstion with a delightful woman. The reason I go into detail on just this one exchange is that I am completely overwhelmed by the ambivalence of some people who have finished Ironman or trainnig for Ironman. Its just a 'ho hum' conversation to them.

You don't understand, I vibrate when I talk about triathlon and reach maximum orbit when it comes to Ironman. I think Simply Stu and I could fuel a rocket to Mars if you bottled our enthusiasm for the sport. So it blows me away when I get blaise responses to my rapid fire questions.

But it does make for some humorous interactions.