Friday, October 06, 2006

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.

6 Comments:

At 10:40 AM, Blogger Nancy Toby said...

Hey, ATHENAS ROCK!!!!!!!!!! Don't you forget it!!!!

But yeah, it's hard to find decent gear that fits when XL is equal to about a size 4 in some clothing lines....

 
At 11:14 AM, Blogger Bolder said...

never judge a book by its cover.

i keep getting taught that at masters class every week...

 
At 1:32 PM, Blogger The Big Cheese said...

That womans a MAN! BABY!

 
At 2:47 PM, Blogger Comm's said...

Hope you all realize(d) that my modest description about Athena+++, is not only a "don't judge a book by its cover" but learn from the books you wouldn't normally read.

 
At 3:04 PM, Blogger JasonWomack said...

Comm,

Ok, this was so good for me to read today. Just this morning, I presented a teleseminar on "Fall is falling..." The idea that as the season changes, different things need to be set up to maximize our success.

Where this connects is in the ideas we hold in our heads. Yes, it's true, we do make decisions pretty quickly. (One mentor told me that on stage, the audience will decide whether or not to listen to me based on the first 2 seconds they see. No, not the first 200 words they hear, the first 2 seconds they see!)

I thank you for this very real, very important reminder. Great job, great writing, and great awareness.

 
At 3:15 PM, Blogger Steven said...

You crack me up, Commodore!

And remember it's the queit ones you've got to watch for.

 

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