Detox

Every time I am away from home for several days for work, I feel like I need to go away for detox. Yeah, there are the usual things associated with work travel. Garbage food, long days, very littel excercise, and the general wear and tear. But lately, the main thing I have had to purge from my system is the nastiness of other people around me. As Agent Smith said "I somehow feel infected by it."

Ever feel bad about yourself? Ever feel as though you were rude, impatient, mean, horribly out of shape, dishonest, glutenous, quick-tempered and/or just downright nasty? Do yourself a favor. Go hang out at your local airport for an hour or so. You will probably realize that compared to the general population, you are likely a pretty swell individual. That still doesn't give you the right to be any of the things mentioned above, but we all have our days. Just change your attitude as soon as you realize what is going on.

Want to make somebody's day? On your next trip, be exceedingly nice to every service worker you interact with. Ticket agents, bag screeners, wait staff, hotel staff, shuttle drviers, shoe-shine guy, taxi driver, etc. They may not know how react because they have been beaten down day in and day out. Don't be nice to feel good about yourself and then expect a big smile in return. Do it because it is the right thing to do and because you brought a little ease to that person's day.

Why do I like cross and cycling in general? It's a good bunch of people. That impatient cat 4 waiting for his number getting all huffy because he thinks every person who works a registration table should get a week long training class on how to flip through the BikeReg binder before working an actual race is nothing compared to the dip shit who is screaming at a woman at a National car rental desk demanding a refund and a gift certificate because the A/C in the car he rented didn't get "cold enough." Get over yourself, buddy.