Every Runday my alarm goes off before the city is awake. I always lay in bed for about a minute and wonder if I should just sleep in. I can run later. I don't need to go get my ass kicked on a level 10 hill. I don't need to train this hard. I'm not really training for anything. Sleep is an important element of training.
And most Rundays, I tell the inner voice of sense and reason to STFU. I roll out of bed and go. I have run in sleet, rain, and bitterly cold conditions; I ran up hills that made me want to cry.
But I ran.
On Rundays I run because I want to, no one is making me, except me.
I have nothing to prove, I'm not training for anything. I do this for fun, and because, even though they don't know me, I like running with Those People I Don't Know.
Except there was a moment this week when I didn't like Those People. Recently, for the first time since joining Those People I Don't Know at Rogue, I had someone try to belittle my efforts.
Silly boy. Don't you know who I am?
I'm charming...
The man in question reminded me of Draco Malfoy. Essentially he represented everything that Harry Potter and Q and Coach Black are not.
He was an arrogant snob. He acted though the fact I have not qualified for Boston made me less of a runner than him. Gosh, what would he have said if I'd admitted my marathon PR is a 4:09? He. might. have. died.
This attractive man sat beside me at a table with his back to me, talking pointedly to everyone except me. The deep frown etched into his face was only lifted when it was replaced by an unnatural smile for a camera. When he could not avoid speaking directly to me, he coated every word with disdain and thinly veiled sarcasm. At some point I realized he was judging me.
Shortly after that I thought, "and he clearly thinks I'm not bright". How fascinating.
Additionally, he made it clear that as one of the "Dead Ass Last" crew, I was unworthy of his time and attention.
I confess: There was a nanosecond where his low opinion of me hurt my feelings. I thought, If I was only (better, a BQ, skinnier, taller, nicer, prettier, more charming...) then he would (like me, respect me, acknowledge me, at least be civil to me).
And then I looked into his unhappy dead eyes and thought, I'm enough. His bad behavior shows far more about him and his lack of (grace, manners, happiness) than it does about me and my lack of (nothing).
Isn't the first rule we teach our children in life is to treat others with respect? How did he miss that one growing up?
Because let's get real, if I was any smarter, better, nicer, or more charming, the world would not be able to handle it. As it is, I am intimidating as all hell.
Draco Malfoy may be an exceptionally gifted wizard who runs a blistering fast marathon and all that rot, but he's an unhappy small man who is missing out on the things life has to offer. My innate happiness must irritate the piss out of him.
I laugh when I get high, and I get high when I run. I smile freely, and I am gracious to those in the Back to Last crew who come back for me when I am Dead Ass Last. I work hard to be better for my own personal satisfaction. I couldn't care less about Draco Malfoy's opinion of me.
I am enough.
~ Respect ~
Showing posts with label anger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anger. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
People are upset about the wrong things
In 2006 the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, Mike Jeffries, made some inflammatory statements about who should be wearing the "exclusive" clothes his company sells. I find this interesting in part because by "exclusive" he meant, "sold in every single mall around the globe".
For whatever reason, these statements have recently hit the news again.
People are upset about this.
Then, Business Insider reported that Abercrombie refuses to make large-sized clothing.
People are really upset about this.
My take on it is that it's Abercrombie's prerogative... If you design the clothes, market, label and sell the clothes, you get to pick the sizes. And, after all, as one blogger pointed out, "if Abercrombie chooses not to make large sizes, this means that 60% of Americans are excluded from shopping in their stores". Simple math: Eventually they'll have to sell larger clothing or go out of business.
Upon reading that I thought, 60%? What? No way. That seems insane. A quick trip to the CDC website should clear this right up.
My stomach flipped as I read the stats. Sixty percent is just about right.
That's when I realized:
People are upset about the wrong thing.
According to the CDC, more than one-third of U.S. adults are obese. The official 2010 number is 35.7%. This number encompasses "over the age of 20".
I can see how once an individual reaches adulthood obese, or reaches obesity by the numbers in adulthood that getting the weight off would be a real challenge. I mean, I couldn't shed the weight stuck to me, so I called in some big guns when I saw a Physician, an OB/GYN, and eventually a Dietitian, and I'm only trying to knock back a total of 14.7 pounds. It's 10% of my body weight though.
What would it be like to be trying to lose half my body weight? So I'll give some lee way on this whole statistic. Once obese, hard to repair.
But.
Obesity should be preventible. Right?
Well, in theory, it is.
The statistic that made my stomach clench and a wave of nausea roll over me was also found on the CDC site. "The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2010. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to 18% over the same period". CDC
6 year olds? Seriously? I have one of those.
11... I have one of those also.
And, wait, adolescents? Isn't that the Abercrombie market?
In 2003 data was collected on high school students obesity rates. The data is scattered, because they were targeting 'at risk' populations.
By 2011 the data is less scattered. I would guess this is because by now the "at risk" population has been expanded to include more schools.
So, after looking here at this very simplified data I have to wonder, why are people upset that Abercrombie & Fitch is going to go out of business? Why aren't we panicked about the fate of our children? Or our children's peers? It's mind numbing to me.
People are upset about the wrong thing.
Now, that's not to say people aren't upset about the growing size of Americans. I see things about it all the time.
"The government should DO something!" people shout in outraged articles and blog posts that pepper the Internet.
No.
No people.
Sorry for sharing my opinion if it offends you, but NO!
It's NOT the government's responsibility. I would personally love if the government stepped out of food politics. ALL food politics. The government is already elbow deep in policy that is harmful to the American Food "system". And yes, I found something accessible to back that statement. (an article in a little known publication called The Wall Street Journal).
When people lay the responsibility at The Government's feet, they remove their own accountability. Furthermore, they lose their sense of empowerment to adopt lifestyle changes that will positively affect their health. They blame school lunches instead of their McLifestyle.
I know, I know.
Mind my own business. Raise my children. Feed them as I choose too. Hell, give them cake for breakfast, let them top their own salads. It's my choice. and let people be upset about Abercrombie's business forecast as much as they want. At this point, I think it's pretty obvious though...
People are upset about the wrong thing.
For whatever reason, these statements have recently hit the news again.
People are upset about this.
Then, Business Insider reported that Abercrombie refuses to make large-sized clothing.
People are really upset about this.
My take on it is that it's Abercrombie's prerogative... If you design the clothes, market, label and sell the clothes, you get to pick the sizes. And, after all, as one blogger pointed out, "if Abercrombie chooses not to make large sizes, this means that 60% of Americans are excluded from shopping in their stores". Simple math: Eventually they'll have to sell larger clothing or go out of business.
Upon reading that I thought, 60%? What? No way. That seems insane. A quick trip to the CDC website should clear this right up.
My stomach flipped as I read the stats. Sixty percent is just about right.
That's when I realized:
People are upset about the wrong thing.
According to the CDC, more than one-third of U.S. adults are obese. The official 2010 number is 35.7%. This number encompasses "over the age of 20".
I can see how once an individual reaches adulthood obese, or reaches obesity by the numbers in adulthood that getting the weight off would be a real challenge. I mean, I couldn't shed the weight stuck to me, so I called in some big guns when I saw a Physician, an OB/GYN, and eventually a Dietitian, and I'm only trying to knock back a total of 14.7 pounds. It's 10% of my body weight though.
What would it be like to be trying to lose half my body weight? So I'll give some lee way on this whole statistic. Once obese, hard to repair.
But.
Obesity should be preventible. Right?
Well, in theory, it is.
The statistic that made my stomach clench and a wave of nausea roll over me was also found on the CDC site. "The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2010. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to 18% over the same period". CDC
6 year olds? Seriously? I have one of those.
11... I have one of those also.
And, wait, adolescents? Isn't that the Abercrombie market?
In 2003 data was collected on high school students obesity rates. The data is scattered, because they were targeting 'at risk' populations.
By 2011 the data is less scattered. I would guess this is because by now the "at risk" population has been expanded to include more schools.
So, after looking here at this very simplified data I have to wonder, why are people upset that Abercrombie & Fitch is going to go out of business? Why aren't we panicked about the fate of our children? Or our children's peers? It's mind numbing to me.
People are upset about the wrong thing.
Now, that's not to say people aren't upset about the growing size of Americans. I see things about it all the time.
"The government should DO something!" people shout in outraged articles and blog posts that pepper the Internet.
No.
No people.
Sorry for sharing my opinion if it offends you, but NO!
It's NOT the government's responsibility. I would personally love if the government stepped out of food politics. ALL food politics. The government is already elbow deep in policy that is harmful to the American Food "system". And yes, I found something accessible to back that statement. (an article in a little known publication called The Wall Street Journal).
When people lay the responsibility at The Government's feet, they remove their own accountability. Furthermore, they lose their sense of empowerment to adopt lifestyle changes that will positively affect their health. They blame school lunches instead of their McLifestyle.
I know, I know.
Mind my own business. Raise my children. Feed them as I choose too. Hell, give them cake for breakfast, let them top their own salads. It's my choice. and let people be upset about Abercrombie's business forecast as much as they want. At this point, I think it's pretty obvious though...
People are upset about the wrong thing.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Angry Drivers Need Not Apply
Dear Honda Civic Owner with the Anger Management Issues,
On Saturday when you chose not to move into an empty lane on a 4 lane road so you could run me off the road, you exposed yourself as an a**h***.
I'm particularly sorry that your life is so small that you felt you had to pull a U-Turn and drive parallel to me while screaming obscenities as I was running. I was 2 inches off the white line.
Your expressed desire to see me dead was rather interesting to me.
I wonder if maybe it didn't occur to you that 1) If you hit me and don't kill me, I will own your fecking Honda Civic. 2) If you hit me and kill me, I have a father who will ensure that my children own your fecking Honda Civic. 3) You will probably lose your license and your job if you kill a pedestrian when she is so clearly NOT occupying the travel lane. 4) If you have so much anger in your life that you need to almost wreck your car so you can yell at a 136 lbs 5'2 female runner, I implore you to go get a therapist. I will pray dearly that the therapist recommends running as a stress release.
About an hour after our exchange, the sidewalks melted enough that I was able to run on them instead of on the 2 inches of road you so desperately needed for your compact car.
Regards,
The Future Owner of YOUR Honda Civic
On Saturday when you chose not to move into an empty lane on a 4 lane road so you could run me off the road, you exposed yourself as an a**h***.I'm particularly sorry that your life is so small that you felt you had to pull a U-Turn and drive parallel to me while screaming obscenities as I was running. I was 2 inches off the white line.
Your expressed desire to see me dead was rather interesting to me.
I wonder if maybe it didn't occur to you that 1) If you hit me and don't kill me, I will own your fecking Honda Civic. 2) If you hit me and kill me, I have a father who will ensure that my children own your fecking Honda Civic. 3) You will probably lose your license and your job if you kill a pedestrian when she is so clearly NOT occupying the travel lane. 4) If you have so much anger in your life that you need to almost wreck your car so you can yell at a 136 lbs 5'2 female runner, I implore you to go get a therapist. I will pray dearly that the therapist recommends running as a stress release.
About an hour after our exchange, the sidewalks melted enough that I was able to run on them instead of on the 2 inches of road you so desperately needed for your compact car.
Regards,
The Future Owner of YOUR Honda Civic
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