SHE'S RUNNING IN EVERY STATE!
It was a short ride, but very inspiring. The 64-year-old woman from Minnesota was in town to run a half marathon. She said, "It takes me 2 l/2-3 hours to complete the 13.2 miles". She is running six more in the next three months with the last one being in Hawaii. Her goal, along with her brother and a friend, was to run a half marathon in every state and they will be celebrating in Hawaii when they complete that one. She will have accomplished this goal in about two years time. She retired last year after a long career in social services. I didn't have time to ask her what her next goal is, but I'm sure it will be something special.
THE INDESPENSABLE GUY
When he got in the car I asked him, "What kind of work do you do?" He replied, "I do all the things that no one else wants to do." Just out of the Army, he came to South Carolina without a place to live. When he interviewed he told me, "I didn't take no for an answer." He works in a restaurant and one day asked his manager if he could do something not in his job description. He did it so well, she has let him do many other things and he's basically turning the restaurant upside down. He told me, "They had never done inventory." Another very short ride, but you could tell that the organization and structure that he learned in the Army has already helped him in his next career. If he keeps this up, maybe one day he'll own the restaurant.
THE FOOTBALL COACH
My conversation with him began when he told me he lived in Dallas. I asked, "Does that make you a Cowboy fan?" He answered, "No, I don't root for them, but if they played against ISIS, I would." It was a funny and odd comment and then I found out he is the head football coach in The United States Football League. (USFL) Although it is not affiliated with the NFL, it is a place that teams can see other players perform at a higher level than college. His team, The Philadelphia Stars, lost the Championship Game this past year. He's had a number of conversations with Cowboy Owner, Jerry Jones, and some significant disagreements too. This is one reason he is not a fan of the Cowboys. Not realizing he used to play quarterback and he has coached some very good ones, I asked him, "Who is the best quarterback of all-time?" I was not surprised when he answered, "Tom Brady." He also told me that he was an Assistant Coach with the Tennessee Titans and was on the sidelines when Tennessee won the game in what is referred to as, "The Music City Miracle." He was talking to his quarterback, Steve McNair, with his back to the game, when suddenly, "He just jumped up and started running down the sideline," when the game was won. It was very enjoyable to talk football with an expert who has had a long career in it.
THE OUTGOING LIBRARIAN
My ride of the day had to be the woman visiting from Chicago who was absolutely delightful to talk with. She had a vivacious personality and a great laugh and I could not believe it when she told me, "I'm the kind of librarian that my kids say to me, "shhhhhh." She did say that, "There are a lot of outgoing librarians," but, I can't imagine there are any who are more outgoing than her. She's been a librarian for over twenty years. She was dishing out so many funny lines and we were getting along so well, I suggested, "We should do a podcast together and call it "Ebony and Ivory." It was not difficult to get her laughing again and I told her I wish had a little recorder to tape her laugh.
Some of her interesting and amusing comments were these: Growing up in LA, she said, "You know mobility is a big issue there, so when you turn five they give you a car." I suggested she would be a terrific Uber driver, but she said, "I hate to drive, but if there was a job I looking out the window at things, I love doing that." She said she could teach diversity at companies, "Just pay me the money spent on it and I would go in and play the video of, "Walk This Way" by RUN DMC and Aerosmith." She looked at the signs in my car and said, "You would make a good librarian, we love to make signs." She also added, "You should get a Pulitzer Prize," before I told her I had a blog or was writing a book." She did admit that she could do a talk show and she made our ride together a real joy.
MS. DOWNTOWN CHARLESTON
I have told many riders and other people that woman absolutely love downtown Charleston, even saying that they have, "a torrid love affair with it." It's not an exaggeration with 70% of The College of Charleston being women and constant bachelorette parties, girls weekends and of course weddings downtown. However, this may be the best example of how much women LOVE downtown Charleston:
My two riders are Sunday morning, October 30th, were from Staten Island New York, a place that I know very well. The mother and daughter were going to spend the next three days in town and I first started talking about Staten Island since I used to visit high schools (and my wife), for work many years ago representing a business school and talking about careers. The daughter, a hair stylist in her 20's, was making her second trip to Charleston.
Her first trip to Charleston was on Thursday, October, 20th, ten days earlier, for a baccalaureate party. After a couple days, she loved it so much that had her boyfriend come down and spend that Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday with her in downtown Charleston. She left with him on Tuesday, October 25th, and five days later, she was back again with her mom.
She told me, "I loved King street." Clearly, the shopping and the "vibe" of town was so amazing that she convinced her mom to visit and she wanted to enjoy it with her. We had a lot of laughs as I tried to make sure I understood that she really was making a second trip back in the same week! Hall's Chophouse, which is only one of the amazing restaurants in town, sent her a thank you e-mail or letter for visiting them-something I had never heard a restaurant doing. She was there twice last visit and had reservations to go there with her mom this week. We did discuss that when the time comes she will probably have her baccalaureate party in downtown Charleston, but she added, "I'm thinking about my wedding." I'll be looking for her...soon.
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