rid in any way.
I read this comment elsewhere and it made me remember how often people
I meet say:
"oh you're a runner? I have a good friend that's training for (or
'ran') such and such a race."
(feel free to substitute runner with triathlete, swimmer etc. And the
race with any other race of your choosing of any distance)
I always want to say something like: "why did you just tell me that?
It really is completely useless information to tell me that some
friend you have did or is doing something" or maybe "why are you
living vicariously through your friend? Get out there and go do it!"
But instead, I politely say: "that's cool" or "interesting"; and then
we stare at each other till the next comment he/she has.
11 comments:
Generally I usually say it as I see it. I probably would have said the rude thing! What drives me crazy, is people with really, really low goals and no attempt to improve upon a previous effort - and then insist on lining up in front of me at a race so I have to fight my way around them. People who look at me and say their legs are too short or something stupid like that. Leg length ain't got nothing to do with it.
My favorite is when some total ignoramus asks you "so how long is this marathon?" Really?? As if it's a different distance than any other 26.2 marathon in the world???
That bugs me, too. Other than staring at each other like you've mentioned, I've found a couple of good segways that work well to continue the conversation...
...'oh I hear that is a great race. That sounds like a fun city to visit. (if it is an out of town city) What do people like to do when they're not running and visit xxx place?'
...'that's great! Were you able to go watch them run (or are you going to go watch them run)? Watching races is so much more fun than running them sometimes. It's pretty inspirational'...(see where that takes you)
The second response can sometimes make people squirm, but it is close to the 'living vicariously through your friend' comment that you really want to make. :)
Any time the subject of running comes up in the office, a very annoying lady there feels compelled to let me know that her daughter and a friend started running and trained for a marathon in the 1990s. (She's told me this countless times but I guess she forgets.)
However, she clarifies that her daughter and friend "did it right" - bought a book, and followed the diet and training religiously.
She said that they finished and hated it and neither will ever run again.
I usually tell her that some day maybe I will "do it right" and buy a book.
My favorite these days is a person in the office that I motivated to start running. She's super nice and sweet, but I keep forgetting she's new. She just recently told me she bought a new pair of running shoes at Academy... uh... I just smiled and said, "Good job!"
You could probably go back a step in the conversation and have them respond to you telling them you are a runner with them saying 'why did you just tell me that, I don't care?'. Them saying 'I've got a friend who does that' is the equivalent of the 'cool' or 'interesting'.
They don't care if you run or not. So stop telling them.
Today's comment brought to you through the captua word tingsly
cf http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/26/27-marathons/
Darn! I heard there were some interesting comments I should read with this post, but it seems they have been deleted!!!
I think when you mention that you run, the other person is simply trying to relate to you & share your interests in some way when they say their friend/family member/etc. has also run or is training. I think it's actually a compliment - that the other person feels the need to find the closest way to be a part of it as well. Not everyone has the willpower, strength, ability to run at your level, and the fact that there is some envy there, I think, is kind of cool.
Naah, you've been misinformed... Nothing more out d the ordinary than your comment. Guess some people are born sensationalists, and other are born with 6 toes. To each his own.
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