People

I apparently suck at updating lately.  My most recent post was going to be a cooking post entitled "How to Fry Everything" (in honor of the Super Bowl, I made risotto balls and onion rings), but I forgot and I suppose that will have to come later.

My old blog sort of devolved into a series of rants of things that annoyed me, so I would like to revert to that version of me for just a minute.

A memo to the world: If you enter a place of business where there is someone waiting to serve you, GET OFF YOUR CELL PHONE BEFORE ENGAGING THAT PERSON IN CONVERSATION.  As a fellow human, I deserve your full attention when you are ordering.  None of this "Yeah, did you see what she was wearing last night?--Um, excuse me!--Ugh, it was totally awful--I'd like that cupcake and, um, hang on--oh my gosh, I KNOW...--and a half-caff soy latte with no foam" hand me your credit card with nary another word directed to me bullshit.  This happens.  Especially in DC, where everyone is apparently too rich and important to give their full attention to the scum of the earth who are, based on various life decisions, working a service job.  I have made it my policy to pointedly ignore anyone who walks in while yakking on their cell phone until they directly acknowledge me.  If they insist on talking to me while talking to someone else, I respond as loudly as possible.  Just to make sure they hear me.

While we're at it....a memo to all men, especially those who are my father's age: if you see a girl sitting alone in a bar, drinking a beer, wearing ratty clothing, watching a hockey game and constantly checking the door and her phone....she probably doesn't want you to sit next to her.  And then she probably doesn't want you to share your life story with her.  Or talk about hers.  Or have you make comments about how young and hot she is. In fact, she'd probably like to sit there and watch the game and enjoy her beer.  Thanks.

Ugh.

To flip it over completely, few things brighten my day more than cyclists who look like they're really enjoying themselves.  I tend to wear my "intense" face when I'm on a bike, but some people just chug along with a grin.  A man on a hybrid passed on the other side of the Pennsylvania bike lane with such a look this morning.  I smiled back.  There was also a girl on a pink cruiser coasting down Massachusetts--she had something that looked like neon extenders on her rear hubs?  There were too many cars in the way for me to get a good look, but I wonder if that's a tool to force drivers to give you space.  Anyone know what those might have been?

The same orange-hatted hipster who passed me last week was making it a point to ignore every traffic law every while weaving down 15th with a cigarette jammed into his face.  This confuses me.  You wouldn't run while smoking, so why would you smoke on a bike?  Seems sort of counter-productive.  He also wasn't wearing a helmet (not that I should judge or anything), so maybe he was just trying to jeopardize his life as much as humanly possible.  I guess adrenaline rushes can be fun.

Some lady walked directly into my path in the bike lane today.  I saw her coming, so I steered around her.  I opted not to be a douche and yell at her, and instead hoped that passing her closely would startle her and make her more alert in the future.  Maybe that was more douche-y.  I don't know.

Speaking of un-alert folks, I was walking a friend's dog the other day, and he stopped to sniff another dog.  I tried to drag him away since we were blocking the sidewalk, but he's a strong pup and was being pretty insistent.  As the dogs were parting ways, a jogger came by and tripped over him.  She somehow failed to see a 35 pound beagle (and another dog and 2 humans) in her path.  Instead of apologizing for being completely dumb (and perfectly exemplifying what Sharrows refers to as 'zombie joggers') she said "UGH" in a very annoyed tone and continued jogging.  I figured someone needed to apologize, so I yelled "Sorry!" as she ran away.  I wonder if it's not even zombie jogging so much as territorial jogging.  Like--"I AM FASTER THAN YOU SO THIS WHOLE SIDEWALK IS MINE AND YOU HAD BETTER MOVE OUT OF MY EFFING WAY."  Then again, zombies are pretty territorial.

They're calling for a wintry mix tonight...hopefully nothing too icy.  I do love cycling when the weather is in the upper 30s/lower 40s, though...it's really the ideal temperature.  I enjoy springtime and everything, but given that I have horrendous allergies, late winter is where it's at.