By James Durand
I’m sure you’ve all been there at some point. In a situation where you get out of line, or you say something at the wrong time, or maybe you have a rogue nose hair you never noticed before you left the house.
You’d never know if you didn’t have that one good friend to say something like, ‘Hey, you’re being ignorant,” or “Dude, use your filter,” or “That nose hair makes you look like a party favour, give that thing a trim.”
You can’t get mad at your friend for speaking up, because they’re looking out for your best interest and you know full well, they’d want you to do the same for them.
Sometimes nothing even needs to be said, if you’re close enough friends, just a look gets the message across and you’re reminded to stand up and do the right thing, even though you may not want to.
Last Tuesday was a tough day. I wrangled the kids out of bed, scrambled around as they got ready, and then walked them to the bus. I took the dog around the block and headed to work. Work was fairly busy, but I had to leave early and pick up my daughter so I could run her around to activities, then race back to work, pack up for the Tuesday night Swicked ride, then race even faster to get home for dinner and still have time to make the ride. I was feeling frantic.
When I got home, my multi tasking skills were once again shown to be very weak. I had forgotten a bunch of stuff for the ride and instead of riding to the ride, I was now improvising with whatever gear I could find around the garage and driving up the hill.
As I got closer to the ride location, the snow was getting thicker and thicker. “This is going to suck,” I said out loud. “At least no one will show up and I can go home and rest.”
I parked in the lot, and waited, hoping no one would arrive in this crazy weather.
A few people pulled in beside me and from the comfort of my warm truck, I started convincing them we should go grab a beer instead of riding. They seemed OK with that plan too.
Then my buddies Chris and Jordan rode into the parking lot, looking keen. I suggested a beer and they both stared at me with that confused look a dog uses when watching TV. Nothing needed to be said out loud, I stepped out of my truck, brushed the snow off of my bike, and got ready to ride.
Within minutes I realized the snow was perfectly crunchy and the ride was going to be one of those unique adventures that turn out better than you could ever imagine.
We had a blast cruising around the Beaver Lodge Lands and I was honestly bummed when the ride ended. I wished we could have squeezed in another hour.
So remember, when your friend is being kind of lame, that’s when they need you most. Set them straight, keep them honest, and push them a little, they’ll be grateful for it.
Thank you Tuesday Night Crew for getting me moving.
I’m James Durand and I’m Goin’ Ridin’…