Last week on my way to the cafeteria I was irritated by the guy in front of me. He was pokey and I had a meeting. First he couldn’t figure out which tray to take, then he couldn’t pull the fork out of the bin. I wished he’d hurry up or get out of the way.
I fetched my usual eggs, bacon, fruit, milk and went to the cashier. She had a nose ring and some brilliant tattoos. Her look was way unusual for my conservative organization. I call her “Super Freak” for the rest of this post.

My mood immediately shifted with Super Freak. We started to banter back and forth. There was some brief discussion about cycling. It turns out she commutes to work. Suddenly, I became the jerk in a suit holding back the line.
My total came to $4.03. I had only a $10 bill. The line of suits behind me started to get restless as she reached in her pocket searching for 3 pennies. I told her not necessary but she insisted, “3 pennies is nothing, dude.” She completely changed my perspective and made my day.
Last week, Darryl @lovingthebike posted the blog “I need a Hero.” I didn’t have an answer for his post last week and I’m still not sure I have a hero, but people like Super Freak are probably the closest thing.
We need more people outside the control limits.
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*Mr. @lovingthebike is the kindest dude on twitter and writes some brilliant cycling posts. He’ll make you think about issues surrounding the bike… culture, art, family, etc. You can chat with professor @lovingthebike tonight at #bikeschool – he’s moderating.