i’ve had many adventures on my bike. i had another one yesterday. the day shone bright, clear, and cool. i was running a little late, so i decided to bike to work. i slung on my backpack, clicked my helmet into place and walked down a flight of stairs to my waiting bike. i picked up my bike with a morning energy that was somehow surging through my veins. (this is not normal.) i walked down 5 steps.
i fell down the rest.
yes, i was holding my bike. yes, my elbows were drumming down every step. yes, my butt was colliding hard with every step as well. the only reason i stopped falling was that there were no more steps.
self check: i’m not seriously damaged (well, physically anyways.) just bruises and scrapes. the shock wore off. my bike appeared to be in tact, except the chain had slipped off the gear. i spent the next 15 minutes trying to put it back on but the only successful thing i did was get grease all over my hands. i know putting the chain on is supposed to be easy, but easy and i don’t often walk hand in hand. i gave up and trudged back up the stairs. i went to put my backpack on the chair but it fell to the ground due to a broken strap. what IS IT with today?
i washed the majority of the grease off my hands, but failed in fixing the strap to my backpack with safety pins. i switched bags and went for one more try with the bike chain because well, i was late in the first place which is why i decided to ride my bike and now i’m really late, so the same reason still applies. SUCCESS. bike chain on. i think. i hope.
i got to work 6 minutes late. (ok, fine, so my “i’m running late” is different than the average person’s). i realized that despite all my bumps and bruises or maybe because of them, i’ve pushed past the stereotype of a manic monday. and it has become a normal work day. you know, the one where i’m in charge of the entire department because my boss and my only direct coworker are out on vacation.
what stereotype will you break through today?
Abigail Mumford 