Hello all!
My first day jogging/walking in armor around town was a success! I went a mile on my first round - I am happy with this considering the extra weight. Granted, it consisted mostly of walking with little jogging spurts in between (this stuff is heavy!), but hey, I am still proud of myself (yay!).
So here are the interesting things that happened....
(Before I begin it should be known that I left my signs at work and threw together one in marker that I taped to my back plate only.)
While crossing the first street I waved to an SUV at the stoplight who must have thought I was crazy, but I was somewhat satisfied by this. I tried not to look at all the vehicles passing. This was just another day in my town. No big deal. I was wearing armor, but I am used to wearing armor...even if not around town... Did I mention I was doing this on a busy street?
I had a family yell at me from across the street asking what my sign said (it just had a couple of url's). When I yelled back it was for a fundraiser they all let out a resounding, Oooohh.
The most dangerous part was not, in fact, for me. I was coming up to this elderly gentleman busily mowing his lawn with those sound blocking headphones on. He was mowing right next to and over the sidewalk I was about the pass, completely oblivious to my presence. Afraid I was going to give the poor man a heart attack if he did not see me until I was right next to him, I tried to get into his field of vision. That didn't work. He still had no idea I was there. So as I passed a few inches from him and he looked up, I gave him a big, friendly smile and waved. He didn't spare me more than a few seconds glance, bless his heart. Imagine his thoughts went something like, crazy college kids. When I passed him again on the way back, he did not even look up lol.
A few people stopped and stared, I think I freaked out a fellow jogger, one suv stopped to take pictures, but other than that, it was pretty uneventful :). It was comforting knowing the local police knew who I was and that I would be doing this.
Right when I was coming back to our house a young couple pushing a baby stroller was walking by (remember, I did not have a sign on my front). I waved and smiled (I'm just your friendly neighborhood knight afterall, don't want people to be afraid of me...unless they need to be). When I turned to go up the steps I was really hoping they would stop long enough to see my sign. After I was in the house I saw them outside. stopped, doing something on their smartphone, presumably looking up my webpage. Yes! Success!
Now I need to clean the house and finish getting ready for the convention, but now, as I ice my knee (for prevention purposes), sit, relax, and type...I consider this soreness, tiredness, and major armor bite signs of success.
Want to know WHY I am doing this? If you do not know already, check out www.damejessica.stayclassy.org . Please!
Love to my family and friends!
Jess
