who’s helping who?

I have questioned the sanity of my helping out at the running store on a couple of occasions.  The time commitment is not always easy for me to fit into my schedule.  But days like today only reinforce that I need the store just as much as it needs me.

Today’s customers were quite varied.  First, there was the recent college grad who I talked everything from marathons to blogs to networking — after helping her to pick out socks for her upcoming half marathon.

Next, there was the couple training for their 1st marathon.  We talked training, avoiding chaffing, and ways to make your shoes last.  Like human sponges, they soaked it all up .

Later in the day, I helped a man with paraplegia select new shoes.  This was quite interesting as he could not provide the usual feedback on how the shoes felt.   I found myself accessing my nursing knowledge to better help him out.  His tendency towards foot drop was one concern.

I searched for shoes that I suspected would cause the least amount of the shoe catching on the ground which had a wide shoe base that I hoped would provide stability without messing with his foot structure.  It was all a guessing game with only my visual inspection of his walk to test my shoe theory.  He took home a pair of shoes with instructions to return if they weren’t working out.

At the end of the work day, I drove away feeling like I made a difference — positive, although small.  It will never compare to the instant feeling of satisfaction I used to get with bedside nursing but it is something more instant than what I am currently getting from my real-life-job.  Believe me, there is no instant feedback in waiting through 15 years of drug development for your drug to gain FDA approval.

I love helping people maintain an active lifestyle, be it running or other.  I enjoy it so much that I’m not sure what I’d say if you were to ask me who’s helping who?  I think this is a case where everyone is helping each other.  It’s pretty cool.

As long as the store owners continue to allow me the gumby-like flexibility in my scheduling, I will continue to hang out and help out.  In truth, I need them as much as they need me.  Shh!  It’ll be our little secret.