Date: 2006-09-10
To: Prep #48--On rudeness and hammocks
Miles today: 0.0

This week was a particularly frustrating "people" week. It never ceases to amaze me how people can justify or rationalize being outright disrespectful to another person, simply because their need didn't get instantly met by that other person. Secretaries take a lot of crap like this, and not even when I was a faculty member at Oklahoma State Univ. would I EVER have dreamed of treating anyone disrespectfully, simply because they were perceived to be on a lower level of the work hierarchy than me. Your job isn't you....it's not your identity, but there are a lot of people out there that will use the job position to justify corruption and rudeness. I personally think that once a job becomes the thing that serves to define you as a person, then you've been doing it too long. I was the same person I am through all of my jobs...military, teaching, automotive technician, volunteer at an exotic wildlife refuge, server at a restaurant, pizza delivery person, secretary and so many more I'd probably fill up an entire page. This is why one of the first things I do when I meet new people at a new job is to start asking them about "them" not their job. I've always considered anonimity the vehicle for rude behavior...afterall, I don't know anything about that person on the other end of the phone @ my credit card company. I just know they aren't telling me what I want to hear, so it MUST be their fault right? Well, my anonimity theory was debunked this week as well, which brings me to the hammock portion of this title.   My last post discusses the issues I had w/sleeping on the ground. It was painful. So, I started researching hammocks, which are not as widely used as tents, but do have a fiercly loyal following who swear by them and I have always opened myself up to all options, not just the most popular. I was asking a ton of questions as usual, and then stated in this forum that I thought I'd try to get one and just test it out. Then, I got shocked by the selflessness of an anonymous person. A gentleman from NY offered to send his personal Hennessy Hammock to me so that I could test one out, all I had to do was pay shipping! Now how awesome was that? It was the yang to that nasty yin woman who hung up on me mid-sentence during a phone conversation when all I was desperately trying to do was to help her.These hammocks are not exactly inexpensive, and he, who has never met me, spoken to me, or even seen me in person for that matter, offered his trust to a complete stranger in order to help a fellow human being out. THIS is why the hiking community appeals to me so much. I've witnessed this blind trust between other people as well, and it's about an extremely diverse group of people who share a common passion helping each other out.I did receive the hammock and tested it out yesterday. I think it might work. I was convinced enough to go ahead and order one (Hennessy Ultralite Backpacker Asym) and will do some overnights w/it. That's the only way I'll know 100% that these will work for me, but I'm very optimistic. I'll post a separate post on my experiences w/it, but I feel good about this possibility.