Note to Runners: You’re the Ones Who Need to Get Out of the Way

I walked out of my gym the other day to the typical traffic jam of sidewalk activity: someone pulling out a bicycle, someone pulling in, lots of people walking in and out and some, like me, just standing there, waiting for the path to clear. And then I noticed the threat hurtling toward this peaceful bottle neck. A runner. He was headed straight for me, but I had nowhere to go. I thought he would notice this, and stop. He didn't. He ran straight into me, causing my helmet to crash into my shoulder. Here's the picture of the damage, and let me just say it was worse a few days ago.

I resisted the urge to smack the runner with my helmet. But I did use just about every profanity I could think of, including a few doozies (cocksucker sounds really lame once it comes out of your mouth). I might have gone a bit overboard, but I still feel justified. Runners, it's your job to get out of the way. I run too, and if I decide to get my workout in a busy public thoroughfare, like,  U Street at 6 p.m., I know I'm going to have to do lots of slowing down, even stopping, maybe evening saying "pardon me."  Just deal with it.