Best Laid Plans

Did you know it's still really, really, really dark at 5:15am? I found this out this morning as I left the confines of my apartment to walk down the five flights of stairs (the elevator has been out for three days thus far) to my car, happily parked right in front of my building. I was nervous with anticipation. I had the highest of hopes. I was having my first jump lesson with a coach I had never met before (we spoke on the phone) at the rink in Long Island near work. I drove the forty-five minutes to arrive early for my 6:30 so I could warm up and maybe have a short conversation with him. Paying for the session, I asked if he was already here. I was informed that he wasn't expected, but if I had arranged a lesson with him, he'd be there. But he never arrived. Skating my MIF, which are really getting better; except for those darn back inside three turns which are forever too late and the forward inside threes which are forever too early. The rest of the moves were looking healthy. Every so often, I'd glance at the clock thinking maybe he's just running late. Forty-five minutes into the hour long session, I stepped off the ice to inquire about his whereabouts. The lady in the office called him on the phone; he had over-slept thanks to setting his clock for PM rather than AM. He had never done that before. Lucky me. We rescheduled to the first Wednesday in October thanks mostly to a series of 7:45am conference calls I must attend. Seriously, who schedules a conference call for 7:45am? I must attend because my boss doesn't get up until 7:45; thus explaining why she arrives at work at 9:30am (I arrive at 8:00). I'm not quite sure I will attempt this again. If you're familiar with the term "giving the stink-eye" then you'll understand. Upon stepping onto the ice, one young skater gave me the stink-eye so deep, I looked around to see if someone else was the intended victim. Nope, for as the session continued, this stink-eye was tossed my way over and over again. When I got off the ice to inquire about the coach, the kid's mother gave me the stink-eye. Huh? I can be overly-sensitive; I admit it. I'm a pretty sensitive person with a developed thick-skin, but when a coach also gives you the stink-eye, it's time to re-think your choices. Not sure I want to give my hard earned cash to people who give me unpleasant looks; especially if I've smiled at them to indicate that I'm harmless (Just so you know, there still are people out there who are afraid of other people who are a different skin color than they are. Yep, it's stupid and annoying, but after a while, you get used to trying to put their worries to rest.) I am not throwing the "race card" because I think I could have been green and an adult and gotten the stink-eye. I had forgotten that this particular rink isn't very fond of adult skaters. My bad! With that in mind, I'll look for somewhere else to skate. Maybe I can find some ice time within a subway trip since I no longer have a parking spot. (If you want to know how difficult it is to find parking, here's an example: Monday evening, I drove around for forty minutes looking for a place to park. I finally found one, but it meant that I would have to move my car before 7:00am or get a $105 parking ticket. You cannot arrive at your car at 7:00am, the ticket will already be there. You cannot sit in your car after 6:59am, the ticket will be written while you're sitting there. No, your car must be in gear and moving at 6:59am. I kid you not.) It's too bad about the jump coach; it would have been nice to have a second set of eyes. Oh well, back to the drawing board...