Persona Non Grata

Looking at the official results from Sunday’s 5K, I did very well with time, but was too close to last in my age group, only managing to out-walk three others.

I don’t know how many men were in my age group. I’m sure they were in the crowd, but I didn’t see any elderly looking gentlemen. I did see two women who looked to be around my age or older. One was running the race.

That always boggles my mind they can do that. I’ve always wanted to run but, even at a young age, was never able to.

On the other hand, running isn’t the best for the body at any age, often times resulting in hip and knee replacements.

I worked for an attorney -- an avid runner with the lean body I so envied runners, who had a heart attack while out jogging. My dental hygienist, a woman around my age, had a similar experience while out jogging. The list goes on and on, with The Archeologist telling me of a run through a canyon where she always stops at a particular point and looks over to see if any runners have passed out and fallen over the cliff, as it’s where so many have been found.

I think I mentioned in an earlier post about my first year at the Spooktacular, where a runner fell to the ground and began having spasms just after crossing the finish line.

In fact, James Fuller -- the author of The Complete Book of Running, who is credited with “popularizing the sport of running”, himself died of a heart attack at 52 years of age … while jogging.

So though I am in awe of those who run, envy their lean no body fat bodies, I’ll settle for my fluffy body and being able to walk the races.

On another topic, I received the Dealer Satisfaction Survey this past Friday and gave them 4 out of 5 Stars and 9 out of 10 Points on “Would You Recommend”.

Surprise, surprise … the review rolled over into Yelp … with a photo!

Oh oh … it’s one thing to write a review and have just your name associated, but now everyone at the dealership knows my face.

Service Department can’t be too mad about my honesty. Perhaps it will bring about a change.

I’d complained to Corporate years ago about a nightmare experience – where I’d waited for 4 hours, only to discover they’d forgotten to work on my car. How other customers had sat for hours with no notification their cars had long been ready, and how they actually lost one woman’s car altogether.

That’s right … they lost a car, with records showing the car had already been picked up.

They gave her a loaner but, to this day, I wonder if her car was ever located.

It was the first and only time I’d had a bad experience at the dealer, but it was so egregious that I’d murdered them on the Satisfaction Survey, which resulted in a contact and apology from Corporate, and my next service completely free of charge.

This time wasn’t that serious, so I don’t expect anything other than Service might take care of my car sooner rather than later next visit. On the other hand, my face is sure to be recognized and remembered by Sales, which makes me their No. 1 persona non grata.

I have no idea where the photo came from, how it was captured and plugged in, but at least it’s a good shot.