Older, but no wiser
Andy Borrows' musings on life and all its confusion, contradictions, richness and opportunities
Friday, October 03, 2008
That was nice...
“Chilly, isn’t it?”
So began a brief exchange with a fellow motorcyclist whilst stopped side-by-side at the lights this morning.
Usually that’s about as far these conversations go – nothing very deep, but then you’d hardly expect to get to discussing the meaning of life in the course of a 30 second exchange with an unknown biker.
“You ride well.”
Eh? Now that was unexpected – unsolicited compliments? I’d been aware of him behind me for a few hundred yards and a couple of junctions. Now side-by-side I could see he was of a similar age to myself, riding what appeared to be a BMW R1100, albeit sporting a VW badge on the side of the tank.
“Been riding long?”
Given that his following remarks were more about behaviour on the road – his observation of my own observation and awareness – rather than the actual mechanics of riding the bike, my guess is that he held one of the advanced riding qualifications – either RoSPA or IAM.
Interesting on three counts:
One, purely for the feedback. Welcome and much appreciated feedback.
Two, that he managed to get so much across in such a short space of time. Direct observations, direct feedback, with just enough preamble to create an opening.
Three, he didn’t have to bother; there was no need or expectation. But he did, I learned something, it made me feel good, and I expect it probably made him feel good too. I’m very poor at giving compliments or feedback. Something I could do with improving.
I may even sign up for an advanced motorcyclists course.
So began a brief exchange with a fellow motorcyclist whilst stopped side-by-side at the lights this morning.
Usually that’s about as far these conversations go – nothing very deep, but then you’d hardly expect to get to discussing the meaning of life in the course of a 30 second exchange with an unknown biker.
“You ride well.”
Eh? Now that was unexpected – unsolicited compliments? I’d been aware of him behind me for a few hundred yards and a couple of junctions. Now side-by-side I could see he was of a similar age to myself, riding what appeared to be a BMW R1100, albeit sporting a VW badge on the side of the tank.
“Been riding long?”
Given that his following remarks were more about behaviour on the road – his observation of my own observation and awareness – rather than the actual mechanics of riding the bike, my guess is that he held one of the advanced riding qualifications – either RoSPA or IAM.
Interesting on three counts:
One, purely for the feedback. Welcome and much appreciated feedback.
Two, that he managed to get so much across in such a short space of time. Direct observations, direct feedback, with just enough preamble to create an opening.
Three, he didn’t have to bother; there was no need or expectation. But he did, I learned something, it made me feel good, and I expect it probably made him feel good too. I’m very poor at giving compliments or feedback. Something I could do with improving.
I may even sign up for an advanced motorcyclists course.
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