Travelin’ Band (/athletic apparel salesperson)

this was taken somewhere in AZ on the first day of Roundtrip Road Trip… or maybe it was New Mexico. Anyway, this will be my POV for the next few days. Who wants shotgun?

I finally overshot a parking space one time too many and my partially dislodged bumper became non-partially dislodged on Friday. Why do they make those stupid curb stopper things so tall? If you want me to pull all the way in and tap it with my tires to keep my ass from hanging out in the way of parking lot traffic, then don’t make the concrete blocks so high that my undercarriage comes off when it’s time to leave. Please. I don’t want to have to put a lift kit on my Avenger but by the grace of Henry Dodge I will if it keeps everything put together in the future.

Ok that was a little too random.

So once my poor bumper car is done at the shop I’m hitting the road to show the new Oiselle line to all the cool desert people in Arizona. Maybe run a few miles (c’mon, hip!), see the Little Wings and some Volee teammates, and eat some Red Velvet pancakes while I’m there. Hopefully not getting any speeding tickets or rip off any more bumpers.

So, your missions before 1pm PST when I leave, not “should you choose to accept them” because really just do me a solid and help me out here:

• Favorite Podcasts? Specifics, please. I know “Life Hacks” and “This American Life” are popular but I don’t have time to sift through extensive catalogs to pick a good episode (or five)
• Are you on Spotify? Have a killer playlist? Send me your username!

Also, related but more all-days generalization:

If there is a product, brand, or something totally random you wish your local run shop would sell, TELL THEM! They may not know about it, or do but don’t think their customers are wanting it, or just need a gentle nudge to submit an order. It’s a pretty big decision for a small, independent store of any kind to take a chance on a new product line (budget, floor space, contracts, etc) and if they don’t think it will move, they’re unlikely to bring it in. The most efficient way to get what you want on the shelves? INCESSANTLY BEG FOR IT! Ask in store. Social media them. Submit a formal request on their website. Send a carrier pigeon, I don’t care. They won’t know you’re looking for it if you don’t tell them! I hadn’t realized all the little bits and pieces that have to line up just right for it to happen until I got on this side of the sales table, but can tell you 100% if they hear their customers ask for something enough, they’ll act on it if they can. When I moved back in with my parents after college I filled out a comment slip at my hometown grocery store asking for soy milk, because they only carried cows’ and I was on a weird anti-dairy kick then. I don’t remember if they actually brought it in or not (I moved away from the dairy farms where the milk came from and to a city with a Trader Joe’s and 15 kinds of milks a few months later) but I felt better for having tried!

a purposefully indistinguishable preview of things that could be hanging in your store soon

And for the record, that little grocer in Corntown does carry soymilk, AND almond milk I think, these days. High five, Ohio! High five, comment box!

(now leave your podcast suggestions in my comment box.)

Sarah OUaL