Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Convention(al) wisdom: Where is everybody?

We take a brief break from the mid-Hudson Valley at the beginning of the winter for a trip to sunny and warm Orlando (yay, x2!) for the USTFCCCA (U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) Convention. Or, as many of my athletes referred to it yesterday? CoachCon. Yes. CoachCon. I like that. It sounds hip. By the way? Our organization would do well to shorten its name and/or acronym, don’t you think? Anyway, I’m writing this at 33,000 feet on Jet Blue flight 195 from Westchester County to Orlando.  After a little bit of predictable morning commute congestion on I-684 on the way to the airport, the flight process – sometimes stressful for not-frequent flyers like me – was almost comically easy. Checking my duffel bag? Took about three minutes, with a friendly reminder that my ubiquitous flannel neck gaiter is not considered an approved face covering (yeah, yeah, OK). Security checkpoint? The “line” consisted of one person – me! I asked the friendly TSA guy where everybody was. He joked, “we were just waiting for you” but then added the big rush was about an hour prior to my arrival. The boarding process? I’m in the second-to-last row of the plane. Of the eight seats in the back two rows, there is one occupant. Again – me! Where is everybody? Don’t know, don’t care. Looking forward to landing, putting on my cargo shorts and listening to audiobooks and podcasts in the warm Florida sun. And oh yeah: Attending convention activities too. OK!

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