High-Five 101

I flipped over my handle bars riding my bike. FIVE times. In front of an audience each time. That’s five times I endured embarrassment, bruises, raspberries, sprains and a ruptured ego. 

You know what else? People laughed. Like really laughed. Tears running down their cheeks, can’t catch their breath, ripping at the seams laughing. Don’t worry, they always asked me “if I was okay” once they caught their breath. I have good friends ;D. You would think I was a cast member of Jackass, there for their entertainment. Or at the very least, that I would swear off bikes for life. More likely I was a glutton for punishment.

The fifth time this happened, I was in Toronto riding on the boardwalk in the Beaches in the spring. We’re talking big audience, folks. When I shared that it was the fifth time I had flipped over my handlebars, one of my friends joked that, “I should stop using only my front brake.”

EUREKA! It only took 30 years of me riding a bike to learn this. My friends thought it was hilarious that I didn’t know that. How did I ride a bike for thirty years and not learn to apply either both brakes or only the back brakes when cycling?

That situation reminded me of another one that I was absolutely amazed I hadn’t learned until I was middle-aged – how to high-five without missing. I was always taught to keep your eye on the ball. So I naturally assumed the same rationale would apply to high-fives. NOPE. Not true. I can’t tell you how many times I went to high-five someone and completely missed their hand. I always assumed it was my weird prescription that screwed up my perspective, but one of my colleagues taught me a trick when I missed the high-five three times in a row. 

High-Five 101. Look at the person’s elbow to whom you are high-fiving. What!?!? I know right? It was literally a life changing hack. I proudly high-five all the time now.

Janet Smith is a proud mom of one daughter and a marketing professional who is grateful for her rural roots in the London area. Follow Janet’s funny and honest journey at IG & TT | @re.marketable.janet or FB | @janetsiddallsmith