But there's one kind of person I don't like riding the chair with. Leg swingers. They swing their legs back and forth while next to you on the chair lift.
I have two problems with them. First of all, it forces your legs to swing if you don't fight the motion. So you have to fight the motion and that puts stress on your knees when you want to relax. My knees get enough stress just skiing. Second, and the worst thing is that it risks goofing up the edges of the skis if they make contact. I take great care of the edges on my skis and the worst thing you can do is make contact with another ski edge like this. It is called scissoring them if you let the edges slide together. So the whole time I'm riding the chair lift with a leg swinger I have to fight it.
I realize that leg swingers have a medical condition. Restless Leg Syndrome. They need medical help.
***
I try very hard not to offend anyone on bicycle log. And I want people to know that I value anyone who takes the time read my nonsense. I greatly value anyone who makes a comment. Honest.
I got this comment about my Leg swingers post:
Anonymous said...
Actually "restless legs syndrome" is a real condition in which people are unable to sleep due to the need to move their legs -- it has nothing to do with swinging legs. You can find more information at www.rls.org.
So I decide to talk it over with my media consultant. He knows what a smarty pants I can be. Plus he knows more TV trivia than anyone I have ever met. (He doesn't have HBO however) and he didn't know that when your car license tabs expire it isn't always at the end of the month. Whatever.
And he also didn't know that an upside down horseshoe was bad luck. Ok... And I could go on and on...
He said that he heard on Paul Harvey that when they came up with the medication for RLS they were actually working on a diabetes medication and realized it stopped legs from moving. So they created a term for that condition and called it RLS. So they could sell this drug. So the story he fed me went.
And I said to him that there must have been a demand for this drug, so the condition must be real. I know that leg swingers are real. And then he tells me that HE is a leg swinger! Crap!
I have no problem with people who have RLS. My problem is with leg swingers!
My apologies anonymous. Thanks for stopping in! Still not sure I want to ride the chair with you. Just kidding! :)
6 comments:
Actually "restless legs syndrome" is a real condition in which people are unable to sleep due to the need to move their legs -- it has nothing to do with swinging legs. You can find more information at www.rls.org.
Thanks for stopping in anonymous. I hope you are a good sport. I'll ride the chair with you any time. :) I will check out that link.
I wonder how we lived without medicine. It seems we're over stimulated, over medicated, and overweight. Hmm.
Last week I used Aspirin, Sudafed, and even some ibuprofen. I did sleep like a rock after skiing. I was dead to the world. Mountain air and some leg movement during the day will help you sleep. I know that people have sleep disorders, and unless you have a condition then it is hard to understand it. But I hear what you are talking about.
Drugs also have side effects. You can't even stop taking some without risks. I really felt sorry for folks who took that weight loss drug and then got heart valve damage several years back.
And why do they have to advertise drugs to people on TV? I just don't get that. If the drug companies weren't spending millions advertising on prime time then perhaps the cost would be lower.
I don't understand drug advertising on TV either. Do you remember when the Claritin commercials first came out and they said absolutely nothing about what Claritin was supposed to do for you? They had a cut of "Blue Skies" playing and some hot air balloons.
It also bothers me that with so many drugs we either don't know exactly why they work, or they have side effects worse than the condition they're supposed to treat.
I'm not trying to downplay people who have RLS or other disorders (actually I *think* I've been struggling with insomnia for years and the new drug that's advertised with the guy watching Abe Lincoln and others looked interesting. Not that I'd run out and try it.), but it's just irritating to think that a pill wants to be the cure-all for whatever ails us.
I kind of remember the Claritin commercial,. The Lincoln one is funny though. Some people have a harder time going to sleep than others. Some of the guys in Hunt Club will be snoring a couple of minutes after they hit the sack. It usually takes me a while to zonk out.
I usually don't sleep well when I have a bike tour to ride in the next day. Especially if I have to travel to get there the night before. If possible I ride as many miles as I can the day before. That usually does the trick. If I ride over 30 miles in a day then I have no problem sleeping.
I'm watching the evening news right now and it is one med commercial after another. I just saw a new RLS one. It's kind of bizarre to have so many med commercials at once. I kind of like the strangness in it, now that I have gotten over hating it.
Post a Comment