Breakfast with Kip

I sat down this morning at Einstein Brother's Bagels to enjoy my pumpkin bagel and OJ. A man walks in, with several trash bags and a tattered adidas duffel bag, and sits at the table next to me. As I was catching up on my email correspondence, he pretended to read the newspaper, but after our eyes met for the third time, it was obvious he was looking for someone to talk to.
A minute later my computer shut off - my crappy battery had run out. So I shut my computer. The man asked me what I was eating. Then he asked if I might buy him one, too. I obliged. I have to admit that I might have said, "sorry" and left, but I learned something from reading Brianna Glenn's blog last week. I thought I would take advantage of helping him out - it was just a few bucks.
I brought him his bagel and began to have a fairly mundane conversation with him. I told him how I graduated last year, how we live up in the mountains. He wouldn't tell me much about himself. But then the conversation turned to sports. First the Olympic bid came up. Then the conversation turned to tennis. But then, after telling him I was a runner, what he said next totally surprised me.
He told me he was a huge Kara Goucher fan! He actually followed her in the sport. Here I was, with this homeless guy from Indiana, having a full-on conversation about a professional runner. I was surprised and impressed for two reasons: 1) Kip knew who she was and knew legitimate stats about her career, and 2) Kara Goucher is really famous. I knew Kara got a LOT of fans, but - I'll be honest - I just assumed it was a cult following of runners. Now I realize her popularity has reached beyond track geeks. Which is awesome, right?! What an amazing opportunity Kara has - she's inspiring to a Kip, an unemployed, out-of-luck 46-year-old.
In turn, this whole morning has inspired me. Why do I want to be as good as Kara Goucher? Why do I want to keep running and keep improving? First off, because I simply have the desire to do well. But secondly, because when people look up to you, you are provided with an amazing opportunity to influence others in a positive way. That's what I want to do. I'm going to keep striving to do better so that I can do good. :)