Every “Maverick” Could Use a “Goose”

7:10 am, Middlebury, CT
Quassy Half Rev Race
The male pros have just exited the water into transition. Mama Bear Sharpie (Team Trakkers' fearless leader) and I are rushing to the car (with Michele B. close behind) to go set up our aid station at Mile 29. Oh crap! The pros have gotten on the road ahead of us. ("Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full"). The challenge: beat them to the aid station on a two-lane country road with no shoulder. The only map we had was the race map, which didn’t show other roads in the area. Reading the map, it appeared that we could go straight and cut out a portion of the course, getting ahead of the cyclists. I explain this to Sharpie, who doesn’t really want details but just to be told where to turn (as she watches for cyclists, etc.). Ok…I’m stressed…if I am wrong about this alternate plan we are in serious trouble. If I am correct, we are good to go. (Little did we know that Michele had a GPS in the car behind us…oh well). The plan worked….we beat the pros by 20 minutes and got everything set up. Whew! In the midst of navigating, Sharpie commented that I make a good “Goose” to her “Maverick”.

In that one sentence, she summed up something I had often thought about myself. While the term “Wingman” makes you think of sketchy guys picking up women in a bar, I have often said that I am a great “Number one” if someone else is “Captain Piccard” (yes- I did just break out the Star Trek reference….I never said I wasn’t a dork!). I don't necessarily want to be the one managing everything (my family might argue, since I was the original "Bossy Jossi" before I got married and changed my last name). I love to be the "doer". Someone else can have the vision, and I can run with it. I am great at brainstorming ideas (many are dorky but some are downright creative), and at making things happen. This applies to personal life and work. I have often been referred to as "Julie the Cruise Director". I love making a plan and actually making it come to fruition. At work, I have a wonderful boss who has great vision, and I love that I get to actualize those visions. Give me your big idea and I'll come back to you with data and results. My little sister (who suffered much of my bossiness as a child), has already asked that I be her wedding planner whenever she gets married. She wants someone to make it happen so she can show up and enjoy herself that day. I'm her girl!

Ok, so Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer ("Iceman" if you were totally oblivious in the 80s) were WAY hotter than Anthony Edwards in "Top Gun", but none of those pilots flew without a wingman. Thanks Sharpie, for letting me be yours on a crazy morning in Connecticut!