Shelby Manning (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shelbycobra) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
muserevival2016-03-08 12:50 am
shelbycobra) wrote in muserevival2016-03-08 12:50 am
Entry tags:
117.7.2 - random
"Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher." - Oprah Winfrey
A terrible thing happened the other day. I was doing a pre-test interview with a reporter who, over the course of the conversation, began to insinuate that the only reason I had an IndyCar seat was because of my father and then point-blank said that wasn't it true I wouldn't have gotten to where I am now if I wasn't a woman. Hearing both of the insults I've worked so hard to shoot down, I took two steps forward and would've hit him if Shane hadn't thrown an arm around my waist and held me back.
But then a wonderful thing happened the other day. Because this was on pit lane I had forgotten it was within earshot of a lot of other people. Shane was there immediately, as was Terry. And not just them, but all of a sudden behind me were standing Scott and Ryan and Will. All of them had heard and come to my defense. Before I could open my mouth Ryan told the guy that he'd better get out of the pit lane and not come back. And I heard it from someone later in the day that his credentials had been pulled anyway.
As much as I hate that some people still are looking for ways to undercut me, that's how much I love the support I've received from my colleagues. They didn't have to come over; Shane had me under control and probably would have dragged the guy out by his ear afterward. But they did it because they weren't going to let me be spoken to that way. They did it because they care about me, and that means a lot.
I question myself a lot of the time. The only thing I know for certain I'm doing right is my job. Even now, I'm six days from the 2016 season and I'm sitting up wondering if me being gone for the next six months isn't going to destroy my relationship with my boyfriend. But if it's not racing I'm probably not a hundred percent certain.
So to be in a completely safe environment, where I know that everyone around me will always have my back from my fellow drivers all the way up to the PR team that just ensured I never have to deal with that asshole ever again, is something that I treasure. And it's not just me either. This is the way we all treat each other. We're here for each other and each other's loved ones both when things are difficult and when they're great. We go to weddings, celebrate birthdays, tell each other we're thinking of each other. We're family.
Six more days and we'll all be in this together again. Six months of nearly non-stop racing. Of the craziness that comes with it. This is an impossibly hard thing that I do and yet I love it so much. Because I know that no matter what happens? I am not alone. I never have been.
--
Shelby Manning
Need for Speed OC
500 words
A terrible thing happened the other day. I was doing a pre-test interview with a reporter who, over the course of the conversation, began to insinuate that the only reason I had an IndyCar seat was because of my father and then point-blank said that wasn't it true I wouldn't have gotten to where I am now if I wasn't a woman. Hearing both of the insults I've worked so hard to shoot down, I took two steps forward and would've hit him if Shane hadn't thrown an arm around my waist and held me back.
But then a wonderful thing happened the other day. Because this was on pit lane I had forgotten it was within earshot of a lot of other people. Shane was there immediately, as was Terry. And not just them, but all of a sudden behind me were standing Scott and Ryan and Will. All of them had heard and come to my defense. Before I could open my mouth Ryan told the guy that he'd better get out of the pit lane and not come back. And I heard it from someone later in the day that his credentials had been pulled anyway.
As much as I hate that some people still are looking for ways to undercut me, that's how much I love the support I've received from my colleagues. They didn't have to come over; Shane had me under control and probably would have dragged the guy out by his ear afterward. But they did it because they weren't going to let me be spoken to that way. They did it because they care about me, and that means a lot.
I question myself a lot of the time. The only thing I know for certain I'm doing right is my job. Even now, I'm six days from the 2016 season and I'm sitting up wondering if me being gone for the next six months isn't going to destroy my relationship with my boyfriend. But if it's not racing I'm probably not a hundred percent certain.
So to be in a completely safe environment, where I know that everyone around me will always have my back from my fellow drivers all the way up to the PR team that just ensured I never have to deal with that asshole ever again, is something that I treasure. And it's not just me either. This is the way we all treat each other. We're here for each other and each other's loved ones both when things are difficult and when they're great. We go to weddings, celebrate birthdays, tell each other we're thinking of each other. We're family.
Six more days and we'll all be in this together again. Six months of nearly non-stop racing. Of the craziness that comes with it. This is an impossibly hard thing that I do and yet I love it so much. Because I know that no matter what happens? I am not alone. I never have been.
--
Shelby Manning
Need for Speed OC
500 words