"Buddy"

I work in marketing for an open source software company - I'm not going to lie, software is definitely a man's world and I'm seeing the boys club almost daily (the club I'm kinda part of but not really). It's funny, I work on the boarder of the financial district and SOMA and walking to work I see a definite spectrum of professionals - there are the suits (bankers and traders), then the cool bunch (Gap, Levis, William Sonoma employees), and then the software dudes in khaki pants and blue Brooke's Brothers shirts. My DVF dresses, heals, and riding booths with pencil pants sort of mark the juxtiposition between me and my fellow software geeks (and yes, I do think of myself as a geek, just not the dudely khaki blue top kind).
Insert, running. We all wear shorts, we all have dirty shoes, and we all get in the trance - no boys club there, just trails. Today a few of us from GGRC embarked on an awesome 14.5 mile run. We started at the Warming Hut, wove up to the bridge and went across (we lost a few people at the other side who opted for a shorter run), then, up into the Headlands to the "saddle," (lost another 2), then down towards Rodeo Beach (lost another 2), out to the Headlands Shack, and back up up up, back over the bridge, and down to the Warming Hut.

Leaving the parking lot (winded and sore) the President of the running club said, "see you soon buddy."

I may not wear khakis and blues, I will never be able to pee standing up, I don't get invited to the dudes drinking nights, but some runs I can be "buddy" and that's good enough for me. Better.