Friday, June 11, 2004

4 wheels, some steel, some wood and whole lot o'concrete

without getting into my current age let me just say its been 12 years since I have seriously did some skateboarding. I keep wondering why so long? I have heard other people talking about other sports saying it is their "source", I love many other sports and am actively involved in other sports but to me skateboarding truly is my source. When I was in the 8th grade (mid eighties) a classmate came to school with a skateboard that had a wood deck, when I saw it my eyes nearly came out of my head. It looked completely foreign to me. Up to that point a skateboard to me was a toy made of plastic with a skinny deck and roller skate wheels. I had boat loads of fun as a kid playing with these toys. But seeing a "pro" skateboard or at least a modern interpretation of the skateboard really made my mind race. My classmate was and is one of the better people who walk on the face of this earth and luckily he let me ride it. It was an awkward first ride to say the least but it definitely sealed the deal for me, I had to have one at any and all costs. Now my family was and continues to be to this day very poor and to make matters worse my father had recently retired from his factory job to a very meager pension and was in very poor health, so simply going to my parents and asking for a $200 skateboard was simply ignorant and rude, but being the asshole that I was(is) I did and it was futile and I regret it to this day. Even if my parents could afford it there is no way in hell they would simply dump that kind of money on a brat like me. $200 was about one third of our entire family monthly income and that monthly income had to feed, cloth, house and transport 4 adults and 2 teen agers. Bleak were my chances. Luckily I was just old enough to work, and even luckier I got a summer job corn de-tassling. I have many fond memories of my first real job but the best memory of all is getting a $400 cheque at the end of the summer. Woohoo... Well to keep the story short that first ride my classmate let me have on his real skateboard, was truly my defining moment. It changed my life forever, I know that for sure. It has changed me physically, mentally, emotionally. I cannot sum up how much skateboarding has changed me. I guess by change I mean it has shaped me or rather sculpted me into what I am today. I am not sure quite what I am but I know I would not be where I am today without skateboarding. that's it for today but I am going to continue the history of the stick another day.

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