skateboarding...

So I stop off after work at the local skatepark so that I can huff my 41-year-old ass around on the half-pipe for half an hour or so when I meet this Indian. No not the ones from Clint Eastwood movies who lately seem more famous for building casinos than building tepees and sweat lodges, no I mean Indian and is India-Indian. He was wearing all the gear, knee pads, helmet, elbow pads, wrist guards, so he definitely looked like an old-school skater (New school kids don't wear pads. They wear baggy, baggy pants and bleed a lot, for fun apparently.)

So the Indian is on the half-pipe when I ride up. He politely let me take my turn and then I let him take his. The park was uncrowded so the ramp was ours which was cool since often the park is really jammed up.

Anyway the guy couldn't skate. He tried, but he just wasn't getting it. He couldn't get to the top of the ramp, he couldn't turn, he just couldn't grasp it.

But, that's ok. Because you see, he was about 6-years-old. Maybe.

He was definitely intimidated by the park and the kids who were ollie down the rail or kick-flipping on the ramp. Who wouldn't be? And to then have my 6-foot two geezer ass ride up on you, poor kid.

But I liked this kid. He obviously was trying really hard to learn and not only did he have to deal with all the teen shredders flying around him but he had the added stress of being center stage as it were. His family was watching his every move. Mom was inside the park keeping tabs and grandpa and grandma were outside the fence peering in. They looked like extra from a Merchant Ivory film who happened to wander over to the "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" set.

So I stopped skating and started teaching. Ohmagod! and it was almost (Almost...) better than skating itself. He was a really attentive kid and he listened to me. When I told him to try putting his feet a certain way, he did it exactly. When I asked him to try it on flat ground first, he did, no argument. I demonstrated, he copied. He picked it up fast and was really thrilled.

When I went to leave his mom thanked me for taking the time to help her son, but even better he skated up and thank me himself with a huge smile and bright, bright, bright eyes. I was stoked.

I realized that what made this such a great experience not because they thanked me, but just because that kid was not concerned with being cool, a disease we all know I have suffered from in the past. He just wanted to skate like the other kids he saw, so he went out and tried. He didn't worry about what board he had or if he had the "right" shoes. He didn't care that he had to wear safety gear when all the other skaters were too cool to be bothered. He didn't care if looked like a beginner. He just wasn't concerned with any of that. He just wanted to skate. What a wonderful thing to have, that attitude.

I showed him how to place his feet, but he showed me something much, much more...