I don't spend much time at skate parks. First, I don't skate. As a young lad I had a skateboard, but no park or imagination. Second, I'm old and only possess longboards. Such boards don't work here (also possibly my lack of imagination).
There is an event being held at Tuff City Skate Park today. We stood on the fringes waiting for the last event of the Triple Plank to start. And while we waited, we were entertained. Humans of from all the corners careened around this smooth, concrete-lined-with-steel wonderland. It appear as mayhem to watch, yet those participating seemed to know what was happening and where not to be.
Right in front of us was a young girl, maybe nine. If you know the song, 'the ankle bone is connected to the shin bone; the shin bone is connected to the knee bone', this is an accurate description of the pads she wore. There was hardly any visible skin left; every bit of her skin was wrapped in hard plastic. In a sport where helmets didn't really catch on (curious, no?), this girl's parents were taking no chances.
She stood poised on the edge, waiting to drop-in. With her head down, her eyes could be seen darting about underneath her helmet, watching to be sure she wouldn't be in the way other riders. When her coast was clear, she dropped in - no hesitation. Gravity pulled her down and then slingshotted her up the near wall. She popped over the lip and spun 180 degrees. She missed her a board a couple of times, but on the third attempt I witnessed, she landed on her board. Fist pumps and a proud thumbs up to her parents sitting on the lawn in the shade.
While she waited to drop in again, another rider popped up above the lip on which she was waiting...and promptly fell onto his back. His board ricocheted and then dropped over the lip now on its own course. The young girl immediately dropped her board and jumped into the concrete bowl to retrieve his board for him. While not hurt, he lay on the concrete for a beat, gathering himself. On his feet, he was confused, not sure where his board had gone. He ended up pursuing her board that she had abandoned while she climbed the wall and returned it his back to him. She showed up not to just pull some tricks, but to help others. The confidence on her.
She kept trying her trick and while I thought her trick ended on this side, I observed that this was not the case. So when she landed on this side, she'd giver herself a hushed talking-to, a head down, motivational pep talk, complete with a defiant fist slam at her side.
A woman in black and white checkered pants showed up and started rolling through the park with long, effortless lines. So much grace. So much smoothness. On one pass, the young girl yells out a hardy 'yew'. Again I witnessed this young human working her craft, but was intentional to hype others that were excelling at their own work. It was then I decided I wanted to grow up to be this little girl.
It was about this time, that she started nailing her own trick. When she popped over the lip into her 180, her front trucks hung below the lip stopping her momentum. Once she stopped, she'd shift her weight forward, back in the direction she had just come, and the board would slip down and up the other side - a boomerang of sorts. She landed this twice. I thought the fist pump and thumbs up were enthusiastic before. There was apparently more enthusiasm in the tank.
As I sometimes do, I take what I've seen and try to learn something. Here is what I'd like to learn from this young lady.
Stay in your lane. Eyes on my own work, but watch for others doing their work.
Help others out. If they fall down, grab their board or their hand, and help them on their way.
Hype other people up. Get excited when they make their magic. Celebrate them.
Everyone once in awhile you have to give yourself a pep talk. Do it out loud. There's no shame in this.
Don't give up. Keep working at the thing until you own that thing.
When you own that thing, celebrate. High-5 yourself and send a thumbs-up to the crowd...even if 99% of the crowd are strangers.
And finally (because a list of seven things seems about right), wear protection. Nobody needs to clean your epidermis, blood, or gray matter off the concrete.
Be a hype girl. Give others and yourself some love. Class dismissed.
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