Desire
The neighborhood situation inevitably escalated. People
would sneak into my backyard and smash the ramps, and cops even began to come
out to our corner to threaten us by stating that
they would take away our skateboards if we didn’t quit. All of this
harassment in a middle-class neighborhood made me question many things.
Obviously, there wasn’t room anymore in the neighborhood for skateboarding, so
it would have to move to the streets.
Street skating is where the passion lies. When you see
someone jumping off a 13-step set of stairs and getting tangled up with his skateboard as
he slams against the pavement,
you may question the sanity of that person. But the exhilarating sensation that
one feels when they smoothly execute a kick-flip off a 13-step of stairs far
surpasses any mortal injury or question of sanity. This truth, however
fortunate or unfortunate, is something that I quickly realized shortly after my
transition from neighborhood skating to street skating.
Becoming a street skater caused me to look at the world
from a completely different perspective. Boring elements of architecture now
looked like playgrounds for my skateboarding; I could be content for days
hanging out in a parking lot with loading docks and steps. Cement never looked
so fine, but the police never looked so bad.
The problem with street skating is that nobody wants you
wherever you are. Because of liability, the possibility of destruction of
property, and selfish reasons, the thing a street skater has to get used to is
putting up with fascist cops and security officers. However, this just adds to
the adrenaline rush of the game. Not only does the sport give a completely
exhilarating adrenaline rush, but running from cops and security officers has
the same effect.
Downtown Charlotte is a neighborhood skateboarder’s dream.
The first time we parked the old rusty Buick across the street from the downtown
bus station, I stood in awe of all the possibilities. Steps, embankments, gaps,
rails, ledges, manual pads, and everything else that I once only dreamed of were
here. Better yet, there were also other skateboarders out in the streets.
Skateboarders from all over country that were “sessioning” some of the well-know
downtown spots thrashed the downtown streets.
All I could really do was follow along with the gang of skaters; I
certainly didn’t want to try any tricks in the spotlight and prove that I was
unworthy of being part of the gang. However, I had a feeling of belonging with
this big group of mostly strangers. Nobody really wanted to bother us either
when we had our numbers.
I discovered that the more skaters you have together in a
group, ironically, the less likely you are to run into trouble. Nobody picks on
a large group of skaters downtown on a Saturday night, but you can bet your
bottom dollar that if you are alone you will be harassed, laughed at, and
threatened. Skateboarding is truly an independent sport that stresses
individuality over cooperation, but skating in packs is the only way to
go street skating thoughtfully .
Another benefit of having a skate group is that the group
will inevitably push you to your limit. Often times, a skater will not try a
trick for fear of injury or lack of confidence, but when a group of hardcore
skaters are yelling for you to “Go For IT!” amazing feats may be accomplished.
As a hardcore street skater, I walked the walk, talked the
talk, and found very few things in life frightening while on my skateboard.
With a powerful group of devoted friends, “boys,” I could accomplish anything.
We took our skateboarding into broken-down water parks, swimming pools,
abandoned hotels and malls; we lived to skate and the world was our skate park.
Anarchy can easily be closely associated with skateboarding
because anything that stands for rules and regulations is a threat to the
vitality of the sport. Skateboarding has been rooted on quite a simple
principle: “if it hasn’t been done, then do it.” There are no referees,
boundaries, or arbitrary rules; the sport is dictated by freedom. Thus in my
anarchic prime, I “sessioned” with great carelessness and enthusiasm the world’s
underground playground, abiding by only one rule, which was to have fun.
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