Skate or Die
[This article was originally written as an English assignment during my junior year in high school. It was also published in the Greenbrier Valley Ranger's "Apropos" column in 1993.]
On any given day, unblemished and pleasant, in fairly high populated cities, one would have no problem in locating a handful of skaters, joined by friendship, taking to the streets and sidewalks of their concrete refuge, for a fast-paced journey across town and back, for the pure joy of the hard-core exertion it gives them. The skater . . . misunderstood by most, cherished only by the few, is shadowed in the sights of the higher class of the privileged, but, unaffected by this, skates his heart out at every potential period, standing strong in his preference, as firm as the immovable mountain. In high society they are outcasted from the mainstream because of their preference, but the skaters of the world face opposition head on with an ecstacy sparkle in their eyes which some could interpret as a mild sign of insanity. Fear is not present in the true skater's life. For this reason, the skater remains on this earth, inviting the resistance, the persecution, the separation. Nothing stops them. Not the rebuke and not the resentment. Not the disapproval and not the dissonance. And, surely, hindrances such as the pathetic laws adopted - outlawing skating on the streets of many cities - will not bring the skater down.
But, first, . . . why, exactly, are skaters - ones who simply enjoy the use of the skateboard - treated as losers unworthy of respect, people who will never amount to anything in their lifetime? Because they are different? That is only half of the answer. Being different is nothing, for every lone person on this planet, living or dead, is different from the rest in some unique way. Difference is an entity which we all live with, day in and day out, with total acceptance. No, difference is not the reason, but fear is. It is the fear of difference, the sweetest malice, which flows with insane ease through the willing man's life, and confronts the skaters as a hostile foe.
What is a skater? A man. What is a lawyer? A man. What is the President of the United States? A man. Why, then, is it more "respectable" to be a lawyer or the President than to be a professional skater? The three are equal. All having faults, and none perfect. None impressing God more than the other. The reason is society. Children grow to adults with the influence of society providing them their attitudes, morals, and values. The idea taught to children today and from generation to generation is - Success is money and fame. Surely, being the President or a marvelously paid lawyer are occupations more successful (in today's standards) than spending one's days on a skateboard. But what the world is calling "success" is a pure illusion, distorted and deceiving. Success is achieving happiness and contentment. The truly successful ones roaming this planet are the ones who have truly found the secret of life; the ones who, against the grain, seek and find the things which make them happy and content. How successful is the stressed-out businessman, rich beyond belief, but faced everyday with the question of whether or not he should blow off his head because he can't stand the pressure? How successful is the factory owner who gets rich off the products he makes, but ignores the lives lost by over-exposure to the deadly pollutants coming from the pipes of the factory? How successful is the glorious athlete who was famed through his steroids, but now lies, never to get up because of them? But, successful are the happy.
The skater feeds on his freedom and strives on his stress-free lifestyle, able to live his clean, open life without the evils of the dog-eat-dog reality and the malice of money.
Most people in this world see ones, such as the skaters, and are afraid of the idea that, they, living their lives doing something they enjoy, can have a wonderful life without going through the same anger and stress most people do in offices and businesses. Most are jealous of the skaters' happiness because of the lack of their own. It is envy which plays a major part in the resentment to skaters, along with fear.
The skater, . . . happy in his own right, undeserving of resentment, free from the fast, hard lifestyle of the rich and famous, and truly a wonder of nature. It is the world's evil, corruption, and greed which the skater leaves behind when he pushes off, for the first time, on his brand new skateboard, ready to face a new day.