I never got the hang of skateboarding.
I had one for some years and tried, for a while, to pick up at least the basics of it — Okay, so I stand here, and I know I push with this other foot-type rudimentary stuff — but it didn’t take. And at least early on with it I didn’t know anyone who skateboarded and could help me out, I don’t know that the idea of lessons ever occurred to me, and if it occurred to my parents, then perhaps it wasn’t in the cards financially, because I don’t believe the idea was ever mentioned.
It wound up as basically a dust collector among my catch-all collection of sports equipment. Where the skateboard even came from, I don’t recall. My parents giving me one, without any friends who used one, without insight for how to use it, offer of lessons, nor even (if memory serves) inquiry along the lines of, “Hey, big shooter, how’s that skateboarding coming along?”, would’ve been odd, so I question if it was even from them. Perhaps it was from a family friend or older extended family member, who’d though that Skateboarding Is What All The Young People Do These Days, So A Skateboard Is Just The Thing For A Young Person.
Years later I became very good friends with a guy who a) was the guitarist of our band and b) skateboarded regularly to and from grade school a fair distance, the practicality of using such transportation finally really clear to me. But that was already long after I’d put aside my skateboard, I guess having resigned myself to thinking that it wasn’t a thing I did — Kids those days, am I right? — and I don’t know that the idea of simply asking him to show me how to use it ever actually occurred to me.
Maybe it’s not too late, though. You’d think that a middle-aged guy finally getting up on a skateboard (and probably falling down, a lot) would seem a bit silly, but I’ve learned that at times you absolutely can teach an old dog new tricks. And hey, it’s exercise. It’s a skill that could be honed. I could be that unabashed guy in the neighbourhood who’s kind of too old to be [fill in the verb] but still does it because Whatever, man.
Maybe I could even get that same friend to teach me, someone almost exactly my same age but who gets the limits of an aging body. Hey Alan! What do you think?
YouTube is a great resource for learning how to skateboard, especially if you’re able to take your phone to a skate park and watch videos there—or wherever you skate. I never got past learning to push. I was a powerful pusher though, and it was still a lot of fun.
Good thinking! We took videos of the kid (ages ago) learning to use a skateboard, for the same reason. If I ever actually do try to get up on one again (hey, I’ve had a life of zero bone breakages, so perhaps the time is ripe!), I’ll keep that in mind.
Thanks for the feedback!
I never could skateboard. I was really keen to try back in the ’70s, when I was in my mid-teens and skateboarding came around for the first time over here (I think it was the first time…). In those days the boards were primitive compared to any later wave and I’m sure that didn’t help but other kids my age seemed to be able to manage anyway. I could barely stand up on the thing.
I tried again about ten years later, when the next wave of interest rolled in but even though I had a better board then, I still couldn’t get the hang of it. I did move house on a skateboard once, though. Well, I put some of my stuff on a skateboard and rolled it along the road to a new flat…
By the time I was in my mid-30s I was sharing a house with two step-children who were really good at skateboarding. Like *really* good. That put me off trying again and now I’m definitely too old but yeah, it would have been nice…
I’ve definitely seen people using skateboards to move stuff around, which is a great idea, provided you don’t have to go long distances. I’m guessing your route wouldn’t have been too difficult to roll on, unlike many of ours. Toronto has a bit of an issue with frequent repairs needed on, and below, streets, so even newly paved streets soon get carved up and repaved — sometimes poorly — which can then become a patchwork of resurfacing. There are definitely streets I avoid even driving on, let alone any consideration of skateboarding on (or transporting one’s bookshelf).
I hadn’t considered it, but to your point, the popularity of skateboards definitely seems to ebb and flow, which is interesting. I would’ve thought generally people who like it would just keep on liking it, which would suggest a steadier portion of people more than trends.
And I get the feeling of perhaps too old to learn to do it at this point. What about something else? Learning to unicycle, perhaps? Juggling chainsaws?