Mason's World

April 13, 2009
Viewed 2092 times.

So, I recently went and participated in the great American tradition of roller skating. Like, for reals roller skating. At a rink with an organ and everything. And here's my big takeaway: I do not understand roller skating.

I'm curious if there's a parallel in other countries. According to the almighty Wikipedia, the "sport" has been around since the early 1800s. When I was a little kid, we'd go from time to time to the same rink I was at last weekend. In my teenage years, I got caught up in the rollerblade craze - which was awesome... at the time.

But back to my weekend adventure. My main problem with roller skating is that the actual skates are heavy and awkward. Unlike inline skates, it's really hard to turn and maneuver with all four wheels on the ground. I'm proud to say I didn't fall once, but I came close a number of times.

The thing that really surprised me, though, was that there was a rich subculture of roller skating fanatics. They closed down the floor for a few songs for just the experts to skate, and they were amazing. They moved gracefully - some dancing, some skating in synchronized pairs, other doing tricks... I was totally shocked. 1: I couldn't understand who would want to spend their time doing that (then again, I'm sure plenty of people don't know why anyone would want to spend their time doing bar trivia - which I love). And, 2: I was impressed at their skill.

So, yeah. Roller skating. Who knew?

• 1 Comment 
• Comment on this