“You can’t skate here cause you will break the ground” roughly translate to “I need something to control”
“You can’t skate here cause you will break the ground” roughly translate to “I need something to control”
It happens way too often that when you roll up to a spot and I mean a real skate spot on the street. You look around and it seems like this isnt even private property it is literally on the side of the road. It has to be ok to skate here, I mean who is going to bust you. You put your stuff down in the corner and start to have a session. In less than two attempts at a trick (read that as 3 minutes) somebody (obviously a concerned citizen) wants you to stop what you re doing. I mean there is no point in telling this person that there are hungry people dying homeless on the street everyday (vagrancy is a big problem nin out country) , there are companies cutting down forests and making the air bad, the government is controlling the media to hide their motives while making you think that the most important news of the day is some bollywood actor who may or may not have been on drugs. None of this matters because the need of the hour is for you to stop skating this spot immediately (out of concern for public safety and well being ofcourse). Well dear citizen you are just a busybody with less concern for the country and its people than you are for a small feeling of power over someone else. Since this person is unable to control their environment (due to the above mentioned government and corporate control structures) they have a need to be able to control something. This translates into stopping some skater from using public property in a way that seems to blow the minds of petty individuals. If you as a skater try to get a reason out of them as to why you have to stop skating (I mean it’s a free country and “skateboarding is not a crime) they will have a myriad list of things to tell you. “The ground will break”, “if you hurt yourself who is responsible” , “what kind of example are you setting by doing this” , “why don’t you go play cricket or football like a normal person”, “this is not a playground” and the list can endlessly go on. There is a justification against each and every one of these concerns but this citizen will just not listen, the skater will slowly get frustrated, then angry and then will do or say something to piss of the citizen. Which will then result in the dreaded calling of the police (who will definitely not be on your side) so the skater just spits some violent words at the citizen and leaves. The truth is even though skateboarding is so mainstream the common man on the streets sees it as a threat to the society he/she is so used to. They want the injustice, social inequality, governmental/corporate controls, regulations on freedoms etc. Their minds can’t take it that this person seems so focussed and happy at something, that the skater seems to be expressing something too freely, too purely (hes just trying to make a over crook on this nice bench he found, maybe come by later and film it). If we define crimes as something that society doesn’t approve of then crimes really have nothing to do with morality. Not very long back it was legal to keep slaves and illegal for slaves to run away, it was legal for Brahmins to stop Dalits from entering certain places, it was illegal for women to play a man’s role in a play and the list can go on. So in today’s world it is illegal for you to express yourself in a way others don’t understand (also if the powers that be disagree with your point of view, then you just disappear). So you have these “concerned citizens” running around telling us what is the right way to use a bench, kerb or the street not because this is the law but because the present times just don’t allow anyone to express their true feelings. This is what makes them frustrated and look for someone to take it out on. I mean how can you have fun if I can’t?
Next time you feel that your street mission is turning into a courtroom drama with some random person just remember that they as individuals have nothing against skateboarding , they are in fact frustrated with their own station in life which makes them want to interfere in the lives of others, they have lost control over their own so they want to find someone they can control.
It happens way too often that when you roll up to a spot and I mean a real skate spot on the street. You look around and it seems like this isnt even private property it is literally on the side of the road. It has to be ok to skate here, I mean who is going to bust you. You put your stuff down in the corner and start to have a session. In less than two attempts at a trick (read that as 3 minutes) somebody (obviously a concerned citizen) wants you to stop what you re doing. I mean there is no point in telling this person that there are hungry people dying homeless on the street everyday (vagrancy is a big problem nin out country) , there are companies cutting down forests and making the air bad, the government is controlling the media to hide their motives while making you think that the most important news of the day is some bollywood actor who may or may not have been on drugs. None of this matters because the need of the hour is for you to stop skating this spot immediately (out of concern for public safety and well being ofcourse). Well dear citizen you are just a busybody with less concern for the country and its people than you are for a small feeling of power over someone else. Since this person is unable to control their environment (due to the above mentioned government and corporate control structures) they have a need to be able to control something. This translates into stopping some skater from using public property in a way that seems to blow the minds of petty individuals. If you as a skater try to get a reason out of them as to why you have to stop skating (I mean it’s a free country and “skateboarding is not a crime) they will have a myriad list of things to tell you. “The ground will break”, “if you hurt yourself who is responsible” , “what kind of example are you setting by doing this” , “why don’t you go play cricket or football like a normal person”, “this is not a playground” and the list can endlessly go on. There is a justification against each and every one of these concerns but this citizen will just not listen, the skater will slowly get frustrated, then angry and then will do or say something to piss of the citizen. Which will then result in the dreaded calling of the police (who will definitely not be on your side) so the skater just spits some violent words at the citizen and leaves. The truth is even though skateboarding is so mainstream the common man on the streets sees it as a threat to the society he/she is so used to. They want the injustice, social inequality, governmental/corporate controls, regulations on freedoms etc. Their minds can’t take it that this person seems so focussed and happy at something, that the skater seems to be expressing something too freely, too purely (hes just trying to make a over crook on this nice bench he found, maybe come by later and film it). If we define crimes as something that society doesn’t approve of then crimes really have nothing to do with morality. Not very long back it was legal to keep slaves and illegal for slaves to run away, it was legal for Brahmins to stop Dalits from entering certain places, it was illegal for women to play a man’s role in a play and the list can go on. So in today’s world it is illegal for you to express yourself in a way others don’t understand (also if the powers that be disagree with your point of view, then you just disappear). So you have these “concerned citizens” running around telling us what is the right way to use a bench, kerb or the street not because this is the law but because the present times just don’t allow anyone to express their true feelings. This is what makes them frustrated and look for someone to take it out on. I mean how can you have fun if I can’t?
Next time you feel that your street mission is turning into a courtroom drama with some random person just remember that they as individuals have nothing against skateboarding , they are in fact frustrated with their own station in life which makes them want to interfere in the lives of others, they have lost control over their own so they want to find someone they can control.
