Skateboarding: Why should youth be wasted on the young?
For the last couple of years, I was a frequent visitor to a magical place, a place where, honestly, I had no real business being at age 42: a skateboard shop!
I was instantly a kid again, trying to figure out how many lawns I'd need to mow to buy the latest Tony Hawk skateboard. But it turns out I didn't have to, because my wife surprised me by buying me one for my birthday.
Without a doubt, it was the best present I'd ever gotten, and also the one that most necessitated me updating my will. Because you see, while inside I felt like a kid again, outside I remained very much a middle-aged man with a sense of balance that could only be described as intermittent.
I didn't let that stop me, though, and despite more than a few falls I felt like it was coming back to me.
Heck, I even skateboarded past a bunch of teenagers one time and I swear I heard one of them say, "That guy is cool!"
I was on top of the world!
And then, I saw the meme – you know, one of those funny pictures that lives online.
It's called, "How do you do, fellow kids?" and it shows actor Steve Buscemi trying to seem youthful, carrying a skateboard.
In an instant, I realized that was me – a silly-looking 42-year-old with a mortgage and high cholesterol who thought he could reconnect with his youth.
I knew it was time to hang up my board. The dream was over.
And then something interesting happened. At a radio show taping I was part of, I met the actual Tony Hawk, skateboard legend, who, it turns out, is eight years older than me – and still skateboarding every day.
I told him about my doubts, and he confided in me that he still gets nervous before jumping his board 30 feet in the air and completely rotating it two-and-a-half times. I told him I knew how he felt, because sometimes I just fall off the board for no reason.
For a brief moment he wasn't Tony Hawk and I wasn't Luke Burbank. We were just two dudes, talking about skateboarding.
Will I ever be as good as him? Probably not! But am I giving up? Not a chance.
I've just got one question I need answered: How do you do, fellow kids?
For more info:
Story produced by Young Kim.
See also:
- 11-year-old skateboarding prodigy Sky Brown sets her sights on the 2020 Olympics ("CBS This Morning")
- Female skaters swirl together: "Girl power is real" ("CBS This Morning")
- Skateboard accidents land scores of kids in the ER every day (CBS News)
- Learning life's ups and downs on a skateboard ("CBS Evening News)
- A skateboard company that builds more than boards ("Sunday Morning," 5/18/14)