There's no place to go on the weekends, and nothing to do after school



You're 14 years old, and you're bored. The word that adults use most to describe you is "awkward." You hang out in your room, play computer games nonstop, and talk about games on the phone. You live in a 'burb in the Midwest, the South, the Northeast, wherever, and there's no place to go on the weekends. There's nothing to do after school. But, there is a new skateboard park.

At least it's a place to go.

You're not a skater, so there's no point in it, but you go. The first day you smirk at the skaters with stupid haircuts. They're required to wear helmets, but they don't clip the straps under their chins. Kids act like they're in love with their boards, but they trip and fall off them all the time. Stupid, it's all so stupid.

It doesn't matter, at least you're out of the house.

On the second day, a guy sits on the wall near you, opens his backpack, and starts pulling out a new skateboard deck, trucks, wheels and bearings, and grid tape, and starts building a board. You give him a hand, and he asks if you want his old board. You say you don't skate, but he brings the board the next day.

It's just a board.

So you sit with it under your feet that day, rolling it back and forth. You skate home that night. Feels good. You get it out before school and skate down the street a few times. Nice. The yards go by fast, the grass smells good early in the morning. You get your balance and turn corners with a whoosh, and you don't feel so, well, awkward. It's hard to stop to go to school, and during classes, you feel like you want to get back on the board. After school, you take your bike helmet and board, and head to the skate park.

There, you experience moments of magic.

You fall off a lot on the beginner course, and you start to watch other skaters with a different eye. You see how they position their feet, and how they mount the board before they slide down a major drop. You try it. You wipe out. You try it again; you wipe out again. You try it one more time, and you make it — and it's like sailing. It's like flying in a dream. You look up, and you know you're smiling, and the guy on the his new board gives you the nod.

You're hooked.

Now you want to know everything about skating and skate parks. SkatePark.org is the place for message board topics from skate camps to sarcastic rants, sustainability to design. There are also resources and advice for building your own ramps and parks. Hm, if you're not 14 years old, but you have a teenager in your life, maybe you can find a spot in your town for a skate park.

You can be very cool and raise funds to get it started. Whoosh!

Juliana Luecking, aka Queen Juliana, is the MOLI View's contributing editor for Life & Love.