WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT SKATING

First off, I'm talking about skateboarding. Rollerskating is still lame. I'm not saying you shouldn't rollerskate. You can do whatever your heart desires. But in the Grand Pantheon of Inefficient Transportation Methods, skateboards are way cooler than rollerblades.

Is it possible to love skating and also be horrible at it? Is it possible to love the culture that surrounds skating and also be very scared of being near it? Is it possible to think about skating at any given moment throughout the day and also find almost any excuse to not skate when you finally get a free moment in the day?

I submit to you that it is.

I've been trying to skate for about twelve years now and I haven't gotten any better since the first six months. I learned how to ollie while moving and then tried to learn how to kickflip ever since. I can't figure it out. I've been trying for, I guess, eleven and a half years and still haven't landed one, not even by accident.

I used to know how to do a pop shovit, I think, but I stopped doing them because I thought they were dumb and now I'm too scared of getting hurt to try again. I can manual kind of decently, but that's less of a trick and more of a thing you just have to learn if you want to move on a skateboard.

I can't grind. I don't go to the skatepark because I'm scared that the other skaters will beat me up. I don't skate on the street because I'm scared that one of my wheels will get caught on a rock and my body will go careening into traffic. I don't go to the secret skate spot I know of because I'm scared a city official will notice me going down there and tear the place up and all the other skaters will get mad at me and beat me with their boards.

Basically, I'm scared that trying to have fun will lead to being battered and left for dead on the side of the road.

But I love the idea of skating! That's good enough, right?