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Skate Park Etiquette
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There are some unwritten rules about every social situation from eating at Burger King to standing in line at the movies. We've all been annoyed by that guy that was acting like an idiot and ruining your fun. And truth be told you've been that guy. So have I! Now I am not here to tell you not to yell at the movie screen or that you should not pick your nose in line at B.K. and then wipe it on your shirt. That is some thing you need to discover on your own. But teaching you skate park etiquette is my duty and responsibility.
Skateboarding can be a very difficult social experience and if you do not follow some simple rules of skate park etiquette you most likely will get hurt and or hurt others. Breaking someone’s arm is not a good way to make new friends.
Rule # 1: TAKE TURNS - You learned this is Kindergarten and it still applies. If nobody is taking turns then you will eventually ride up to the same box as five other skaters. That’s not going to work so be a courteous. Take time and take turns. If you steal someone’s turn you are a snake, a thief or just an old fashioned jerk. Any way you look at it, it is just bnot cool. If someone jacks your turn you’ve been "snaked". After you see how annoying it is you'll think twice about doing it to other people. We can all have fun if we don’t kill each other.
RULE #2: Is like unto the first but not all together the same. Let’s call it "LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP." Now parks are all set up differently and people skate them in different patterns, directions, styles, speeds, and skill levels. There are big old BMXers, little fruit booten roller bladers and the most deadly and stupid of them all the scooter kid. When you ride you should be aware of them all as they move through the park. Look at what everybody else is skating or riding. Know where they are heading so you do not end up smashing in to them. It is up to us, the skateboarders, to look out for the BMXers (most of the time they are bigger.) The bike adds a lot to there size, so like SUV's on the freeway they tend to gut push thier way through. Look out for BMXers. Most of them are pretty cool guys. Roller bladers tend to be snakes like no other. I have nothing good to say about roller bladers. There are probably some cool ones out there so I’ll stop with that. Now scooters are mostly 5 to 9 years old and completely clueless, think of them as hazards like moving rocks that do not know any better. They are just little kids so be careful and be nice. Other skateboarders as well as BMXers, fruit booters and scooters will be all trying to flow the park so look before you leap. We will all have a lot more fun.
RULE # 3: The rule of "SORRY" now we are all human (I hope) and humans tend to make mistakes. You are going to make a mistake; It is going to happen, end of the story. If you think you are never in the wrong just say sorry anyway. You are not going to get punched in the eye for saying "sorry" if it isn’t your fault. If you cut someone off say sorry. If you run in to someone say sorry. If your board shoots out and hits someone or gets too close to someone say sorry. If you break one of the rules that I am listing in this article say sorry. You do not need to be profuse or crying ritteled with remorse. A simple "sorry" let’s the dude know that your not a jerk. The same goes with “thank you.” If some dude picks up your board after it shoots out half way across the park show some appreciation. If some ones board shoots out next to you pick it up and return it. Maybe this should be the nice rule but that sounds super dorky so I will stick with the “sorry” rule.
RULE #4: ONE AT A TIME. This is like taking turns but smarter. There should only be one skater on a ledge rail at any given time. Whether or not you come in direct contact with a person you can still mess them up by being in their comfort zone. So give people enough elbow room to skate. If the person in front of you approaches the box, by not waiting for them to start rolling away, you risk all sorts of mishaps. If you are relying on the person in front of you to land his trick and does not you will either have to dodge him (this will void your turn) or end up slamming on top of him. This is not productive or fun for anyone. The way to avoid these problems is to space your turns so that you start your approach as the person rolls away from your destination.
RULE #5: SIT ONLY ON UNSKATABLE BENCHES. Most parks have benches that are not for skating they are plastic or surrounded by grass ext. These benches are for sitting. I don not know why this is a problem, I just can’t see why you’d want to sit down on a wax covered slab of concrete with a metal edge. I’ve even seen kids sit on rails. That has to be the most uncomfortable thing besides a knife or maybe an angry porcupine to sit on. This is the one rule that I thought I would not have to even put down because it is so very obvious to me, but I guess that I am the smartest man on a skateboard. This rule is simple, but I'll have to say it loud ONLY SIT OUTSIDE THE PARK DO NOT EVER, EVER, EVER SIT ON SOMETHING THAT CAN BE SKATED. I can not be clearer on this.
RULE #6: DO NOT CAMP. The no camping rule is exactly like the no sitting rule. Anything I told you not to sit on don’t stand on it either. Anything that is ment to be skated should be skated. If you just want to chill. Go chill outside the park. Don’t stand up on top of pyrimyds when people are trying to skate it.
RULE #7: Lucky number seven. It is true skaters get lucky some times and land tricks that are randomly way out of their league. So if you are feeling lucky just forget this one. Try stuff that is within your reach. If you can’t kick flip a 3 stair do not try a 360 flip down 11 stairs. Be rational, you will look ridiculous and your wasting your time, plus you'll probably get hurt. You'll may even throw some random flip that you have no control over and who knows where your board will end up.
RULE # 8: Do not snake tricks. Snaking a trick is just like snacking a turn but I think it is worse. If I’ve been trying a kick flip to f/s nose grind all day and you roll up and see that I am trying it and getting really close but I Just can’t keep my front foot on it after the grind leaves the ledge. Then you pull it 3 times, you just snaked my trick (or the trick I was trying) I automatically think of you as a jerk, a show off and that you are trying to show me up or just straight disrespecting me. If you are just trying every thing that I do but not landing it you are "biting my flavors". Not cool man this to is a show off or disrespectful move. Also I'll end up thinking you are just a little copy cat with no mind of your own. Now if I see some dude trying do some rad balls trick that I never thought of or got really close to landing 2 months ago and just forgot about it. Now this person got me hyped. I'll ride up and ask if he minds if I try the trick with him (99.9% will say yes.) but if you do not ask you are a flavor biting snake.
RULE #9: THOU SHALT NOT STEAL (I stole this one from the bible.) Do not steal stuff from the park, these are people you will see a lot. You can’t roll up to the park wearing some ones Baker hat, that got stolen two days ago and expect it to go over well. There is a brotherhood of the boarders. We have taken enough crap from Johnny law and the jocks, gotten kicked out of spots after spots. So don’t screw this up. Stealing from kids at the park is just shooting yourself in the foot. How are you supposed to skate if you are busy watching that hoody you took off because it got to hot. Think about it, do you won’t to go out to the car every time you need your skate tool or what if you pushed to the park or rode the bus. If you can’t feel safe putting your stuff down at a park you are not going to be concentrating enough to have a good session.
RULE #10: Don’t lie. It will just make you look dumb. It may hold up for a little bit, but when people find out your full of crap then no one will listen to you. We are at the skate park to have a good time and get better at skateboarding not to impress every one. That is not why we ride. If it is why you ride I do not even care how good you are; get off your board right now. If you roll up to me and say you are on D.C. flow and you can get me hooked up. I’m not going to buy it and the kids that do will be mad when you do not come through. If you claim that you were going to have a small part in the new KRUX video "Feel'n It", but Jason Ellas lost all your foody I'll never trust another word out your mouth. So don’t tell me about the competition you won that never happened. Don’t tell me that yesterday you where killing the hand rail, but today you can’t even hit the flat bar. Chances are I was there at the park and you where at home playing X-BOX and thinking up this dumb story about the time you and J-Lay hit up this 3 vs 3. last time you where in L.A. Stop b/s'n and start b/s smith’n let your board tell me how good you are.
RULE #11: FOLLOW MY RULES!
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