Way, way back when I was a teenager in the seventies the big thing was skateboarding. I loved it. I loved hanging out with friends who boarded as well – I guess it was a bit of a club that the oldies couldn’t understand and maybe that is what we liked even more. Actually the recent song ‘Forever Young’ by Youth Group is exactly how I remember it to be in Australia.
Fast forward to now and I doubt I could ride a skateboard any more, well not without losing my balance but my son has suddenly and I mean suddenly is interested in skateboarding and scooters. A few friends of his have them and I am sure this was a major reason why he is into boarding – back to my ’70’s club I guess. I was thinking that maybe he wants to be in the cool club but watching him with his friends he already seems to be the cool leader type.
He asked, on the weekend, to go to a skateboard park so he can skate around and learn some tricks and hang out with the cool kids. A skateboard park, gee, where is one near our house? I had no idea. A quick internet search showed a few skate parks needing only a little drive to get to and away we went.
Well, not quite away we went… first he had to have the skate shoes that needed to be just the right look. So, of course, me being the sucker took him to a few skate shops to start looking. We went to the Globe store – absolutely chock full of the latest skate and scooter gear, my son was almost drooling as we walked in. Dad, look at this cap, Dad look at this board, Dad look at these skate shoes, Dad look at this Razor Pro scooter.
My reply was pretty much something like , “Wow that’s amazing” but at the same time my brain was saying “Wow that’s expensive!!” 🙂 I guess I am showing my age because years ago I would have loved any of this gear; now when I picked up a pair of Globe thongs (flip flops in some other countries) I can’t see myself paying $60 for them when I know they probably cost $2 to make. Another thing my son loved about the Globe store was that the front was a mini skate park. So before the store opened he could practice doing his thing on his scooter and skateboard.
We ended at a Surf and Skate store looking at more shoes and he ended up finding a pair of Kustoms that he loved. Of course they were not much cheaper than the Globes but he liked them better. The next few hours was him lacing them up over and over until he got it just how he likes. One fussy boy!
Now he has the look, the skater look – the right shoes, the right cap, the right shorts, the right t-shirt – now all he needs to be able to do is ride a skateboard 🙂
(btw, I have copied this post. I wrote it at today.com but they locked my account so I am taking this back)
goldcoaster 
hi there downunder…..did u watch the movie Australia by Nicole Kidman and Wolverine? Hugh Jackman i mean heheeh