It's all about the Attitude

My friend Phil, brother from another mother, he left me some words a few hours ago. 'Skate it out', he said. And I thank him from the heart. One of the things that I definitely miss most about Korea is the skating. I don't know, I feel much more comfortable skating in Seoul than anywhere else in the world. Sure there's dudes here, and talking about the next bigger city there's a bunch of good spots, too, but I'm not sure that's what makes the difference.

I started skating when I was fourteen. That's a dozen years ago now, it's freaking me out. And when you call yourself a skater, people will ask you stuff like 'Yo, how long've you been skating?' or 'Dude, can you do this? Can you do that?' Well, fuck that. I used to get mad about people who have certain expectations when you tell them that you've been skating for twelve years, almost as long as you've been not skating.  

The other day I was skating at the Herz-Jesu spot, only a few pushes away from here. And as I was trying to get some tricks together, these two kids came up to me and started talking. 'Do a 540 Indy Grab', one of them said. 'Go fuck yourself', I thought. I told him to bring his board, I'd teach him some manners. 'Naa, I don't skate', he went. And I said 'If you don't skate, then don't fucking tell me what to do'.

They turned to each other and I pushed away. When I came back they were still there. 'So what's your best trick?' They didn't understand me being serious. See normally I concider myself a quite friendly type of person, and especially to kids who find the skateboard somewhat interesting I'm more than glad to answer them any questions, I even advertise the skater's way of life. But I'm telling you, it's all about the attitude. 

And these fuckers weren't nice children, you know, they were stupid brats, fifteen maybe sixteen years old, who didn't know how to say hello anymore. I don't blame them in particular, but they have to learn it somewhere. Politeness pays, right?