I dropped Charlie off at the skate park yesterday. He wanted to practice some of his scooter tricks.
On the way over to the park, he said, “When I first went to the skate park, I was worried that the kids wouldn’t like me because I was new, but the skating community is supportive of everyone. We help each other get better.”
A supportive community?
I did not speak like this when I was 13 years old. Also, if a newbie showed up for anything in 1984, we definitely teased them for being so dumb.
And the same was true if I were the newbie.
I remember asking some Boy Scouts at a camping trip who were hacky-sacking what they were doing.
They teased me for the entire weekend. Rightfully so.
The world has changed quite a bit since I was a kid.
Probably for the better, but I’m still not sure. I appreciate the increased level of kindness in the world, but I’m also concerned about the fragility I see in young people.
Perhaps these two things are not related.
About 15 minutes after dropping off Charlie, I received this series of text messages from him:
There’s a Karen here.
So she took her little kid here to play with his toy cars.
And that is already annoying enough because it’s meant for skaters
Not little kids to play around
And then
I’m trying to skate an obstacle
and there is one of the toy cars in the way
So I put it on a bench
Then
The mom walks up to me and says, “If you want to skate, get your own park.”
“This is a public park, you know,” I say
So then I say
“I’m just moving it out of the way. I don’t want to get injured or break the toy.”
And she said, “Then get your own park.”
Like who does that?
Jerk
It’s a public park for skaters.
Not for little kids to crawl on and get killed after they get smooshed by a skateboard
I’m so annoyed
A couple of things:
Charlie actually used those quotation marks in his texts. I’m so proud of him. People have accused me of my text messages being too grammatically correct.
I’ve never even used an emoji.
Not once in my life.
Seeing Charlie use quotation marks, commas, and periods made my heart soar.
I was also thrilled by his willingness to take on this woman and not slink away. He had every right to that park, so he had every right to fire back at this woman and her stupidity.
I was so proud of him.
And he’s correct. The skate park is not a place for small children with toys. It’s specifically designed for skateboarding, roller skating, scootering, and the like. It’s designed to provide kids with a space to engage in these activities and keep them away from public sidewalks, parks, and the like.
I’m happy he fired back at her with his words.
Additionally, I’m incredibly annoyed that I wasn’t there. I hate missing out on verbal sparring. I can’t stand the thought that someone was acting like a jerk, and I wasn’t there to make them feel like a jerk.
I can’t stand missing out on those moments.
But I gave Charlie some additional tips to use the next time he encounters someone like this. While verbal combat often requires you to be quick on your feet, flexible with your thinking, and surgical with your sentences, a little preparation can go a long way.
