STOP! OR I'LL SAY STOP AGAIN!

skateboarding in the eighties

It was a different time.

When I started skateboarding in the eighties, my municipality had essentially outlawed skateboarding. In an attempt to rid the streets of the four wheeled scourge, the city sent it’s ‘finest’ out to serve and protect the masses from youthful exuberance.

We were not allowed on suburban streets.

We were not allowed on sidewalks.

Skateparks did not exist.

And private property?

There we were met by security guards armed with a flashlight and a walkie talkie.

As these marginally employed powerless people chased us from one place to another. As they did, we ridiculed their powerlessness with out favourite joke: STOP! OR I’LL SAY STOP AGAIN!

Most of our time was spent running from the police, security guards and our teachers.

Now, with support, skateboarding is in the Olympics.

Now, everywhere I turn, I see a new place for people to play.

Now almost every reel I see on my phone features tricks and innovations that would have been unthinkable back then.

Imagine what it would ha…