This pisses me off so much.

"Rainbow" (rainbeaux) 01/04/2014 at 02:33 • Filed to: None

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There is such an incredible amount of discrimination against skaters. I don't even ride (though I do own a board and use it solely for transportation around campus) but I've seen more than enough of this shit in person. If you ride a skateboard, you're apparently a worthless scumbag no matter what.

midengineer > Rainbow 01/04/2014 at 03:12

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While there was inexcusable behavior by the non-skateboarders, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the places had a no skateboarding rule for liability purposes not just to hate on skateboarding. That said, people will always be judgmental idiots.

Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura > Rainbow 01/04/2014 at 03:21

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02:06 While her ideas are spot on, that's still fucking theft.

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > Rainbow 01/04/2014 at 03:32

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We'll, it's similar with road cyclists and swimming. People mark it as "gay" (speedos, cycling clothing). Least skateboarders have a Better image among teenagers and young people.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > midengineer 01/04/2014 at 03:50

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Also I totally understand why parks and building and such get pissed off at skaters. Grinding on benches and poles, and especially low concrete/stone structures can seriously damage them and make them look like crap

Now that's not to say most skaters don't get a worse rap than they deserve but it's things like this that don't endear yourself to communities

RotaryLover > Rainbow 01/04/2014 at 06:25

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You and I both man...you and I both.

JACU - I've got bonifides. > Rainbow 01/04/2014 at 08:19

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Back when I worked in IT, the city built a really nice little park across the street from our building. A local artist had welded up some neat little pieces and we had nice benches, new sidewalks and handicap accessibility. Many of us would take our lunches and our iPods and go sit there for our mid-day break.

Then the skaters came.

Soon we had scrapes and scratches on most of the curbing. They would use the welded artwork as their launch pads. Many of us asked politely if they would at least let us have our noon break in peace, and the results were usually "Fuck you it's public man. We got the right to be here just as much as you!"

Of course not all skaters are like that, but when most of one's experience with a genre is mostly negative, one can't help to develop a negative attitude towards that genre.

lucky's pepper > Rainbow 01/04/2014 at 09:08

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In must clips in that video the skateboarders were on private property, skating and wrecking around easily damaged property (like cars) and through landscaped areas. Pretty clear none of them have any respect for the property of others. And what happens when one of them injures themselves with one of their stunts? Then they or their parents sue the property owners for not stopping them from doing dangerous things.

In the clip with the two officers and the van one of the officers is explaining to the boys why they can't skate in public areas (at least I think that's what he's saying because it was tough to hear all the dialogue over the crappy background noise and the profanities being yelled by the kids), saying there is an ordinance against it. One boy responds by saying "you expect 15 y/o kids to read?!".

davedave1111 > IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK 01/04/2014 at 09:32

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Try substituting, say, 'black people' for skaters and maybe you'll see the problem. It's pure prejudice to assume someone's behaviour based on their appearance and hobbies - although not quite as bad as assuming it based on something they can't change like skin colour.

davedave1111 > Rainbow 01/04/2014 at 09:42

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I couldn't help noticing that in at least some of the videos the skaters were indeed behaving like complete asshats. It's hardly prejudice when someone recognises you specifically as the person who damaged their property yesterday and has a go, and thinking 'well that was a different day' is some kind of excuse is just plain dumb.

Mind you, I used to get a lot of crap back in the day for stuff that was a) legal and b) not damaging anything or harming anyone. Some people just hate the young. And some hate skaters/bikers.

The bit that always gets me is that places which complain about 'teenage tearaways' and youth crime then refuse to spend a small fraction of the money it costs to incarcerate a single bad teenager on providing some facilities for good teenagers to have something legal to do that they enjoy.

A few years back I helped get a campaign for skate/bike park funding through. The total amount was £10k or something ridiculously tiny like that, just for one park, on donated land. We eventually managed to get some traction after pointing out that the council had just given a £100k grant to send half a dozen criminal teenagers on activity holidays as part of the rehabilitation process, but wouldn't give a tenth of that to keep a few hundred law-abiding teenagers busy and out of trouble.

It's harder to get a license to open a skate park in London than to get a license to open somewhere that sells alcohol 24 hours a day.

Roberto G. > Rainbow 01/04/2014 at 10:04

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Bestest clip I have seen today!

Would you please pass this award to the director and to all the participants?

Schultz > lucky's pepper 01/04/2014 at 10:48

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He meant to read the rules and laws (Not the posted one,but the city/county/whatever laws.

lucky's pepper > Schultz 01/04/2014 at 12:23

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I know what he meant. A law doesn't have to be posted on signage to be valid and enforceable.

lucky's pepper > Roberto G. 01/04/2014 at 12:46

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That was brilliant!! Thanks for putting a smile on my face this morning.