Last week I was at the my local skatepark after it had been closed for several days for maintenance and some additions like a flat bar and picnic table. The county did a nice job and the paint they used on the concrete was not slippery like stuff they had used in the past, so kudos to that! Well, since then, I’ve heard not even a week has gone by and somebody has ripped out the flatbar…the rumor is that is was bikers. Now, when I was frequenting the park more back in 2004-2007, there were not many bikers at all at this park, rightfully so, because bikes are not allowed at the park. Well, now, you’ll find tons of bikes at the park, sometimes actually outnumbering the skateboarders. I have nothing personal against bikers, but the rules of the park state no bikes and it is actually more enjoyable to skate there knowing that a bike isn’t going to collide with you.
The point of this post is just for me to gripe about the grafitti and the vandalism of the park. I would think a flatbar added to the park would be a good thing for all skaters to enjoy, not something somebody would rip out. I don’t get it? Also, I for one view grafitti as part of the skateboarding culture, but obviously the county does not like it, so why grafitti up the park knowing that the county will just close the park and paint over it….seems like such a waste of time on everybody’s part. I know it wastes my time when I drive down to the park only to find it closed because some snot nosed kids grafittied it or ripped something out of the ground! Ok, I know, it’s not fair to assume its some snot nosed kids…I suppose it may not even be skaters or bikers doing it. I don’t know, just please, can’t we all just respect the skatepark and be grateful we have a free place with smooth concrete to ride our skateboards at without hassle from business owners…..I know I am. For the 7 years that I skated back in the 80s to 90s in Nebraska, I didn’t have a skatepark. I had the ledges and stairs at a movie theater located on military housing along with a ditch that ran between the houses that was pretty cool, the parking blocks at the local Hardees and my friends launch ramp, quarter pipe and homemade grind rail, oh and my driveway. 🙂 It still blows me away when I realize I had a 12 year break from skateboarding back when there were no skateparks in my area except for 1 that was an hour away and only had a vert ramp and then when I turned 30 back in 2004, there are a multitude of skateparks available and from 2004 to 2006 I had been to about 4 different skateparks and skated my first pool. It’s just crazy…I wish all these parks existed when I was a kid!
I meant to mention this while griping about the vandalism at my local park, but why not install surveillance cameras at the park? That way when vandalism happens, we know who to point the finger at and we can punish those who deserve punishing and maybe just maybe prevent further vandalism to occur at the park, I don’t know…just a thought.
There was a time when you could catch a beat down just for looking like a skater, let alone if you were actually caught skateboarding. You did it for the love, not for money, attention, sponsorship. You just skated for the love of skating. Then along came commercial interests and a large coporations who have absolutely nothing to do with skateboarding entered the picture and the whole thing snowballed. Skateboarding is today more widely accepted than ever. Skaters coming up today don't have to DIY or skate what's available (although some of us do because the worst thing about the public parks is sometimes the public itself), because they have public parks to take advantage of. Skaters have never had it better. Yet, there are those within the scene who feel that they have to defecate where they eat. Not a good idea. It also points to a larger problem of kids getting everything had to them which has created a jaded society of youngsters among us. This generalization does not apply to everyone but I'm sure you see what I'm trying to say. Don't poop where you eat. Don't vandalize a free skatepark. Have some respect for yourself and others. Unbelievable. Thanks.