Do you ever find yourself watching kids doing things today that are just as crazy as the things we baby boomers did when we were their age? Arvada, Colorado author Diann Logan does, and what she sees is hip replacements in their future.
Wheeeeee! Who wouldn’t want to be a California Girl, a Surfer Girl, drive a woodie to Surf City and Catch a Wave?
Way back when, it sounded like the most fun we would ever have in our lives, and those of us in landlocked states didn’t want to be left out of the delight and frenzy that was California. We didn’t have an ocean, but we could get in on the party if we had a sidewalk surfboard. We could be asphalt athletes, just like Jan and Dean promised.
But the skateboard industry as we know it today was in its infancy, and there was no real sidewalk surfboard to be found at the local auto supply/sporting goods store in our small town. No Internet for ordering one either. So we made our own. Or at least, someone did. Daddy made mine from a plank of wood and the wheels from my childhood roller skates. Once the wheels were oiled, it was fast, faster, fastest.
The hill that was the in-spot for sledding in winter was transformed into a sidewalk surfer’s paradise that summer. Every weekend, dozens of us tuned our transistor radios to the same station and went flying down the hill on flimsy dangerous contraptions, picked up our boards and tucked them against our hips for the trek back to the top of the hill. There were wipeouts and plenty of scrapes and bruises to prove how much fun we were having, but none of us got very good at it and nobody learned to do tricks.
It didn’t occur to us to use a sidewalk surfboard as a mode of transportation for getting to school or riding on Main Street sidewalks. The downtown merchants, though few in number, formed a united front when it came to keeping teenagers in line. No signs needed to be posted because we already knew the unspoken rules: No loitering, no shenanigans, no noisy kids, certainly no sidewalk surfboards! Downtown sidewalks were for grown-ups and that was that.
Diann Logan
I marvel at today’s proficient skateboarders, the speed and the tricks that are performed at designated skateboard parks. It’s a sport, that’s for sure, but a skateboard can also be a method of travel, propelled by human muscle. When I see those boarders, pushing off with the same foot for every leg of their journey, all I can think about is hip joints.
I’m worried about those kids and the future implications of that constant repetitive impact, always on the same young hip joint that will eventually be an old hip joint. It looks like a setup to me: I predict that by the time they are my age, or maybe sooner, they will have hip problems, joint wear and tear, pain they will have to live with or opt for hip replacement surgery.
But of course, this is one of those things that they don’t want to hear me say, so I won’t. Enjoy the ride….
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Diann’s book is Dear Navel Diary, Are You Listening? (The Navel Diaries)
I’m a Boomer, and I think my very first skateboard was as you described: a wooden plank with roller skate wheels. But I soon graduated to better “store bought” boards, like my first Hobie that I rode absolutely everywhere. It was like my feet were permanently attached to my board. My friends & I formed our own skateboard club. Each of us had our signature trick. Mine was to ride down the steepest hills backwards and on one foot. Another of the guys could do a handstand while riding down the hill. I took plenty of spills, often leaving my scraped skin on the pavement. And, just as you described, I always pushed off with the same foot. I was almost always barefoot, so my paddling foot became one big callous. So calloused that I could put out a cigarette with my bare foot. I skateboarded for years. But, sorry to disappoint you … no hip problems. No joint problems. No surgeries. No pain. I’m not a bit worried about today’s skateboarding kids. But thanks for the article and for reminding me how so many of us got started.