Usually, when someone sees a guy or a girl skateboarding down the pavement, the person observing would think that they are no-life vandals who are up to no good. But the truth is, most skateboarders are the complete opposite.
As a skateboarder, I have encountered countless situations that bothered me. When I'm practicing a trick, or just cruising down the pavement, some people tend to give me "the look" and tell me to go away or they'll call the cops. So I go away.
Some of my skater friends had also reported the same things happening to them. One of them even got his board confiscated-he got it back, fortunately-and another got his board broken-which is obviously not fortunate. Others got warned that what they're doing is very dangerous, which we completely know and completely acknowledge any form of injury.
It always makes me sad when I watch cops or people harassing skateboarders by confiscating their boards or even arresting them. Well, dudes, you just need to say if you want us to leave, then we'll leave. You don't need to sue us and stuff.
We skateboarders only skate for a reason: to have fun and thrill. We do not skate to destroy your pavements or just wreck havoc. We skate because we love skating. And if you ever think skaters like us are no good teenagers who doesn't have a life, well then get a load of this: Most skateboarders are college graduates and professionals-people with jobs. Yes, that's the majority of us. And including me, a top student in my school, loves skating while maintaining a stable GPA.
If you don't understand us, why we do these "reckless" and "dangerous" things, either stop bothering us, or go grab a board to know how we feel.
Not all skateboarders are bad. Most of us are good, actually. But to admit, not all skateboarders are good, too.
But stop treating us like a big bunch of crack addicts, because we're just people like you.