Skateboard Encounter

Skateboard Encounter

The other day I was practicing skateboarding at my usual location—round the corner on a slight incline, around 5pm. Suddenly a red car drew up next to me and the driver opened the passenger side window. She said: “I see you every day as I’m driving home from work and I just want to say you are the coolest person I have ever seen”. I felt flattered but slightly bemused: what was so cool about seeing me skateboarding? It’s not as if I am good at it. Was it my outfit—with helmet and padded knees and elbows? Hardly. Then it occurred to me: it was the fact of my age that had prompted her (sincere) declaration. It was cool that someone as old as me would be out learning to skateboard. That or my naturally cool demeanor… Anyway, we got talking—she was Cuban and evidently lively. Soon we were discussing people and I expressed my misgivings about Americans I have known (a frequent refrain). She didn’t immediately react but then abruptly announced, “Americans are assholes”. I doubled up with laughter. I remarked incredulously that the women are no better than the men. “Oh no”, she replied, “they are much worse than the men”. A couple of minutes later she drove off, saying she would see me again, same time same place. I went back to skateboarding. Make of this what you like; I found it fascinating.