I think my antipathy for surf culture came from that fact that summers had nothing to do with white sand, bouncing beach beauties, fresh ocean breeze, or twanging guitars in my neighborhood. For me and my friends, summer meant hiding from the sun, avoiding the black asphalt parking lots, and sweating so much that your blue-jean cutoffs chafed. One day on a visit to my suburban cousin's house I got a glimpse of what kept those surfers throwing themselves into vicious waves and wearing such ugly swim trunks.
A gangly blond kid flew by me on a skateboard. It was wooden, with metal wheels, and it hummed and clacked as he navigated the cracked sidewalk. He smirked at me knowingly, as if I was some toddler he'd just taught his first bad word. But I would never forget the way he crouched low and swayed, his hands to the side for balance, his hair flying out behind him like a horse's tail. I had my own board by the end of the summer.
Surfers built skateboards in the early 60s so that they could surf anytime, anywhere. It didn't take long for toy companies to jump on the bandwagon and produce the first mass-consumption versions, heavy and stiff by today's standards. The 70s are widely-regarded as the First Golden Age of skateboards, with the equipment improving and spreading, even to urban youth. Skateboards and motorcross bikes became enduring symbols of youth for this generation. They offered freedom and mobility.
A permanent fixture in teen culture, skateboarding was reborn in the 90s with its own vibrant sub-culture. Beginning with Marty McFly and his heroic boarding in Back to the Future and extending to Bart Simpson and his nightly anti-authoritative skateboard ride on The Simpsons, the skateboard now carries with it messages of rebellion and disaffection. Skateboarders are widely associated with certain types of music (see skate punk and ska), clothing (how baggy can it be?), language (shred, thrash), and criminal behavior (ever been chased out of a public park by cops?). Forget that the sport has spawned video games (http://www.videogames.com/psx/sports/thr... its first national hero (ever hear of Tony Hawk?), a spinoff sport or two (snowboarding, street luge), its roots are still in defiance and in-your-face youthfulness.
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