Oops, there goes gravity
First background.
My dad was an enlisted guy in the Air Force. Growing up we made due, but we didn't have a lot and we were definitely not well off. I always wanted the really cool stuff, but also always made due with the "not quite" cool stuff. When Schwinn came out with the Apple Crate and Orange Crate bikes in the 60's with the banana seats, I was riding my uncle's hand-me-down three speed with a frame like a touring bike - about as far from cool as you could possibly get, but it did get me around. My little brothers got Schwinn look-a-likes (and I was envious), but they weren't the real thing. If Levis jeans were cool, I had jeans, but they weren't Levis. I could sometimes get close to having the cool stuff, but I never got there.
So now, back to today. At work we're trying to help some under-priveleged kids have a Christmas, and some of them have asked for skateboards. Some specifically have asked for long skateboards or 'gravity' boards. A friend of the wife's sister's boyfriend has a skate shop in St. Augustine where he makes long boards, so I thought...cool, I'll slide the guy a little business and help a kid in the process. I had no idea what a gravity board was, but I own one of this guy's skate boards, and yes sports fans, I ride it occasionally. Before you go looking, I'm pretty sure there are no pictures of that floating around on the net.
In an effort to make sure I was going in the right direction, I decided to Google 'gravity boards', and was in for a rude awakening. 'Gravity' is a brand name. Apparently its a very cool brand of long board, and also very expensive (which may be why it's cool). $150 for a skateboard? Immediately I was thrown back to my childhood, and how I never got the cool stuff, and I can see these kids, pretty much saying the same thing. Still, the $150 skateboard is a bit outa my league. We already did a few charity things for Christmas (or the generic Winter Holiday, in some circles) and this is going over the top as it is, and...to order the Gravity Board from their website, there's a two week delay because they're swamped for Christmas (or the generic Winter Holiday) and the stuff has to be gathered and ready to go to the kids by Friday. So long story kinda short, whoever this kid is, like me when I was his age, won't be getting the very cool long board. He'll get a nice long board though, hand made by a guy in Saint Augustine who does a great job. In my opinion, it's probably a better product, but I'm saying that without ever actually holding a Gravity Board. I'm sure the one I get will even have a little bit of cool thrown in for good measure.
The rest of the story - the hand made board ain't any cheaper (but dang, these things are 4 feet long!), but I'm going for it anyway. In the words of Miles from Risky Business, "Sometimes you gotta say "What the Fuck", make your move. Joel, every now and then, saying "What the Fuck", brings freedom. Freedom brings opportunity, opportunity brings freedom." I know Miles is sorta stuck in a logical loop, but it works for me about now. After all, it's the Chrisss..generic Winter Holiday season.
My dad was an enlisted guy in the Air Force. Growing up we made due, but we didn't have a lot and we were definitely not well off. I always wanted the really cool stuff, but also always made due with the "not quite" cool stuff. When Schwinn came out with the Apple Crate and Orange Crate bikes in the 60's with the banana seats, I was riding my uncle's hand-me-down three speed with a frame like a touring bike - about as far from cool as you could possibly get, but it did get me around. My little brothers got Schwinn look-a-likes (and I was envious), but they weren't the real thing. If Levis jeans were cool, I had jeans, but they weren't Levis. I could sometimes get close to having the cool stuff, but I never got there.
So now, back to today. At work we're trying to help some under-priveleged kids have a Christmas, and some of them have asked for skateboards. Some specifically have asked for long skateboards or 'gravity' boards. A friend of the wife's sister's boyfriend has a skate shop in St. Augustine where he makes long boards, so I thought...cool, I'll slide the guy a little business and help a kid in the process. I had no idea what a gravity board was, but I own one of this guy's skate boards, and yes sports fans, I ride it occasionally. Before you go looking, I'm pretty sure there are no pictures of that floating around on the net.
In an effort to make sure I was going in the right direction, I decided to Google 'gravity boards', and was in for a rude awakening. 'Gravity' is a brand name. Apparently its a very cool brand of long board, and also very expensive (which may be why it's cool). $150 for a skateboard? Immediately I was thrown back to my childhood, and how I never got the cool stuff, and I can see these kids, pretty much saying the same thing. Still, the $150 skateboard is a bit outa my league. We already did a few charity things for Christmas (or the generic Winter Holiday, in some circles) and this is going over the top as it is, and...to order the Gravity Board from their website, there's a two week delay because they're swamped for Christmas (or the generic Winter Holiday) and the stuff has to be gathered and ready to go to the kids by Friday. So long story kinda short, whoever this kid is, like me when I was his age, won't be getting the very cool long board. He'll get a nice long board though, hand made by a guy in Saint Augustine who does a great job. In my opinion, it's probably a better product, but I'm saying that without ever actually holding a Gravity Board. I'm sure the one I get will even have a little bit of cool thrown in for good measure.
The rest of the story - the hand made board ain't any cheaper (but dang, these things are 4 feet long!), but I'm going for it anyway. In the words of Miles from Risky Business, "Sometimes you gotta say "What the Fuck", make your move. Joel, every now and then, saying "What the Fuck", brings freedom. Freedom brings opportunity, opportunity brings freedom." I know Miles is sorta stuck in a logical loop, but it works for me about now. After all, it's the Chrisss..generic Winter Holiday season.
John put this out here at 8:41 AM
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