Adults should stop policing skateboarders

Thin-Sliced Why should skaters receive any respect; aren’t they just troublemakers? On the contrary, a skateboarder is as much a person as you are and is thus entitled to as much respect as anyone. Nevertheless, skaters are being discriminated against every day. I know this because I am a skater, and I have experienced the almost universal negative reception which skaters receive primarily from adults. The disgusting generalization of skaters as obnoxious and dangerous comes from a lot of fear and hatred. Shame on society. Adults must stop unnecessarily policing skaters because such actions are primitive, offensive, and unjust. It was mid-evening, and the neighborhood streets were already bathed in the pale orange light of the street lamps. Daniel and I cut through the street on our skateboards. We sped down the street on our boards, and then slowed to a stop in a cul-de-sac. “It’s a great night for skating,” Daniel said, getting off his board. “Yeah, it’s cool and quiet,” I agreed. We sat on the sidewalk on our boards in front of a house in silence for a moment. “We probably won’t get to do this for awhile since school is starting soon,” I said. Daniel responded with a nonchalant shrug. “Well,” I began, rising to my feet, “let’s enjoy it while we can.” The two of us had begun to walk away from the sidewalk holding our boards. Just then, headlights pierced through the darkness and rounded the corner into the cul-de-sac slowly. Daniel and I stepped out of the car’s way awkwardly as it seemed to approach us like some enigmatic red predator. With an electronic “woosh” the driver’s side window sailed down. Inside was a blond woman, probably in her thirties, leveling a cold and questioning stare at us. “Who are you?” Her tone matched her gaze.p\ Daniel and I stopped and stood a couple of feet from the side of her car. “I’m Kevin, and this is Daniel,” I said. “Where do you boys live?” she asked scarcely after I had replied. Still I ventured to answer politely, “Daniel lives up the street.” “What are you doing here?” she asked. Once again, she almost cut into my reply. I began to feel vexed. This woman didn’t care about my answers; she only wanted to interrogate me with disdain. “We’re just chilling.” “Yup, just cruising around,” Daniel chimed in. “You’re just chilling? Well what are you doing in front of my house?” she asked. “We were talking, m’am; we didn’t even know this was your house,” I returned. I had done nothing wrong, so I wasn’t going to let a super suspicious woman upset me. She seemed perturbed that we hadn’t kowtowed to her imaginary authority. She was also lacking justification for her hostile suspicions. “Well, it’s dark out, and I was just wondering why you boys were hanging around my house,” she said in her icy tone. I laid down my board and mounted it; Daniel did the same. “Forget about it because we’re leaving,” I said. And with that, my friend and I skated out of the cul-de-sac and back up his street. I was burning with anger and indignation. Who was this woman to interrogate me with such cold manners and narrow preconceptions? I’d just been subjected to prejudice of the most disgraceful kind, one based solely on a person’s image. She was ill disposed to me from the moment she saw me. I had been thin-sliced. When you see someone with a diminutive figure and large glasses, you may automatically categorize them as a “nerd” without any basis for your judgement other than your perception of their appearance. She had seen two teenagers with skateboards and reduced us to troublesome, rowdy, profane, and dangerous youths who had no right to use the space of sidewalk in front of her house. We did not deserve the resentful recognition we had received from her. Her cold hostility resulted from the widely popular idea in communities that skateboarders menace and terrorize society. However, such thinking is archaic and small-minded. For instance, if radical, bloody jihads are caused by Muslims, should we then classify all Muslims everywhere as violent and belligerent human beings? The answer is glaringly obvious. It took much time for me to get over my feelings of anger towards the injustice of being treated like a second class citizen. Eventually I moved on, but I know that this won’t be the last time I am marginalized. In conclusion, society, particularly adults, should desist in treating skaters in a way that is demeaning. Treating my kind with disrespect and scorn will accomplish nothing besides causing them to retaliate and attack. Adults commonly and frequently generalize us on the account of their own bias. I admit some of our public reputation was earned, but does that mean we can’t earn a better one? The Declaration of Independence states that, “all men are created equal,” so don’t skateboarders deserve basic human respect? In light of this, the next time you encounter a skater I hope you will accept that skater with an open-mind.