SKATEBOARDING AND GROWING UP.....THE UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATION

I was bored one Saturday night and made the familiar skateboarder mistake of visiting the SLAP message boards (yes, that still exist OGs) when I read some disturbing shit about Yonnie Cruz and Johan Stuckey. I was reading a thread about professional skateboarders in their 30's still doing juvenile ass creep shit that was acceptable when they were teenagers. I had a discussion with one of my friends and was informed of a saying in the skateboarding community: "skateboarding is a fraternity". My question in response to that is this: at what point do we as skateboarders leave this "fraternity"? At some point in our lives we have to grow up, we have to mature, start acting our age. We are not our high school selves anymore, we have grown up, however some of our favorite skateboarders that we grew up with didn't and that is such a disappointing thing to me. There are so many stories now coming up of skaters our age still being predatory towards women, spreading STDs and being manipulative to get some pussy. That to me is corny as hell and a really bad look for not only the community, but the companies sponsoring these professional skaters. What these people fail to realize is that as a professional skater, you are now a public figure, you are the face of whatever brand you are representing. People may not necessarily be a part of the skateboarding community, but they may have friends that skate and put people on to you as a professional skater. At a certain point, we have to look at ourselves and each other and say to ourselves "the behavior we are displaying as HUMANS, not skateboarders, but HUMANS is not cool when you reach a certain age". Acting like a high school senior at 25+ is really not a good look at all, we used skateboarding as an excuse to act immature and outright weird for way too long. I'm not saying to be serious and moody all the time, no by all means I am here for the good vibes and energy skateboarding brings to my life and everyone involved in this great creative tool on a wooden plank and four wheels. What I am saying is this: at the end of the day, you're still a human adult being without that skateboard in your hands, it is okay to be an adult with a full-time 9-5, it is okay to also be a mature adult in check of their emotions and not be or feel entitled to whatever and whoever you want just because of your status as a professional skateboarder. Actually, to be honest this message isn't just about the professional skateboarders (the ones that actually skate full time and get paid enough to not need a side-hustle) this also for the 9-5ers that skate on their off days or skate on their lunch break: Don't be weird, don't be manipulative to get what you want, be genuine and if someone isn't down for you, move on until you eventually find someone who is down for you. Otherwise get some help, check yourself and check your homies too when they are doing predatory shit. Another thing: I am guilty of this myself but having temper tantrums over not landing a trick gets kinda old, we need to find healthier ways to let off some frustration, kicking baby strollers out of your way in anger isn't a good look either, all that does to be honest, is give Karens an excuse to shut down our favorite skate spots around the world (in this case, NYC) I said all that to say this one very basic thing: Dear skateboarders(ing) it is time to grow up, we are not 16 anymore homies and homettes...