5 minute read
LAST WORD
Falling Isn’t for the Weak
Memphis is My Boyfriend: in which Cx eeblack is savored, skateboards are tested, and gravity has the last laugh.
One Sunday evening, around 6:30 p.m., my hubby and I decided that we wanted a good cup of co ee. Knowing that most good co ee places are closed at that hour, he did a quick search and found Society Memphis Skatepark and Co ee in Binghampton o Broad. We walked in fully expecting a jazzy co ee club scene. Did we read the well-lit signs? No. Did we ask why there were skateboards on the wall? No. Did we notice the guests in helmets and pads? No.
I’m using the pronoun “we” very loosely. My husband probably noticed all of those things and could have possibly pointed them out to me as we entered, but I was hyper-focused on co ee. And not just any co ee. But the good kind. e Cx eeblack kind!
A er ordering co ee, I took a peek through what appears to be a back door. ere were ramps! Ramps to the le . Ramps to the right! ere were handrails and slopes and ying people! Well, they weren’t actually ying, but they were close. I immediately knew that I was in the presence of the Cool Kids. ey were doing tricks, turns and … and … cool stu . I’m sure all of the moves have names, but I honestly couldn’t tell you.
As I watched with my mouth wide open, my husband leaned over and said, “We should come back here.” And somewhere between pure awe and a co ee high, I agreed. I agreed to go skateboarding as a date night.
Fast forward to Friday night and I found myself nursing another cup of co ee to calm my nerves. (I know, I know. e co ee might have done the opposite, but it was still a great comfort.) e attendant con dently passed me my rental skateboard and le my hubby and me to our own devices. As I looked at the skaters enjoying themselves, I thought, “Maybe I should have signed up for skateboarding lessons.” Well, it was too late for shoulda-coulda-wouldas. I was there and I ain’t no chicken.
Within 15 minutes, I realized that I might not be a scaredy chicken, but I was de nitely not a spring chicken. And 20 seconds a er that realization, I came to terms that I was a scaredy chicken, too. Skateboarding is not an activity for the weak or the timid. My husband and I couldn’t gure out how these Cool Kids got both feet on the boards at the same time. Memphis miracles were happening before my very eyes! A er 20 minutes of failing to even stand and move on the board, my eyes desperately said, “Somebody — anybody — help me!”
And just like that, Cool Kid S. M. Vazquez came to our embarrassing rescue. He showed us the proper way to stand on a skateboard, how to balance, and even a little physics. (Stu about motion, center of gravity, and degrees of something or another. My math doesn’t “math” like everyone else’s.) Nevertheless, I was able to stand on the skateboard and balance. Not in motion, but not falling either. at was until he said that we could try to coast down a very small ramp. is ramp was no higher than 2 feet o the ground with a generous slope. I stood at the top of the mini-Mount Everest (yes, I’m exaggerating) and got balanced. I found my center of gravity and pushed o very, very slowly. And very slowly, the ground came rushing to meet me like a long lost friend. Falling when you’re 7 is quite di erent than when you’re 37. All of my bones vibrated. When the vibrations ended, I felt like pieces of me were oating away. In some distance galaxy, anos had snapped his ngers and I was slowly dissolving away.
Cool Kid Vazquez and my hubby picked me and all my imaginary pieces o the ground. I blinked a few times back to reality and realized that I was still alive. No bones were broken, but my dignity had permanently stained the oor. e Cool Kid Vazquez mentioned a few tips, but I didn’t hear them. e bones in my ears hadn’t fully recovered.
Okay. I might be a little dramatic, but I fell. O a skateboard. At age 37. Enough said.
I took a sip of Cx eeblack, aka Liquid Courage, while my hubby tried the same thing. He fell, too. en I was back at the top of the ramp. Before I pushed o , I asked my hubby to hold my waist from the back and Cool Kid Vazquez to hold my wrists from the front. I was determined not to fall. So determined, in fact, that I did the only thing I could do in that situation.
I fell. Again. is time, I didn’t meet the oor quite so fast. I was guided down gently. It was then that Cool Kid Vazquez gave me this nugget of knowledge, “If you think you’re going to fall, get closer to the ground.”
A er one hour, I was nally able to skateboard, and, yes, I’m using that term loosely. I could coast about 6 to 8 feet before losing momentum. And I’m satis ed with that. A er falling, my goal was to never experience that again. is date night showed me just how versatile Memphis is. Date night with Memphis doesn’t have to be food and movies. It can be drinking good co ee and almost breaking your rear in the process. Memphis is about making memories and having great stories to tell. is is one for the books.
Now that I’m writing this, I wonder if my hubby knew all along that this place was a skateboarding place and used co ee to lure me in.
Hmm … Gotta love it, mane! Society Memphis: 901-746-8587, IG: @societymemphis Patricia Lockhart is a native Memphian who loves to read, write, cook, and eat. @realworkwife @memphisismyboyfriend
PHOTO: JESSE DAVIS Cx eeblack is just the right elixir to becoming a Cool Kid.
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