Roller Derby

When I was young, there were two kinds of kids at the roller rink.  Those who skated, and those who stood awkwardly by the air hockey game.

Luckily, I fell into the former group.  I was semi famous for finding girls who could actually skate backwards during the slow songs.  I had at least three intense hand holding romances per Friday night.

So imagine my enthusiasm when I learned Elijah and Luca had been invited to a roller skating birthday party last weekend.  I imagined doing the limbo and the hokey pokey and doing that move where you skate crouched down low with one leg sticking out.

When we arrived, Eli immediately grabbed a pair of skates and ran to the rink without any need to, say, know how to skate or anything.  I approached the skate giver outer guy and help out two fingers and noticed Luca slowly shaking his head.

“No?”

“No.”

“Not even for a minute?”

“No.”

So Luca and I were thrust into awkward air hockey status.  The roller skating rink was actually a converted basketball gym, so we sat in the corner of the bleachers in what I can only assume was the marching band section.

We watched Eli flail around the three point line, very occasionally getting to his feet.  Thank goodness the kid is limber.  My legs do not go that way.

I began feeling very bored and very uncool in the clarinet section, so I begged Luca to go skating.

“No.”

I asked him if I could wear skates and he could just walk around the rink with me.

“No.”

I then asked if he’d allow us both just to walk around the rink.  No skates on either of us.

“Okay.”

So Luca and I walked around the rink in our matching sneakers, while I help up a flailing Eli with my other arm.

Much cooler than sitting in the bleachers.