Lived Experience Forum

[TheVorticon]

Alright so I just need to write this out and hopefully will feel more normal once I've said it.

I went for a morning skate today. I'm only just starting out, so I went to a secluded spot where I thought I could avoid everyone. I was just finishing up and playing with my phone for a bit, when a van pulled up. The dude let his dog out of the van so it could run around, then came over to see if I wanted to buy his old skateboard. We half-talked for a bit, he was apparently living in his van, then I packed up my stuff to leave. He offered me a lift, I declined and started to ride away on my bike. Got chased by his dog for about 500m, while it barked and play-bit my foot when it could get close enough.

Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope. Nooooope.

[Phoenix_Rising]

@TheVorticon I hope talking it out helped. That interaction would definitely creep me out. Not the dog bit - a lot of dogs chase bikes, skateboards etc (not ok, but more common than it should be), but being offered a lift by a stranger? Definitely a gigantic NO!!!!!!!

I'm really sorry to hear you had this experience. Will you feel ok going back to that spot to practice your skating?

I love that you are learning to skate. I hate how when we start learning something new, we have to start off being really bad at it, before we can get good at it. It's like that with my violin playing. I know that a LOT of people can hear me practicing and I hate that. However, I keep telling myself I am only going to get better by practicing. I hope you can feel ok about going back to the secluded spot to practice your skating.

[TheVorticon]

@Phoenix_Rising thanks, I'm glad it's not just me who thinks that was a weird offputting sort of interaction. He probably didn't even mean it to be weird and uncomfortable, but it was.

I am not going back to that spot. I'll have to find another spot. Since he mentioned that he's living from his van, he may very well start visiting that spot regularly and I don't want to run into him again if I can help it. I don't know where I'll go yet, but not back there for at least a few weeks. That was an awesome beginners spot too (I even took a photo of it so that I could be like "here's my first skate spot" if I ever wanted to show someone), but it doesn't feel very safe now.

I understand the dog wanting to play, and yeah dogs will be dogs if they're not properly trained and/or restrained by their owner. Honestly I was more worried about accidentally hurting the dog (since bikes are made of metal and hard plastic, while dogs are only made of dog), but I just wanted to leave without further incident and did not need that crazy-fast dog sprinting at/with me. Definitely didn't want to be wondering if the guy would then follow after me/dog.

I guess the only good thing about learning to do something where other people can see/hear is that we can show them how determined we are, by continuing to practice.

[CheerBear]

Woah that wpuld have creeped me right out too @TheVorticon. I do the talking to strangers thing but only if they talk to me first, and will only talk more than a simple brief reply if I am in the right headspace. Some of the best conversations I have had have been with totally random people I'll never see again. But if any offered me a lift in their van it would have been the end of the conversation and I would have left feeling not so good too.

I am also easily freaked out by dogs, especially when I have the kids with me so a dog following me like that would have added to how not so ok that kind of interaction would have felt.

Sorry to hear your spot doesn't feel safe anymore 😞 That sucks and I hope you find somewhere to skate again soon.

[Phoenix_Rising]

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Honestly I was more worried about accidentally hurting the dog (since bikes are made of metal and hard plastic, while dogs are only made of dog).

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ROFL. That made me laugh a lot @TheVorticon.

I can totally understand why that spot doesn't feel safe anymore. That's what I hate about those sorts of interactions - they come out of nowhere and then make a safe space feel unsafe. I super hope you can find another spot to practice in.

[TheVorticon]

Thanks @CheerBear and @Phoenix_Rising
I might try to see if there's any other spots that are close, but not too close, to that other spot. It might not be as good, but I can always return to my old spot sometime in the future.
Before all that happened, I had been feeling impressed that I'd made a bit of progress. So it was all pretty successful other than that.

Haha I'm glad you found that funny Phoenix_Rising 🙂 That's what I was going for 🙂

[Former-Member]

You just brought back a memory of when I was in high school and decided to learn to skate. I bought a world industries deck of someone at school and the got some trucks and wheels off a friend who put it together but the trucks were from some weird board and were so wide - the wheels poked out the sides of the deck and where fully visible! I still attempted to ride it though. I must've looked like such a kook! Me and a girl from school decided to tackle this huge hill and we both stacked it and grazed all the skin off our elbows and knees after getting the "death wobbles".
I'm glad you rode away from the van man. Let us know when you find a new skating spot @TheVorticon

[Fish]

"...dogs are only made of dog" gave me a chuckle too, thanks 🙂

But yeah, creep radar is definitely pinging there. Good call getting out of there. I hope you find a new spot soon!

[TheVorticon]

Ouch @Former-Member! I haven't gone down a hill yet 😛 But I imagine a similar outcome for myself. That sounds like a weird board setup. Maybe they were longboard trucks? I decided to make a separate thread for discussing skate stuff so feel free to add your story in there if you want. 🙂