I Thought It Died In The '80's

Yesterday morning, my wife and a couple of friends from back at home went to Target to shop for a couple of things. During their shopping experience, they became overwhelmed by '80's music, and an unceasing redundancy of catchy choruses ensued. Entranced by the music, they decided that we should go roller skating. Yes, I said roller skating. Not ice skating or in-line skating. Roller skating. I succumbed to such intense pressure and went along with the plan. I must say that when we arrived at Champ's RollerDrome, I did not expect to see the large number of people there. Soon I realized that I was supposed to wear a cool white shirt so the black lights could make me "glow" while skating. (I need all the help I can get to look cool while roller skating). To make matters more difficult for me, my right-foot rental skate had loose wheels on the front, so I was trying to steer myself without planting my face on the hardwood floor. Reminiscing on those childhood years of birthday parties at the rink, I began to regain the form of a skilled skater. It wasn't long, however, that I realized that you can go only so many times in a circle before it is no longer entertaining. It was like watching NASCAR on television. You can only see cars go in circles so many times till you have to change the channel (unless they wreck of course). There were some things which were quite the same. For instance, tight jeans accented by long mullets were found by older men, and truckin' (as we used to call it) was better than ever. Kids were break-dancin' in the center, and the middle-school couples were paired up around the pizza station. The "suburban babysitter" was packed full of kids, except there was no babysitter. Of course, there were the classic video games, especially Galaga which brought some redemption to the night (I made it to level 17). Eventually, we made it to P.F. Chang's sweaty, aching, and under-dressed. But what we had experienced, I must say, was certainly more eventful than what the high-brow elites of Louisville found at the bar. Yep. Roller Skating is alive and well, and if you don't believe me, you can check out the Roller Skating Assocation International as well as RollerSkates.org if you would like more information. I don't know if I'll be back any time soon, unless, of course, I have Galaga withdrawals.