A Roll Down Memory Lane
One of my favorite memories from when I was younger was going to the roller skating rink in West Memphis on Saturday mornings (with the occasional trip to it when the church reserved it.) Little did I know that I was going to revisit that memory, but not directly.
Yesterday, my sister invited me to go with her, my cousin, and her niece to one of the skating rinks around the Memphis area. So, I pulled out my rollerblades and dusted them off. When I got there, though I figured I should at least try skating on real skates before I try something I've barely done at all, so I left the rollerblades in the car.
It was a nice rink, but small. At least smaller than the one in West Memphis. At least it's smaller compared to my memories from when I was younger. I know the video game area and concession stand area was definitely smaller. As for the rink, it seemed like it was pretty crowded with a lot less people than the one at West Memphis.
My cousin tried to teach her niece to skate, but most of the time she was holding her hand pulling her. I spent most of my time trying not to roll over any of the multitude of kids. I think there were at least eight birthday parties there.
There was also little-kid drama. While pulling my little cousin, my cousin was skating around when this little girl skates by her and starts a conversation which went something like this. "I started off skating like her, but now I can skate fast. In the races, I win every time. There's this other girl I need to meet. She's been going around telling everyone that she's been winning every Saturday, but she hasn't because I've been winning. She's lying, so I need to find her." I have no idea if she met that other girl or if she hired some guy to club her in the kneecaps, but when the races started the little girl was there. Sure enough, she zipped around the rink as if she were being chased by dogs and won.
After we were done skating, we ate at Ci-Ci's Pizza and then went to Sports Authority to look at skates. Everyone was thinking about getting some except for me. They didn't buy any, but they sure were trying them on. Being the only guy in the group I was worried, but it was more tolerable than watching women try on regular shoes. The skates at least gave them the chance to roll around the store to test them out. Besides, it was in the same section as the bikes, so I had something to peruse, too.
My little cousin had a pair on that she loved. When I asked if they fit, she said very excitedly, "They fit great! It feels good on my blister!"
After not buying any skates, we headed home. We got home just in time before the rain was too heavy. We didn't run into any tornados, but there were warnings and watches out for them. So, while I was listening to the storm and tornado information on TV, I fell asleep for a few hours dreaming about the weather man giving forecasts about where the tornado was in the skating rink. I have yet to get the courage to pull my socks off to view my blisters.
Yesterday, my sister invited me to go with her, my cousin, and her niece to one of the skating rinks around the Memphis area. So, I pulled out my rollerblades and dusted them off. When I got there, though I figured I should at least try skating on real skates before I try something I've barely done at all, so I left the rollerblades in the car.
It was a nice rink, but small. At least smaller than the one in West Memphis. At least it's smaller compared to my memories from when I was younger. I know the video game area and concession stand area was definitely smaller. As for the rink, it seemed like it was pretty crowded with a lot less people than the one at West Memphis.
My cousin tried to teach her niece to skate, but most of the time she was holding her hand pulling her. I spent most of my time trying not to roll over any of the multitude of kids. I think there were at least eight birthday parties there.
There was also little-kid drama. While pulling my little cousin, my cousin was skating around when this little girl skates by her and starts a conversation which went something like this. "I started off skating like her, but now I can skate fast. In the races, I win every time. There's this other girl I need to meet. She's been going around telling everyone that she's been winning every Saturday, but she hasn't because I've been winning. She's lying, so I need to find her." I have no idea if she met that other girl or if she hired some guy to club her in the kneecaps, but when the races started the little girl was there. Sure enough, she zipped around the rink as if she were being chased by dogs and won.
After we were done skating, we ate at Ci-Ci's Pizza and then went to Sports Authority to look at skates. Everyone was thinking about getting some except for me. They didn't buy any, but they sure were trying them on. Being the only guy in the group I was worried, but it was more tolerable than watching women try on regular shoes. The skates at least gave them the chance to roll around the store to test them out. Besides, it was in the same section as the bikes, so I had something to peruse, too.
My little cousin had a pair on that she loved. When I asked if they fit, she said very excitedly, "They fit great! It feels good on my blister!"
After not buying any skates, we headed home. We got home just in time before the rain was too heavy. We didn't run into any tornados, but there were warnings and watches out for them. So, while I was listening to the storm and tornado information on TV, I fell asleep for a few hours dreaming about the weather man giving forecasts about where the tornado was in the skating rink. I have yet to get the courage to pull my socks off to view my blisters.