Went skating today at the Kennedy Plaza rink in Providence. Global warming means winter sports are…limited. But, the rink (forgive me for being metaphorical) was America. Lots of people, all colors and sizes and both sexes and many ages, all being goofy in public. Some people skating fast and elegant (that was dangerous) some going backwards at times and obstructing the general counter-clockwise flow. Others just sort of sat there and watched. Little kids were getting perhaps their first taste of the ice. There were couples, families, solo acts and young hockey-type partners in crime terrifying the slow of reflex.
I even watched a young lady figure skater go into her routine, pointlessly showing off to the masses. It was…just everyone doing their own thing–yet no fist fights. I suppose in some cultures (Germany or Japan?) there would have been a regular rhythm to the skaters. There wasn’t. But that to me is America. Everyone compromising on the ice. No one quite hogging it. I didn’t get all that I wanted (I like to skate fast and hard), but I got my stretches of ice, just like all the others.
Always a bit exasperating, but the way it is–and it could be worse.
Marc Songini 