| skate_betty | _- | |
A skater chick who is hot but does not try to be. Skate comes from the use of a skateboard as her main mode of transportation. Betty comes from Betty Rubble ( you know from the flinstones ) genrally because the guys she hangs out with look like Barney. You have to stop and ask yourself "How did Barney end up with a hotty like Betty" To which the answer is, Skate Betty's do not care about looks but what you are made of. Damn look at that skate betty and her Barney | ||
All my life I've been called a skate betty. It used to make me angry, since they were essentially taking away my individuality. I never actually realized what it meant till after high school though. I reevaluated my feelings after that. I was still frustrated to be branded, labelled. However, I gave it years of thought, eventually changing my mind.
You see, that was after I had quit skating.
So, I re-considered the term that had formerly been surreptitiously whispered, or often yelled. I found a certain charm in it. Decided it wasn't so bad to be a skate betty. Realized that skate betties stick together, and the idea of a skater girl sister hood appealed to me. I had always flown solo, the only betty in my school.
Fast forward several more wistful years, and roller derby enters the proverbial scene.
I resisted the idea of joining for another year, ignoring the little skater girl voice inside my head. Other people, I've heard, have a consience that says, 'no, that's dangerous!' The little voice inside my head says, 'DO IT! There are people around to drive you to the e.r. ...'
How could I resist the alluring call of derby forever?
Everything I thought I had lost forever, the thrill and grace of skating. All the things I thought I'd never have, skate betty friends to yell and compare bruises with. I fired off an email, and before I realized it, I was committed. Before I even got back on skates, head over heels in love with this.
So I laced up rental skates, almost puking at how putrid they smelled while they looked like something chewed up halfway and spit back out. Still enjoyed myself, though it was awful. I forgot to take my allergy medicine, which led to an asthma attack, or two, forgot my inhaler, dodged falling children, avoided amorous 13 year old boys, and finally fell down had on my (unprotected) knee in the same rink where I had quit skating after shattering my wrist. I got back up and endured the taunt of the skate collecting lackey, feeling good despite the horrible evening and the (literally) eggplant hued bruise covering half my knee. But I got back on skates.
The rest of my experience goes pretty much the same. I only made it to derby practice once, before falling while pivoting to go backwards (still can't, but practicing). Although unbruised, I did decent muscle damage. Afterwards, I couldn't skate for over a week, I could barely walk. I went crazy without skating, even after just beginning again. I did a crappy job at healing it, until a few people pointed me in the right direction. One more thing learned, and corrected.
So, lots of falling, lots of getting back up, and even more learning how not to do it again. I'm pleasantly surprised at how tightly knit the derby community is, and how much support I've received from people who don't even know my story. I'm sorry I waited so long to get back on skates, I was missing out.
By the same token though, had I never quit skating, I never would have been driven to conquer my fear of it. For I almost let it cripple me emotionally, and stunt my physical health's progression (and it DID need some help, all the things I loved were bad for me). I let the drive to conquer fear, empower me.
Ultimately, fear has no place in who I am now. I conquer it every time I lace up skates. Which is, as often as possible. Derby allows me to get a thrill from pushing myself, and learning all the things I always thought myself incapable of. The gear is expensive, but that feeling, is priceless.
