Is it the Economy?

It's not the Great Depression. People aren't jumping out of windows or anything like that. No, they're all out surfing . . . badly . . . because they no longer have jobs. Today's session started off rather nicely. It was hot again. The water was glassy. Every once in awhile, a decent set would roll through. There must have been fewer than 10 of us in the water. Although there were a few breaches of surf etiquette, we all played well with others for the most part.

Then, THEY paddled out. Who are "THEY," you ask? THEY are the people with little home break training. They paddle out, sit right in front of you as you're about to pop up, drop in as you're going down the line. THEY are the people who make you start cursing under your breath when you see them coming. Well, THEY were at it again today. THEY surfed with reckless and leashless abandon on a day when the swell was still making an appearance. THEY surfed a big-ass longboard right into some woman's head. THEY sat in a group right in front of me, totally fucking up the end of my session. THEY didn't know how to surf, yet insisted on lining up with those of us who were waiting for the biggest set waves. THEY did what they do best.

THEY tried to drop in on me and then THEY sat, with his back to both me and the wave, in my path. THEY never considered the fact that he should have, one, kept his eyes toward the horizon and, two, gotten out of my way. THEY were out there in force today.

How bad was it? CYT and I opted to paddle in rather than wait for the "one last" set wave. We'd seen enough. It wasn't safe to be in the water with the them I'm referring to as THEY.

Once again, I surfed about three hours. It's hard to get out when the weather is perfect like that. And the little one was getting out of school early today. It was easier to stay in the water until it was time to pick him up than it would have been to run home only to come right back to where I was.