Your ankles, they are jelly

I haven't been cooking much recently so this post will instead be about the ice skating event on Friday night.

The grad student collective sponsored an ice skating happy hour at the local rink, and since Chris is a grad student, I got to tag along.

It was an odd night.

First of all, I am not the type to begrudge anyone the right to skate (or ski or body surf etc.) regardless of their skill level except when their lack of skill poses a direct danger to themselves or others. And while I can think of many instances in skiing where I've experienced such hubris (all you western skiers who don't give the east coast ice slicks the respect they deserve, I'm talking to you. And your 5 year old on the double diamond. Him too. He is shorter than the moguls and I can't see him until I land on him), I've never considered ice skating to be a particularly dangerous beginner sport. The environment doesn't change, there are no bumps or slopes, and there are handy walls should things get out of control.

After Friday night's experience, I've had to amend my opinions on this matter. If, even with a death grip on the wall, you can't manage to stand up straight because your ankles are too weak, then maybe skating isn't for you. I mean, come on. If neither your arms nor your legs are strong enough to keep you vaguely vertical, you should not be handicapping yourself even further.

And if, after 90 minutes of falling, things still aren't working, maybe you should take a break. Preferably before you sprain your ankle (yes this happened).

I understand that there's a learning curve involved. And that's fine. But I don't like to see people getting hurt. And more to the point, were these people having any kind of fun at all? It didn't look like it. They all looked terrified, and justifiably so. Who really wants to spend their Friday fearing unspecified pain when they could do something else?

The moral of the story is DON'T BE AN IDIOT.