Skateboarding challenges inner sidewalk traffic laws

It's not totally shocking to see students riding their skateboards to and from classes. In fact, I have classes with two such students. Over the last few weeks, I've overheard several students and faculty grumbling about "those darn skateboarders" running them off the sidewalks.

To them I say, "Have you ever tried riding a skateboard? Not so easy!"

Truly, the coordination required to operate a skateboard at all is impressive. So maybe that particular mode of transportation stopped being trendy in the '90s, or maybe it was never really trendy at all.

Still, it's a faster, more efficient way of getting from point A to point B than the more socially acceptable walking.

If I'm being honest, which I am, skateboarders do earn some cool points in my book, despite their lack of sidewalk mastery. Even the guy who I watched fail twenty consecutive attempts at an ollie – a fundamental aerial trick in skateboarding – in front of the Fine Arts building gets props for determination.

What causes the disgruntled mumblings of student and professor alike when it comes to these rad rolling riders, you ask?

It's simple. Deeply engraved in us, perhaps even from a young age, depending on upbringing, is some notion of sidewalk traffic rules.

When you meet someone on the sidewalk, you automatically step to the right, granting access to a suitable amount of sidewalk space. When you meet a group of people and you're walking alone, you step off of the sidewalk, surrendering to the larger group. If there's a sidewalk that leads to our destination, we follow it, even if cutting through the grass would dramatically shorten our journey time.

See what I mean?

It's in us. So when skateboarders come cruising down the sidewalk at intimidating speeds, our inner sidewalk traffic laws draw a blank. Who surrenders the sidewalk, the walker or the skateboarder? What if it's two or more walkers and one skateboarder? Should the skateboarder be expected to completely surrender the pavement, despite his inability to continue rolling on the grass? These are the questions that make us uncomfortable with the sound of fast-approaching wheels on cement.

But ladies and gentlemen, this is what college is all about. It's about challenging yourself, critically examining what you think you already know, and learning even more. Men and women from all walks of life – from Freddy worrying over whether his mom's going to send him money for laundry, to Suzy who comes to classes between going to her two jobs and taking care of her daughter – come together to sharpen one another, to learn and grow together. It's where we can find debates on how Pluto's no longer a planet and analysis of weird metaphors in Shakespeare's plays.

Even "those darn skateboarders" have something to teach us, whether it's a way to get from your English class to your math class without getting a tardy or a new way of looking at our preconceived notions on proper sidewalk etiquette.

Up until I started writing this, skateboarding to me was just an awkward phase I went through when I was 12 (awkward because I was quite possibly the least coordinated pre-teen girl to ever grace the face of Earth), but now I wonder if I'm really just joking around here, or if skateboarding students really do exemplify ways in which we can challenge ourselves and each other in this college experience.

So here's to you, skateboarders, for making me think with your bad sense of steering. You can just go right ahead and keep getting to classes faster than the rest of us. And to the haters – both students and faculty – think before you start complaining. Is stepping off the sidewalk for a more efficient traveler really so bad, or are you just jealous of their skills?

Joselynn McKenna is an English major at AASU. She studied magazines and politics for two years at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, before transferring to AASU as a junior this fall. Joselynn writes a weekly column for the Coastal Courier and has done some freelance reporting for various publications.