oh man, it felt so good (in a non-carnal way).
i am in need of outdoor wheels for my new roller skates (which i have not yet skated on, despite my desire, nay, NEED to have them NOW). as much as i lurv buying stuff online, i decided it would be nice to just go buy some, and have them in-hand immediately. the first task was to find someplace to BUY these wheels. boy howdy, was that a chore. i managed to find a few skate shops, but none conveniently located to anywhere i was going to be during business hours. this was gonna take a special trip. all these shops, by the by, are skate BOARD shops, as well. the nearest actual roller skate shop seems to be in Baltimore. er... by the time i drive to Baltimore, i might as well order ’em online... so best to take my chances in the skate board shops. i mean, Skarzipan did it!
after four hours of online research and poking about (slow work day), i get lucky. i discover a sport/skate shop in the mall across the street from my office. awesome! it’s off to the shop at 3:30 on a weekday. their website says they have all the skating stuff i’ll need (if i’m a skateboarder, anyway), so i’m thinking they’ll have what i need, or at least be close. i stroll into the joint, where three fellows are unpacking boxes in a store empty of customers, and ask for wheels. all the wheels they have are in a glass case that is pointed out to me. after several minutes of scrutinizing the product through the glass, i don’t think they have what i want... but i ask.
the exchange went something like this:
cate: hi guys, um, i don’t see any durometer readings on the wheels, do you know anything about them?
shop boy 1: wha?
cate: durometer measurements? i see you only seem to have wheels about 54mm, as well; i was looking for something more in the 62mm range, but that’s ok -- but i really want to know their durometer rating, i’m looking for something around 85A...
shop man: (he’s older than the boys) we don’t carry anything that large.
shop boy 1: wha? drometer?
cate: dur. om. eter. it measures how hard the wheels are.
shop boy 1: to shop boy 2 do you know about that?
shop boy 2: uh, all our wheels are polyurethane...
cate: yeah, no, um, thanks anyway. (exit stage right)
to be fair, they weren’t necessarily skater boys, but as a plump girl i am so tired of the attitude from young sports store punks it still felt great.
later that evening, i went to a specifically-skate shop in another mall. while the exact same exchange did not transpire, it was clear i knew a hella lot more about wheels than Mr. Sk8 With Emo Hair did. and they did not have what i wanted.
also, another shop just across the corridor in the same mall treated me awesome, even though they didn’t have what i wanted. the two kids in the Vans shop were nice, informative, energetic, and in no way condescending, even when i out and told them the wheels were for roller skates, not a skate board. in fact, judging by their expressions, they thought that was kind of cool, or at least, novel.
(that night i ordered the Radar Zens with ABEC 1 bearings in purple; they should arrive in about a week.)
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