Jive Skate

My mother likes to tell the story of the day I learned to jive skate.

If you grew up in the late 70s, you'll likely remember a few Saturday afternoons spent skating around the roller rink in those homely beige rental skates that looked and smelled like high-top bowling shoes on wheels. The laces were always broken, and the screws for the wheels (remember there were four of them back then - one in each corner of the shoe) often poked up through the inside soul of the skates to cause these tremendous blisters that lasted for weeks. Do you remember all those things: The beige skates? The broken laces? The endless blisters of your youth?

And do you remember the carefree freedom of the skating rink? You could skate with your mother for awhile and then skate off with your friends for hours, stopping in the bathroom to hear the older girls talk about their dates, rolling over to the snack bar to order a suicide pop, then bumping through the practice rink to teach yourself how to skate backwards.

If you remember these things, you'll also recall hearing the announcer's voice bellow the theme for the next few songs over the PA system: COUPLE SKATE. ALL SKATE. BACKWARDS SKATE. Can you hear that? Now listen as he says, JIVE SKATE, and watch as the rink fills with a cast of extras from the TV show Fame. They're wearing white leotards, colorful leg warmers and their very own custom-fitted skates. They're dancing around the rink to the rhythm of funky jive music. They're gliding, swaying, playing leap frog even. And they are so cool.

So imagine your mother's surprise when she looks up and sees her pig-tailed, five-year-old daughter skating around the outside edge of this Motown scene as quickly as her skinny little legs will let her.

That was me.

When the JIVE SKATE ended, my mom and her friend Darlene - barely concealing their laughter - approached and asked what had possibly compelled me to take part in the JIVE SKATE.

"I watched for the first song," I said, "and realized they were mostly just going real fast. I can skate fast, so I joined them."

Sometimes that's how I feel when I comment on other blogs. I read for awhile and realize they're mostly just talking, so I join in. Even though I'm not as experienced or as intrepid or as witty, I feel like skating, so I do. And sometimes those jive skaters are just putting up with me. But every once in awhile - and I rarely know when - they may turn their heads and say, "Hey. Did you see that skinny girl with the pig tails? Maybe she has a few moves after all."

Comments

[Erika]

My skating rink never had 'jive skating' that I remember. I do remember doing the limbo and the chicken dance and the 'whip-it' skate (where 4 or 5 people join hands and skate as fast as they can and then switch directions suddenly) on the 4 orange wheels of those smelly, brown bowling shoes though! I think the last time I went was for my 16th birthday.

Ah, memories.

(sorry I haven't posted in a while)

[Kelly]

Alison, you always bring up things from the past that make me smile. I remember skating at the skating rink with my sister and her friends. She is about 8 years older than me, but she always let me tag along. I remember (this has been 23 years ago, too) skating with my mom to Rick Springfield when we lived in Illinois. My last roller skating experience was about two years ago at one of the birthday parties that Meg attended. I am one of those mothers who DOES NOT drop off her child at a birthday party and come back later to pick her up.....just can't bring myself to do it yet....so, I skated away with my 6 year old daughter and had a great time. My friends and I were laughing and remembering when we were kids - remembering all of the great things you brought up in your post.

[Susan]

Every year the fourth graders have a sort of end-of-year celebration to mark the end of their time in elementary school. This year we went to a local skating rink. They had a blast! Most of our students had never been on roller skates. Some had experience with rollerblades, but not skates. We spent a large part of the afternoon with 9 and 10 year olds clinging to us for dear life as their feet rolled out from under them. I was impressed with their persistence and how helpful they were to each other. Our students often get the reputation of being "rough", but for each child that fell, there were two there to help them up. One of my co-workers didn't skate because she doesn't know how to. She wants us to teach her on the playground after school so she will be ready to skate next year.

[Sarah]

Doesn't 'jive skate' seem fairly un-PC now?

[Jerm]

Jive on baby, jive on.

[Alison]

I'm so glad you all remember these things too. And that some kids are still skating on four wheels.

But Sarah, do you really think the term jive skate is un-PC? If it is, then this jive translator is even more offensive.

[jen]

Your Text, Dialectized (jive)

We wo'e rolla' skates t'an RS rooftop party and tripped out watchin' de wo'ld upside de edge, speedin' by, below us.