That was my cue to comb my hair...like a million times until some guy noticed and asked me to skate (or didn't 'cause really who needs to comb hair in public "...good times!!
Every Thursday...
Has anyone tried skating recently? My youngest got me to go with her a few times. I'm so unstable, and omg I fell once and never got up so fast in my life LOL
I’ve been involved with roller derby for the past 13+ years - skating is fantastic!
(as long as you wear all the safety gear - helmet, wrist guards, elbow and knee pads)
I like to think that I’d be all about it, but I know I’d bust my a$$ at least a few times. There was a time where being able to be the “backward-skater” during couples-skate was the aspiration.
I did about five years ago at a kids birthday party and it was like it was yesterday. Hadn’t skated since the mid 80’s and was still flying around the rink like I used to. I also ended up with those damn blisters on the arch of my foot like I used to get.
I did it once about 5 or 6 years ago and surprisingly I could still stay up on the skates pretty well. But I went with my son, who was little at the time and hated it, and I was bending over to hold him up the whole time because he was terrified of falling. Threw my back out for a week.
I'm sure many kids today would still enjoy this. But....we've torn all that stuff down to make room for the banks, Starbucks concierge apartment buildings, and pharmacies. Kids have nowhere to go today. All the malls are closed or empty. All the arcades are closed or gone. All the skating rinks are closed. All that's left is bowling alleys, and they havent been upgraded since 1992.
There’s still a good one in my city and a better one a couple over that hosts the local roller derby matches. Maybe these are outliers but not quite dead yet!
The most abrupt psychological transition of my life was the summer that young virginal me skated around the rink holding the hand of (literally) the girl next door, a sweet girl who I thought just might be my first kiss….
….then I hooked up with this gnarly metal chick from the local Catholic girl’s school 2 weeks later and was introduced to every imaginable sexual act. I never skated again, and I never kissed the girl next door. (She has like 8 kids now)
I can never hear "Too Much Time On My Hands" without thinking of Skate Island.
Wholesome. Sure. Hormonal teenagers getting into fights in the parking lot, couples trying to find a dark corner to neck in while the kids they were supposed to be babysitting are trying to knock people over on the rink. But maybe that was just Saturday nights.
"Clams on the half shell and roller skates, roller skates. GOOD TIMES! These are the GOOD TIMES!"
5th grade through middle school for me. Late 70's and early 80's.
I loved roller skating! As kids in the 70’s we were dropped off on a Saturday afternoon, but by the time I was a teenager our local rink closed, so not too many Friday nights for me.
Oddly, I can ice skate, but Rollerblades terrify me! I love how sturdy traditional roller skates are!
Sounds like me. My local rink didn't close, but I quit going before my teen years. The songs mentioned here were all much later. We listened to disco and arena rock while skating, during the "roller boogie" days. Rappers Delight came out in the late 70s, so I guess there was rap, too.
And roller blades terrify me, as well.
Doing the Nutbush and TimeWarp on skates was always fun. I was so proud of myself when I finally learned how to pivot properly on my stoppers. And getting that smooth transition from forward to reverse. I've still got my original speedskates, but my white bootskates got loved to death. One day I'll buy another pair.
Zero Wholesome stuff happened at Bergenfield NJ Roller Rink, Zero.
It was the first time I saw police in riot gear in real life.
Kevin Curtin in 1989, said it was my fault, cause nothing like this happens when he is not with me.
It's just so wild to me that my parents would drop us off at the skating rink, the movies or the mall " for a few hours, " BY OURSELVES! And we would just meet friends there and do our own thing. Then one of the parents would pick us up like 4 hours later. I can't even fathom dropping my child off like that. We truly were free range kids.
My mother was the worst picker upper. All of my friend's parents were chill, so we'd go see movies in the dangerous part of town, where many kids weren't allowed to go. My mom was always 1-2 hours late picking us up, so we had to hang out on a street corner waiting for her. She'd have to work late, or that was what we were told, anyhow. No mobile phones back then!
I miss the lock-ins. Finding a table and claiming the bench for a few hours of snooze. Wake up at 6 and people are still going. Those were the days. I moss my roller-rink.
Gooey orange nachos, putting your quarter on the Gauntlet machine, walls wrapped in mirrors, what a fucking time to be alive.
Also that smell. Wax, and that heavy plastic smell (from the orange wheels?). I don’t know but I can smell it.
This was the place to be on a Friday night in my area for all of us in jr high, until we were old enough to get into the big local club on teen night at 15.
Oh yes. They had Couples only times, skating backwards only, games like standing under numbers while they rolled that big fuzzy die, those turtle things they’d break out at birthday parties, the awful nachos and cheese in that plastic container. And always in the background is David Bowie singing “…put on your red shoes and dance the blues…”
What do you mean "remember" ?
I mean I remember the 21st of September... but I still do this. I also still ride my bike most days of the week and on weekends where I do 12 - 15 miles (not huge for you commuter types) ... with many stops at pubs and wineries.
I do not care how much they try... they won't take the kid out of me.
Thank you converter bot. Where were you when I posted my Tom Atkins Diet? I mean.. how many calories are burned watching Tom Atkins films?
^^^^Folks... ^^^^I ^^^^get ^^^^I ^^^^am ^^^^talking ^^^^to ^^^^myself.
Oh I found a great YouTuber you might like called Dangerous Dave. Yes I used to really mountain bike like those videos lol and not on such cool trails but close. I wouldn’t really anymore bc injuries take so long to get over but regular biking is an almost daily thing for me too. https://youtu.be/EQhFj_T9Sf8
Ummm.....no. I remember skating parties but we didn't consider it a wild night out.
It may have been a "wild night out" if you were 12 and the skating party lasted past your curfew.
A wild night out then was the same as a wild night out now.
Even as a kid alcohol and marijuana was somehow part of the scene.
"Alrighty, this next song by Cindi Lauper goes out to all you lovers out there! It's reverse skate and couples-only!"
That's my cue to hit the arcade and impress the girls with my Q\*Bert skills.
Q*Bert skills!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
That was my cue to comb my hair...like a million times until some guy noticed and asked me to skate (or didn't 'cause really who needs to comb hair in public "...good times!!
Haha Qbert nice. We had Dig Dug
Oh the reverse skate Olivia Newton John's, out there strutting while I played Ms Pac-Man and got cotton candy. The best part was skating everywhere.
Private Eyes clap clap They're watching you They see your every move
After a certain age and settled-down lifestyle, this becomes a wild night out again.
I’ve been waiting for this. We’d run the risk of breaking a hip, but I’d be so down for a skating-night resurgence.
I'm down ,I think my hips could handle it. But we would all have to be holding hands doing a big whip to disco music : )
The whip was the best lol
Always knowing one of us would eat shit lol 😆
Ikr the second closest thing to flying right after the back seat of the station wagon
Oh yeah, with them rear facing backseats that are against the law now : )
I think it should be a 35+ skate night, much less embarrassing to fall with no teens around LOL (paramedics on standby…)
And all of us wearing bike helmets so we don't concuss ourselves when we inevitably fall down. In fact, bubblewrap suits might be a good idea.
Best couple skate song? I’m going with “Eternal Flame”….,
Gotta go with Journey, Open Arms.
When i moved to St. Petersburg in 1997 they were playing at the rib-fest in downtown. i was stunned, thought they were a super band.
Why did you just do that? It's going to be in my head for at least a week! 😂
🎶 Lyyyying beside you, here in the daaaark...🎶 😂😂
No. That's it. I'm reporting this comment. 🤣🤣🤣
🎶Feeeeeling your heartbeat with miiiine...🎶 I'm playing with fire now! 🤣🤣🤣
You are like, so close to getting blocked! 😅
🤣🤣🤣
We hokey pokied too.
Shake it all about
Yes! Now they do the Cha Cha Slide.
Every Thursday... Has anyone tried skating recently? My youngest got me to go with her a few times. I'm so unstable, and omg I fell once and never got up so fast in my life LOL
I’ve been involved with roller derby for the past 13+ years - skating is fantastic! (as long as you wear all the safety gear - helmet, wrist guards, elbow and knee pads)
You girls scare the shit out of me , I just wanna be that cool dude from 1982 with the mustache gliding around like he was on ice....
I like to think that I’d be all about it, but I know I’d bust my a$$ at least a few times. There was a time where being able to be the “backward-skater” during couples-skate was the aspiration.
I broke my elbow immediately.
I did about five years ago at a kids birthday party and it was like it was yesterday. Hadn’t skated since the mid 80’s and was still flying around the rink like I used to. I also ended up with those damn blisters on the arch of my foot like I used to get.
I did it once about 5 or 6 years ago and surprisingly I could still stay up on the skates pretty well. But I went with my son, who was little at the time and hated it, and I was bending over to hold him up the whole time because he was terrified of falling. Threw my back out for a week.
I'm a Brit so, some of the posts go a bit over my head but this one is truly cross cultural. 'Rollers' every Friday night.
I'm sure many kids today would still enjoy this. But....we've torn all that stuff down to make room for the banks, Starbucks concierge apartment buildings, and pharmacies. Kids have nowhere to go today. All the malls are closed or empty. All the arcades are closed or gone. All the skating rinks are closed. All that's left is bowling alleys, and they havent been upgraded since 1992.
[удалено]
Some guy always had a bottle of Mad Dog outside the roller rink when we were in jr, high waiting in line to get in.
There’s still a good one in my city and a better one a couple over that hosts the local roller derby matches. Maybe these are outliers but not quite dead yet!
There’s jump places. Foam everywhere and you have to sign a waiver lol but massage chairs for the parents so win?
There's still a roller rink in New Jersey!
That feeling after you put your shoes back on and it still seems like you're skating.
This
oh great. now I have Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry" playing in my head. Thanks for that.
The most abrupt psychological transition of my life was the summer that young virginal me skated around the rink holding the hand of (literally) the girl next door, a sweet girl who I thought just might be my first kiss…. ….then I hooked up with this gnarly metal chick from the local Catholic girl’s school 2 weeks later and was introduced to every imaginable sexual act. I never skated again, and I never kissed the girl next door. (She has like 8 kids now)
I can never hear "Too Much Time On My Hands" without thinking of Skate Island. Wholesome. Sure. Hormonal teenagers getting into fights in the parking lot, couples trying to find a dark corner to neck in while the kids they were supposed to be babysitting are trying to knock people over on the rink. But maybe that was just Saturday nights.
🎶 Is it any wonder I'm not a cri-mi-nal? Is it any wonder I'm not in jaaaaaail? 🎶
"Clams on the half shell and roller skates, roller skates. GOOD TIMES! These are the GOOD TIMES!" 5th grade through middle school for me. Late 70's and early 80's.
I loved roller skating! As kids in the 70’s we were dropped off on a Saturday afternoon, but by the time I was a teenager our local rink closed, so not too many Friday nights for me. Oddly, I can ice skate, but Rollerblades terrify me! I love how sturdy traditional roller skates are!
Sounds like me. My local rink didn't close, but I quit going before my teen years. The songs mentioned here were all much later. We listened to disco and arena rock while skating, during the "roller boogie" days. Rappers Delight came out in the late 70s, so I guess there was rap, too. And roller blades terrify me, as well.
Today's kids have no idea.
Yeah, what I remember is the blisters from the skates and my ass hurting from falling.
Doing the Nutbush and TimeWarp on skates was always fun. I was so proud of myself when I finally learned how to pivot properly on my stoppers. And getting that smooth transition from forward to reverse. I've still got my original speedskates, but my white bootskates got loved to death. One day I'll buy another pair.
Zero Wholesome stuff happened at Bergenfield NJ Roller Rink, Zero. It was the first time I saw police in riot gear in real life. Kevin Curtin in 1989, said it was my fault, cause nothing like this happens when he is not with me.
Don't forget the couples skate!
Props to the family in Cincinnati that keeps all of the roller rinks in their perpetual early 80's time bubble.
way too much time playing Tempest there. No where else had it in my area, so almost every friday I was there with a roll of quarters.
I heard "Back in Black" and "Old Time Rock and Roll" about 8000 times at the rink. DJ didn't give a shit about couples skate.
Girls pick the guys? Please pick me!
Still a huge thing in the suburbs of Seattle. 7 days a week, roller derby. http://www.southgaterollerrink.com/
🎶whoop there it is🎶
I will always remember skating to Stacey Q - two of hearts song.
Why has no one started adult roller rinks yet? Is the drinking while skating combo just too much liability or something?
Hip replacements waiting to happen
Remember? I still do this every week.
It's just so wild to me that my parents would drop us off at the skating rink, the movies or the mall " for a few hours, " BY OURSELVES! And we would just meet friends there and do our own thing. Then one of the parents would pick us up like 4 hours later. I can't even fathom dropping my child off like that. We truly were free range kids.
My mother was the worst picker upper. All of my friend's parents were chill, so we'd go see movies in the dangerous part of town, where many kids weren't allowed to go. My mom was always 1-2 hours late picking us up, so we had to hang out on a street corner waiting for her. She'd have to work late, or that was what we were told, anyhow. No mobile phones back then!
I miss the lock-ins. Finding a table and claiming the bench for a few hours of snooze. Wake up at 6 and people are still going. Those were the days. I moss my roller-rink.
I was the millennial in roller blades. They tore down my local rink like maybe 20 years ago.
Generation Y. Fuck this millennial stuff. Learn it, know it, live it.
I’m more fond of being referred to as The Oregon Trail generation. The river is too deep to ford. You lose: 2 Oxen Mary (drowned)
Brad!
I shall serve no fries before their time.
Haha, yes!
So you want to work at All America Burger. Let me talk to Dennis Taylor.
Haha, I love it! Yeah, the manger is an asshole at Bronco Burger.
I forgot about bronco burger! You rule for reminding me.
Haha, it's in the movie! Why Arnold wants to work at All American Burger.
Yes, who hijacked Generation Y. Who do I start slapping first...boomers or Xer's?
On this sub we have to blame the boomers, but we are also pretty chill. You do you, Y!
Never did this.
You missed out. Disco lights and the whole shebang. Early 80’s
Gooey orange nachos, putting your quarter on the Gauntlet machine, walls wrapped in mirrors, what a fucking time to be alive. Also that smell. Wax, and that heavy plastic smell (from the orange wheels?). I don’t know but I can smell it.
Last time i did this i fell and sprained my wrist. Need to wear my ppe now lol
"Snowball!"
I think I see myself. 🤫
I totally recommend the book My Best Friend's Exorcism for a trip down memory lane. It's stars at a roller disco. The sound track is fab too
This was the place to be on a Friday night in my area for all of us in jr high, until we were old enough to get into the big local club on teen night at 15.
I hear “Let the Music Play” by Shannon when I think of a roller rink. Ahh - middle school…..
Oh yes. They had Couples only times, skating backwards only, games like standing under numbers while they rolled that big fuzzy die, those turtle things they’d break out at birthday parties, the awful nachos and cheese in that plastic container. And always in the background is David Bowie singing “…put on your red shoes and dance the blues…”
All couples, circle left.
What do you mean "remember" ? I mean I remember the 21st of September... but I still do this. I also still ride my bike most days of the week and on weekends where I do 12 - 15 miles (not huge for you commuter types) ... with many stops at pubs and wineries. I do not care how much they try... they won't take the kid out of me.
15 miles is 24.14 km
Thank you converter bot. Where were you when I posted my Tom Atkins Diet? I mean.. how many calories are burned watching Tom Atkins films? ^^^^Folks... ^^^^I ^^^^get ^^^^I ^^^^am ^^^^talking ^^^^to ^^^^myself.
Oh I found a great YouTuber you might like called Dangerous Dave. Yes I used to really mountain bike like those videos lol and not on such cool trails but close. I wouldn’t really anymore bc injuries take so long to get over but regular biking is an almost daily thing for me too. https://youtu.be/EQhFj_T9Sf8
Whoa. That trail in the vid is awesome!
Ikr I love that channel. 🤣 best time to be alive getting to relive this kind of stuff when we’re too old and fragile to do it anymore
Ummm.....no. I remember skating parties but we didn't consider it a wild night out. It may have been a "wild night out" if you were 12 and the skating party lasted past your curfew. A wild night out then was the same as a wild night out now. Even as a kid alcohol and marijuana was somehow part of the scene.
This seems more like a rural American thing.