Surfing has become mainstream. EVERYONE is surfing. I am typical of the new trend, having taken it up as a mid-life crisis at the age of 41. Men who had abandoned it for jobs and kids are returning to the water in their 40s with their brood in tow. Women have finally claimed a place for themselves out there and the kids, well, with no fear to hold them back, they are ripping. People have negotiated more flexible working arrangements, part-time, self-employed or contract, so they can get out during the week and away from the crowds. Surf schools and kooks often clog the only rideable wave on our home break. Being in the ocean makes people feel good, we are all getting healthier and hey, it's a big place. We should be able to share, give everyone a go - if we all get out there and have a good time we improve the mindset and behaviour of humanity, right? Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be working that way.
Since I started surfing 9 years ago the increasing crowds and competition for waves are destroying what seemed like a good plan. As a middle-aged female surfer I am a bottom feeder in the food chain. Kids continue to disrespect everyone who is not going to smack them in the head, who are of course the alpha males who claim the right to take whichever waves they want. Few respect the first tenet of surfing tribal law which states: priority goes to those who have been waiting the longest. Well how is THAT going to work, it would require people to actually pay attention to the plight of others out there and bother to care. Are we really so primitive that we still live by jungle law? Rhetorical question.
Humans continue to do what they always do - simply relocate their personal and socially bad behaviour from the land out into the surf (in the same way they are looking for a new planet to destroy). We are all using it as a coping mechanism for what happens in the rest of our lives, I include myself in that and I feel qualified to say it because having had a major operation that kept me from surfing for almost a year, and being sick or injured these last few months, I have had to re-evaluate my own motives. (I haven't had much else to do)
The other day one of my close friends said quietly, without emotion: the world has gone mad. It was a statement of fact, like there was no point denying it any more - the evidence has been mounting and we may as well just admit it. I blogged earlier about this and it seems to be gaining momentum. When you spend some time in Blog-land you get an idea of what is happening in the broader international community and many are saying the same thing, at least in the West anyway.
Once again poor old Mother-ocean continues to be the dumping ground for humanity's junk. I have never been comfortable with crowds or close social experiences and generally coped because I could always run alone to the sea - either walk on its shores, swim or surf. It seems now that everyone has followed me there. I am feeling even more desperate now to escape humanity because it is completely insane and it is becoming impossible to find space and clarity - there are just too many of us.
