Today’s SPOTD is brought to you by the letters “O” and “W” today.  I was down the street today and had parked the car and noticed a couple of teenagers on the other side of the road, one videotaping the other doing tricks when rollerblading.  They had come across a section of the footpath under repair and fenced off with temporary barriers about 1m tall.  The iron barriers clipped together like small gates and the whole lot was surrounded with yellow “danger” tape.  The area under repair was about 2.5m long by 1.5m wide so one figured that they could roll up to the area, leap the first barrier, land in the repaired area then immediately leap the second barrier and be back on the footpath again.  It seemed like such a good idea.

On his first attempt the guy leaped the first barrier and almost leaped the second barrier.  Right at the last second his right rollerblade caught under the top rung of the barrier and he landed awkwardly on one foot, wobbling crazily until he crashed into the bus shelter a few metres further down the footpath and wound up flat on his back.

On his second attempt he leaped the first barrier and again almost cleared the second barrier.  This time both feet caught under the top rung and he comically hung in mid-air with a startled look on his face until his body realised it was hooked and gravity kicked in.  The first thing to break his fall was his face crunching into the footpath and the rest of his body made it worse by basically falling in the same precise spot so he ended up in a ball before sprawling onto his back in pain.

And then … and here’s what makes him my SPOTD.  He tried again.

This time he managed to clip the first barrier with wheels on his left roller blade.  This brought the barrier crashing to the ground.  However, he still had momentum so he landed on his right foot and tried in vain to leap the second barrier since he could not stop. Launching from one foot was not enough though and he slammed shin first into the top of the second barrier which, since the first barrier was no longer standing and providing stability to the structure, caused the entire barrier to collapse on the ground right where he was about to fall.  This time instead of landing on his face he hit the ground landing on his side but sprawled across three metal bars now horizontal on the footpath.

He didn’t stand up so quickly after that and I could see he had pretty much run out of enthusiasm for the concept of leaping these barriers.  Nonetheless, the other guy convinced him to go again but unfortunately I had to leave at the time.  The last I saw of him was preparing to leap the barriers a fourth time as his mate set them up again.  Whether he eventually pulled off the stunt or not I am not sure.  I’m pretty confident that he will be sporting some terrific bruises tonight and the videotape is surely comedy gold.

Categories: SPOTD