My Pretentious Use of German Existentialist Terminology, or Why I Am a Jerk
There is a German word — schadenfreude — which, loosely translated, means “taking delight in the misery of others”. I wonder if the word has an antonym, for taking delight in the delight of others.
Case in point: heading to work, I spot a car with three surfboards loaded up, a wagging-tail dog in the back seat and a t-shirted driver awaiting his passengers. At first, I felt cheated. Why should I be on the way to the rat race, while this guy was heading for a surf with his dog and his friends? It wasn’t fair, and I told him. He replied his 60-hour work weeks make four days off in a row seem like a month, and, essentially, he was going surfing.
That’s when it hit me, if I can’t get a wave, I’d at least like to have a friend get it. And if he’s not a friend now, maybe he’ll be a friend at the end of the day.
I suppose all this good will stems from my recent viewing of thicker than water. Chris Malloy and crew have made a phenomenal surf film. Yes, I know it’s over a year old, and yes, I know how everyone raves about it, and yes, I know you’ve probably already seen it. If you haven’t, do so, and if you have, watch it again. This is the perfect love story with surfing as centerpiece: it’s not just about the waves. It’s about the friends you have and the friends you make, all because of surfing. Don’t believe me? Shane Dorian comes right out and says it: “All of my friends I met through surfing. When I look back on it, I owe so much to surfing.”
Every one of the surfers in this film delights in all aspects of surfing, but most of all, the act of riding a board on a wave ties them to each other, and us to them, and us to each other.
As for the guy in the car, I smiled, told him to have fun, and continued on to work, hoping he’d catch a wave for me.