philadelphia.area.surfing.association

There’s times when mainstream surf media really annoys me. Now is one of them.

In a recent issue of a magazine that shall remain nameless, a good deal of editorial content focused on the idea of localism and the effects thereof. Threats are made, property damaged, and stories of both are recounted from both sides. Sometimes, it seems, almost with fondness.

Frankly, I just don’t get it.

Perhaps I’m just really lucky to never have encountered localism. Perhaps I’m just too blissed out on surfing to notice it. Maybe, being a right coaster, I just surf places that are too popular to be considered "secret spots." After all, it’s a little hard to claim a beach break is "secret" if it’s located off an exit of the Atlantic City Expressway.

I can understand a certain degree of pride in a favorite spot (after all, as a Philadelphia surfer, I am always surfing in someone else’s state or country) but I think that pride is better manifested by cleaning up beach trash than waxing someone’s windshield. Or worse. I try and show some positive pride on every beach I visit, regardless of who thinks it’s "their" beach.

The argument of "too many people in the water" doesn’t work either. With an estimated quarter of the world’s population living in coastal areas (a little more than half the U.S. population lives in coastal zones) guess what? You’re going to run into some other people. Don’t like it? Wake up earlier. Or buy an island and move there. And if you don’t like these ideas, maybe you should quit surfing. The surfers who came before you - you know, the ones that tolerated you when you were the interloper - will probably be happy to be rid of your negativity. I know I will.

(To be honest, I do remember one time I faced some localism. In Panama, when a bunch of Californians were hassling me on this nice little point break, trying to get me to paddle in. Of course, the Panamanians I was with wouldn’t hear of it, and kept giving me waves. One of the Panamanians, a body boarder, was pretty big so eventually the "locals" backed down and the yelling ceased. That night, the Panamanians and I shared some drinks and talked quite a bit of story. So, yeah, I was victim of some bullies who thought they owned something they clearly didn’t. Hmm.)

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 3rd, 2001 at 4:20 pm, filed under Surfing, Media, Localism, Bombast.