On June 21, eighty-nine-million-trillion-bazillion skateboarders from the planet Earth will pick up their skateboards, go outside, and use them however they see fit. Some of these skaters will go skating simply because they’d be doing it anyway, while others will be doing so because the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC) told them that it’s a holiday. I’m all for skaters going out and skating, since that’s sort of what we do, but what the hell do we need a holiday for?

June 21st will probably be a fine day to skate… then again, so will the other 364 days that come both before and after this corporately-blessed skateboard holiday (or commercial, depending on how you look at it). Don’t get me wrong… I’m not against “Go Skateboarding Day” as a reason to pick up your stick and huck yourself off of the obstacle of your choice, but I do want to point out that the Go Skateboarding Day concept is a fabrication invented by an organization consisting of some legit skateboard-related companies, some sketchy skate-related companies, corporate marketers, as well as Fed Ex (how is Fed Ex eligible to be a considered a skateboard company? Simple: They paid money to be included in the IASC).

Anyway, if skateboarding on June 21 is something you want to do, get out there and do it. All I’m saying is that creating a “holiday” around something as fun as skateboarding is not only redundant, but also slightly retarded. It may even be more than slightly retarded, but I don’t really have a litmus test that can gauge the inherent ridiculousness of the whole thing.

For the record, me and my pals have skated on Go Skateboarding Day in the past, but we also skated on the day before and the day after. But like I said, we’re skaters… spending random days skateboarding is just what we do. Every day that you get to skate is a holiday, isn't it?

For the skate shops: did you get the IASC Go Skateboarding Day kit? Most of us are aware that Christmas has become a commercialized mess, but Go Skateboarding Day is actually starting off that way.

For skateboarders: If you don’t feel like skateboarding on June 21st, I’d like to offer some ideas that include other things you can do that day.

For the IASC: I think I have some seriously killer ideas on how to make Go Skateboarding Day even more commercial than you’re trying to make it, so I included a page with some completely-royalty-free ideas that you can have! That’s right… if you like any of the shit I put on your section of this site, feel free to incorporate them however you see fit, and you don’t even have to give me credit! I’m like an open-source (keep information free!) hippie in that respect.

And with that, do whatever you want, whenever you want. That includes consuming trans fats, buying shop boards, listening to crappy top-40 bands, wearing assless chaps, and buying goats so you never have to mow your lawn again.

Chakabrah,
Neal Boyd
(A stupid skateboarding consumer monkey)