Bubblegum Pink

    I'd done my homework, I'd tried on a few pairs of skates, and I was sold on a pair of lilac size 8 Jackson Finesse quads.  It's a big decision!!  So I gave myself a week to mull it over.

    The next Monday, I rented as usual, and a few laps after the lesson, I went to the skate shop.  I tried my pair again.  I was happy they had the same pair, but the toe box felt surprisingly roomy, given my bunion on each foot and difficulty buying shoes in general.  I asked to try a size down, just in case.  The shop manager only had size 7 in pink, so I tried that.  

    I did the carpet-version of skating (and was told, "maybe don't use your arms so much," which made me joke about that Seinfeld episode where the woman doesn't swing her arms when she walks, but seriously, I need momentum to move on the carpet!) but immediately felt the discomfort around the middle of both feet.  The skates were too tight.  

    I started unlacing the boots, but caught my reflection in the angled mirror under a bench facing me.  Pink!  It was so FUN and BRIGHT!  I pictured someone else in these skates and felt jealous.  Maybe I'd changed my mind.

Bubblegum Pink Jackson Finesse Quads

    The shop manager said she had size 8 in pink as well, and I tried them on.  I looked back and forth between the lilac and pink.  Suddenly my lilac dream was a bit dulled.  Pink it was!  The manager took the skates to loosen the wheels (I learned ALL new skates have to be loosened or you're going to find it really difficult to roll, and be stuck going very slowly) and ring me up, and I started to put my rental skates back on.  "Don't you want to wear your new skates?" came another customer's voice.  I don't know why this seemed so odd to me, like it wasn't allowed.  They had just become my skates, after all.  "Oh yeah!" I smiled, and walked in socks over to the counter.

    Everyone told me outdoor wheels were VERY different--rental skates have indoor wheels, which look like packing tape, less rounded on the edges, and allow your skates to glide easier.  Outdoor wheels are "gummy" and rounded, made to grip the ground better, so you don't go flying when you roll over a pebble or twig (think bubble letters vs. block letters).  I felt a bit concerned over how my new outdoor wheels would feel on the rink.  I figured I could practice before using them during the free skate, but where?  I don't have a rink at home (I wish!), and there isn't a small patch of rink off to the side like there was in New Jersey (my rink growing up, and actually I never knew what that little area was for).  I was going to have to try my new "legs" in public!

Home from the rink

    Well everyone was over-the-moon for me!  I got congratulations from all the orange shirts, and from a new skate friend I always see in passing.  A staff member saw me leaving the shop and offered to return my rentals for me!  I laced up and got on the rink.  It felt so good!  I was more confident, pushing off easier, zooming around faster than I had before!  I had to stop myself from looking down at my feet (that usually causes falls)!  I ended up staying a bit later than I usually do, because I was just so happy!  I left that night, the owner of a brand-new pair of roller skates!