Localism

"Hey! Hey! Get out of here! What do you think you're doing??" We have all heard something along the lines of this out in the lineup sometime. It's those guys we all dread, the locals. It's because of them we cringe in disgust. It's because of them that so many new surfers quit before they have a chance to enjoy the sport. For example, I was out at Sunset Cliffs at 9:oo am the other day. I didn't think too much of the local guys, they always caught the best ones while we had to scrap for the inside waves. But this little kid paddled out with his Dad, the kid must have not been over 12 years old. He was pretty decent. He starts to paddle for a beauty of  a wave, I back off so he can go for it, but one of the locals wasn't gonna let that happen. So this local goes out of his way to take the inside and call the kid off the wave while the kids Dad is cheering him on. All of the locals 40 year old buddies were screaming at the kid too! I couldn't believe it. The kid was 12 years old! What happened to the stoke? The aloha? If it wasn't for that one person that egged us on when we were younger, we wouldn't be where we are today in surfing. The sport cannot grow with jerks out there ripping on everyone. So when it all boils down to it, screw the locals, catch whatever you want. Just as long as you have a buddy who's watching your back...