Skater

A skater is an individual participant of skateboarding culture who has attained a certain level of "street-cred" through the act of skateboarding. This is normally achieved through learning and expressing many basic tricks such as, but no limited to: The ollie and its many variations, dropping in, the kickflip/heelflip, the pop-shove-it, the Frontside 180 ollie and/or the backside boardslide. A person becomes a skateboarder when other skateboarders of similar or higher level of ability recognize him/her as so. The skater normally has experienced the challenges of authority presented to his craft by being kicked out of "skate spots." Security guards, mall cops, police officers, and private business owners commonly instigate kicking out a skateboarder and talking unnecessary sh*t to them, and/or criticizing their lifestyle. In general, skaters are commonly looked upon as trouble makers or non-contributing members of society. Rarely ever do true skaters bother anyone or instigate fights. for the most part the skater just wants to mind his/her own business and perform their tricks. Sometimes a skater will 'vandalize' public or private property to "wax" a ledge or curb, thus making it skateable. Skaters can be any member of society but are most commonly males from the ages of 12-24. A skater was once able to be easily identified by his or her shoes, but due to the recent poseurdom on skateboard fashion this is harder to do. (Unless the skater has noticeable toe rips or gashes in his shoes from skateboarding.) A skater is not to be confused with a poseur, which is someone who wears skateboarding clothes and tells grandiose tales of how he backside flipped a thirty set. A skater is also not to be confused with a kook, who is someone who sucks at skateboarding and has not yet risen to the level worthy of being called a skater.