My son has a death wish. He's going to be 15 in April. That's the plan, but I fear he has other ideas - at least subconsciously.
He's a skateboarder. This means he jumps onto a thin piece of wood that is attached to four wheels, and then he races at breakneck (and I do mean break neck) speeds down streets, ramps, stairs and stair railings.
That last thing is called grinding, by the way. I think it has something to do with what happens to your private parts when you hit them the wrong way.
Rainy-day activities
There are numerous skate parks around the Seattle area, both outdoor and indoor. Since we've been on our long string of continuous rain days, the indoor places have been getting quite a lot of my hard-earned money via my son.
The kid will do anything to go skateboarding. This requires a lengthy trip to an indoor skate park and back, plus money to get in - not to mention the ER and dentistry charges that are needed after a session of skating.
I drove through the pouring rain the other evening, risking life, limb and higher car-insurance costs to drive my son and his equally long-haired, insane friends. They were going to spend the next three hours risking life, limb and my sanity racing around.
I dropped them off with the usual admonitions to be careful, then drove back home through the monsoon.
Trouble strikes
As I neared home, my cell phone rang.
Me: "Hello?"
Son: "Mom?"
Me: "Chris?"
Son: "Mom, I think I need stitches."
Me: "Now what did you do?"
Son: "My skateboard flipped up and hit me in the mouth."
Me: "I'm coming to get you."
Son: "No! I'm fine!"
Me: "You just said you need stitches! That's not fine!"
Son: "Mom, I'm all right, geez!"
Me: "Chris, I can come get you. Are you sure you're all right?"
Son: "Yeah, it just hurts a lot, and my teeth are really loose."
These are permanent teeth he is referring to here. Since he's already missing one permanent front tooth, I was hoping he wasn't serious, but I should have known better.
Of course, he was serious. His skateboard had smacked him in the face, under his lower lip, causing his bottom front teeth to come loose from their moorings, also giving him a slice that bled a great deal and probably could have used a stitch or two.
His pals gathered around him and gave him high fives.
More bodily injuries
He finished the skating session with a bloody mouth and loose teeth and managed to garner several more badges of honor (bleeding wounds on his body) during that time period.
He has no sense of self-preservation, and it's highly doubtful he'll make it to his birthday in April.
Freelance columnist Pamela Troeppl Kinnaird can be reached at needitor@ nwlink.com.
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