What came first the skates or the blade?
One of my first post quarantine/early father’s day gifts to myself and kids (wife has not been successfully convinced yet), was roller-skates for them and rollerblades for me. Now, this decision didn’t come easy as I needed to ask myself, why now? Why now in my early 40’s would I want to put myself through the possible embarrassment and scuffs and scrapes? And I always come back to the same mantra, “Why not”.
Rollerskating got its history from a guy named John Joseph Merlin, a Belgian who famously introduced his new wheeled shoes at a party in London and promptly crashed into a mirror.
Rollerskating would come in the later 1800s and even though the traditional roller skates were more popular, inline skates, or what we call RollerBlades were actually the first designs. Rollerblading would become more mainstream in the 1980s when hockey players started retrofitting skates with wheels.
Lots of famous people from Cher, to Beyonce, to Prince not only did it but were avid roller-skaters. It was fun, it was hip, it even hit a high during the disco era, faded away, and then made a return in the ’90s with car-hops who would bring your food out on skates, and extreme skaters and the X games. There are cardiovascular and numerous health benefits.
If you have ever wanted to, I say, you should try it.
If it scares you because you are worried you are going to fall, let me share with you, you are. (Make sure to get proper gear and protection.)
All in all, try it. Spice up your life and your indoor or outdoor workout a little bit and skate!
