I had a weird experience this past Friday night. I was at an outdoor show put on as part of the premiere of the Locobazoka movie, and I got a call on my mobile. So I had to leave the area because the band was too loud for me to hear the person was talking to. The show was at the Bijou Cinema in Worcester MA, which is located adjacent to a shopping mall, and when I got over to the area of the mall entrance there were about 6 cats skating with a few girls watching and one guy recording. I wasn’t really paying attention but they were olieing off a pretty high set of stairs and every one of them was dumping hard. So I pulled out my miniDV cam and started recording while I was talking. I just figured it would be some good, random footage to have. I kept talking to my man that had called until I heard this ridiculous yelling and turned around to see a WPD cruiser on the other side of the street with the cop inside yelling through his PA for the kids to get out of the area before he came over and arrested them and took their boards. It was real funny almost whiny yelling. The kid with the cam broke out pretty fast, they were all young and I’m sure he was worried about getting his cam taken. The rest of them just walked away, when one of them stopped and said to me while I was still recording ‘I hope you got that man, happens every night’. I had just hung up the phone when I realize that the cop is still yelling, and I’m the only one there so I turned my camera on him and started walking back to the show. Once he realized I wasn’t with the skaters he took off. I guess it’s just been a while since I was doing things in public that could get you arrested, but are cats really still putting up with this stuff? I had no idea skateboarding was a crime in Worcester. It’s something I plan on looking into. If you take into consideration that there is virtually no foot traffic in the area these kids were in and there are a few city owned surveillance cameras in the area, you would think the cops would WANT cats skating there. They can actually keep an eye on them; and see what they’re up to. This was the first time in years I felt really bad for younger cats, what the fuck are you supposed to do with yourself if the city you live in has no tolerance for your interests? And of all the shit to be intolerant of, skateboarding? Get real.
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