Slow Down, it's all Legit
Slow Down, it's all Legit 2
If the opportunity would have been given to me any other way I would have been ecstatic and would have jumped at the offer. The way it stood though, I was really upset that I was traveling all the way across the country to do what I wanted to do. I may sound like a whiney, overly dependent, stuck up girl talking about this, but that truly is not what I was intending. All I wanted was for my dad to accept me. I didn’t think that was too much to ask.
My dad’s cousin was waiting for me at baggage claim and I really didn’t know what to expect. He obviously knew me since he told my dad I should be a snowboarder, but I knew absolutely nothing about him. I didn’t even know what the guy looked like. He came right up to me and introduced himself, though. His name was Shaun Alexander and he was really happy to finally get to work with me. I told him that all I knew about him was that he was a snowboard instructor.
Do you know what he said to me? He told me that he wasn’t an instructor. He was an agent for a lot of the pro boarders in Mammoth and that he helped with Burton. Yeah, I was kind of impressed. Especially since pretty much every boarder ended up in Mammoth.
Though he was not technically an instructor, he would still teach me everything I needed to know and when I “got too good for him”, he would let some of the pros take over. Apparently they were stoked to help me learn. That kind of made things better. I still felt sad and unwanted, but having Shaun so excited about teaching me made it easier.
When he asked about my dad, I was hesitant to tell him what happened. I wasn’t sure if he really cared or if he wanted to know the truth. I decided that it would be better to just tell him and he definitely seemed to care about me. He kept asking me if I was okay and if there was anything he could do to make things easier. He and my dad didn’t really have a good relationship so he had no problem with getting mad at him for me. Not that I wanted him to get mad, but it was nice to know that he wanted me to feel happy.
His house was ginourmous. It was this awesome house right at the base of the mountain that had six bedrooms, an indoor pool, game room, and fully equipped recording studio. Along with managing snowboarders, he also managed small local bands. How sick is that? And my room was amazing. There was a silver and black furniture set, neon green and black walls, snowboarding posters, and a Les Paul sitting in the corner. I had always wanted a Les Paul.
“I wasn’t sure what kind of bands you were into, so I figured we could go out and get you some posters or whatever else you wanted to decorate,” he told me. “And it seems like you need to go shopping since you don’t have very many clothes. I can get you a bunch of Burton stuff and a bunch of the riders can probably snag you some stuff from other labels, but you should probably have some stuff for now. They don’t get back for another week. They’re shooting some footage in Utah right now.”
I was absolutely blown away by everything that he was doing. It was insane.
We left a few minutes later for the local mall. There was a really good store for posters and cool room stuff there and I could get some new clothes to wear so that I didn’t look like such a prep. Though Shaun obviously didn’t want to be walking around the mall all day, he was super cool about letting me get whatever I wanted and he wouldn’t even let me pay for it. I really didn’t like letting him pay for all of my stuff, but he insisted and would not even let me pull out my money.
I went out that night to start boarding on my own because Shaun had some business stuff to do and I really wanted to start. It was pretty pitiful I have to say, but it felt so good to just be out there doing what I wanted to do for so long. There was definitely the embarrassment factor; everyone on the slopes was probably looking at me like I was some kind of freak, but I didn’t care. I was finally doing what I loved. I’m pretty sure I’m sounding like a broken record.
For the next few days Shaun worked with me, but I wasn’t doing a great job at actually staying standing up on the board. I should have been a natural, but I was still distracted by my father’s cold behavior. Even though I had been there for a few days, he still hadn’t called and would not answer any of my calls. Really, it should not have bothered me that much, but I was a sucker for acceptance when it came to my father.
It was Saturday and Shaun had to work, so I was on the slopes by myself again. I decided that I would try the pipe instead of just going down the mountain again. If I wanted to be some kind of snowboarder, I had to be able to pull tricks on the pipe just like my snowboarding hero Mason Aguirre. I know that I didn’t have to be able to do things like that, but I really wanted to prove it to my father. He thought I would be a nobody because I gave up dancing. I would show him that I didn’t need him.
My dad’s cousin was waiting for me at baggage claim and I really didn’t know what to expect. He obviously knew me since he told my dad I should be a snowboarder, but I knew absolutely nothing about him. I didn’t even know what the guy looked like. He came right up to me and introduced himself, though. His name was Shaun Alexander and he was really happy to finally get to work with me. I told him that all I knew about him was that he was a snowboard instructor.
Do you know what he said to me? He told me that he wasn’t an instructor. He was an agent for a lot of the pro boarders in Mammoth and that he helped with Burton. Yeah, I was kind of impressed. Especially since pretty much every boarder ended up in Mammoth.
Though he was not technically an instructor, he would still teach me everything I needed to know and when I “got too good for him”, he would let some of the pros take over. Apparently they were stoked to help me learn. That kind of made things better. I still felt sad and unwanted, but having Shaun so excited about teaching me made it easier.
When he asked about my dad, I was hesitant to tell him what happened. I wasn’t sure if he really cared or if he wanted to know the truth. I decided that it would be better to just tell him and he definitely seemed to care about me. He kept asking me if I was okay and if there was anything he could do to make things easier. He and my dad didn’t really have a good relationship so he had no problem with getting mad at him for me. Not that I wanted him to get mad, but it was nice to know that he wanted me to feel happy.
His house was ginourmous. It was this awesome house right at the base of the mountain that had six bedrooms, an indoor pool, game room, and fully equipped recording studio. Along with managing snowboarders, he also managed small local bands. How sick is that? And my room was amazing. There was a silver and black furniture set, neon green and black walls, snowboarding posters, and a Les Paul sitting in the corner. I had always wanted a Les Paul.
“I wasn’t sure what kind of bands you were into, so I figured we could go out and get you some posters or whatever else you wanted to decorate,” he told me. “And it seems like you need to go shopping since you don’t have very many clothes. I can get you a bunch of Burton stuff and a bunch of the riders can probably snag you some stuff from other labels, but you should probably have some stuff for now. They don’t get back for another week. They’re shooting some footage in Utah right now.”
I was absolutely blown away by everything that he was doing. It was insane.
We left a few minutes later for the local mall. There was a really good store for posters and cool room stuff there and I could get some new clothes to wear so that I didn’t look like such a prep. Though Shaun obviously didn’t want to be walking around the mall all day, he was super cool about letting me get whatever I wanted and he wouldn’t even let me pay for it. I really didn’t like letting him pay for all of my stuff, but he insisted and would not even let me pull out my money.
I went out that night to start boarding on my own because Shaun had some business stuff to do and I really wanted to start. It was pretty pitiful I have to say, but it felt so good to just be out there doing what I wanted to do for so long. There was definitely the embarrassment factor; everyone on the slopes was probably looking at me like I was some kind of freak, but I didn’t care. I was finally doing what I loved. I’m pretty sure I’m sounding like a broken record.
For the next few days Shaun worked with me, but I wasn’t doing a great job at actually staying standing up on the board. I should have been a natural, but I was still distracted by my father’s cold behavior. Even though I had been there for a few days, he still hadn’t called and would not answer any of my calls. Really, it should not have bothered me that much, but I was a sucker for acceptance when it came to my father.
It was Saturday and Shaun had to work, so I was on the slopes by myself again. I decided that I would try the pipe instead of just going down the mountain again. If I wanted to be some kind of snowboarder, I had to be able to pull tricks on the pipe just like my snowboarding hero Mason Aguirre. I know that I didn’t have to be able to do things like that, but I really wanted to prove it to my father. He thought I would be a nobody because I gave up dancing. I would show him that I didn’t need him.