Anyone who has progressed past primary school maths will be confused by this equation – three men and was that, one surfboard? Divided into three, who gets the rear end with the natty fin sticking out, who scores the pointy bit at the other end and what about the fat useless bit in the middle? It was clear to us that we would have to revert to first principles, to an earlier time, when we were kids and we actually used to ‘share’ stuff all the time. Maybe this would give us some clues.
I remember a certain ‘billy cart’ that I built with my dad (one of the few good memories about him, but that’s another story). It had heavy-duty wheels pinched off a railway porter’s trolley and body work made from a hardwood fruit box full of splinters - it used to go like a scalded cat! Everyone in the neighbourhood had a great time with that cart. We raced each other in it, crashed into stuff (especially other flimsier billy carts) fell out of it when cornering hard and got appalling gravel rash and skilfully dodged the occasional car that dared enter our ‘territory’. We were bloody happy – literally!
One summer an outdoor inflatable above ground plastic pool arrived in the more well-to-do house in my neighbourhood. In the middle of a sweltering western suburbs heat wave it was guaranteed to be an instant kid magnet. We shared that pool and probably a fair bit of our urine until some nong put a hole in it and that was the end of that.
Eventually, we reduced the amount of gravel rash and scabs on knees to a minimum and began to turn our attentions to other things. They weren’t as tough as us but they had long hair that shone in the sun and smelled of flowers and they seemed to cry more than us, about anything and nothing! They wore dresses and stuff which were totally unsuitable for playing cowboys and itchybums and for some reason we weren’t supposed to look up their dresses at their underpants, which is impossible not to do when they are riding in your billy cart! Some things never change.
Gradually we realised that these annoying creatures with their stupid dresses and their nice hair were fun to be around (sometimes) and they made us feel, well, different. We used to share everything else so it only seemed natural that we share them around as well. A fairly grown up attitude – when you’re nine years old! O.K., so perhaps girlfriends are not such a good example for sharing.
So, with such experiences of sharing in our past (and lots of others) it was no surprise that three blokes playing around with a longboard in the surf would be a howling success. At least on a par with billy carts and plastic swimming pools and almost as fun as the girlfriends, especially the ones we married! I have wanted to learn to surf for a few years and wondered if I would ever get the chance while I was living in Canada. Now that I’m back in Oz I have two mates who are sharing the adventure. I’m blessed. All we have to do now is find the time to steal away from the charms of our wives – to go surf’n!
