"My old stomping grounds." Never thought I'd say that one. I'd been staying away from the under-the-bridge DIY skate
park utopia I called home for the last fifteen years. Shortly before I transitioned, I had a few bad experiences with a couple of cro-magnons who thought I was gay. I wasn't even out as trans yet!
So upon beginning my transition, I stayed away and skated our new plaza on the river. It was also a refreshing change of pace. I stayed away partly to shift my skate focus, partly because I didn't know if my old friends would accept me. I feared the worst, that I would show up, somebody would yell f----t and t----y, somebody else would grope my tits, or maybe another person might gank my wig.
But on Saturday I really wanted to go. And I did!
Skating the park itself was super, super awkward, because I had gone so long without doing it. I pretty much had to relearn everything. I thought muscle-loss via estrogen might have had something to do with it, but by the end of the second day, I was throwing down a lot of my old stunts.
As for my old friends, everybody was really sweet! Even one friend who seems to be uncomfortable with the whole thing, was still positive to me. Another friend of mine didn't recognize me at first and approached me all suave-like. He walked up and said, "Well hello," and upon noticing that I was me, and I was a chick now, he gave a "Woah!"
I smiled and said, "I told you I was going through some major life changes!"
One of the homophobic half-brains was there, but he was sober, which kept him from running his mouth. It's funny how somebody so full of themselves while drunk, can be so timid when sober. His girlfriend was also there, which may have kept him in line as well. She's such an awesome person, and I simply can't understand why she's with him.
Oh, and some non-skating creeper hit on me in the parking lot. That happens a lot these days.
