So I went roller-skating today.

Do you or your kid’s still roller skate?

The last time I went roller-skating, cell phones were not used by most Americans, Bill Clinton was in the first term of his presidency, Madonna was young and relevant, Vanilla Ice was an actual singer, and the internet was only beginning to take shape in our lives. Today as I skated around this old world activity I took pictures on my Palm Treo, emailed them to Flickr, and began to jot notes down for this blog post. Oh how things have changed.

Today my wife and I took a group of middle school kids from our youth group to a local roller skating rink. While I was there I was amazed at the number of unique and interesting observations I made. Therefore, I thought I would share them with you.

The rink opened in 1948, it looked like it had not been updated since about 1960.

The same man who started it still owns it today. In fact even today he was the one playing the music for his customers in the “DJ Booth.”

When we walked into this rink it felt like we went back in time at least 30 or 40 years. The women behind the glass took our money to get in, $5.00. As you may have guessed no credit cards were accepted. If I heard correctly she was the wife of the owner.

Then it was over to the skate rental window where a man approaching 80 took our $3.00 for skate rentals. I am not sure if he has been working there since 1948 or not but he sure looked like it. I was surprised to see they did offer inline skates rather than the regular four-wheeled roller skates.

The skate rental guy was not able to remember very much information as he worked. As I told him I needed a 13 in roller blades he brought me only one skate. As he set it down in front of me he looked at me like, “Well what do you want me to do? Get going.” So I looked back at him with a puzzled expression and said, “Can I have the other one?” He then realized what he did and then found the other one in the back. I have not idea what he was thinking by only bringing one skate instead of the pair. Especially if you have been working there for 58 years. Don’t’ you think you would have mastered the art of the skate rental window by now? Maybe I don’t know exactly what all goes into remembering the size, taking the money, and brining skates back to the window all at the same time but I would think one could get a handle on this skill after 58 years.

As I began to skate I noticed a man in a referee jersey skating around with a whistle. He apparently was the one in charge on the rink floor. If you stepped out of line in any way he blew the whistle at you to get you back on the straight and narrow. I am not sure how long he had worked there but he also looked like he was still stuck in the 1970s. The pants, the hair style, the mustache, everything. It all fit very well in 1976 but not 2006. All I could think of was that the TV show “That 70s Show.”

There was an organ behind some glass that is used on “adult skate” Thursday morning.

There was a couple who wore the old style skates with clothing that also looked like it was from the 1970s. Their skating abilities far surpassed anyone else’s in the rink but their unique look and fashion style fit very well with the rest of the operation. During the “couples skate” they did not skate and hold hands like we use to do but they danced while they skated. It was very impressive.

Then of course there were a few miscellaneous men, also dressed in an un-modern way, skating around and showing off for people who didn’t care to watch them; also, quite strange.

We did the limbo and some number game where the winning group received a free Pepsi! Oh the joy that filled my soul with a free Pepsi!

I have to tell you, as bizarre as this place was skating is quite a work out. I was sweating quite a bit and have the sore legs to remind me of it tonight.

This post has nothing to do with job searching but I thought I would share my interesting day with you.

Does anyone still roller skate? If so, is your local roller skating rink as bizarre as mine?