Pride and prejudice
A press agent points me out to Steve Caballero. He registers my presence with squinty eyes and shuffles from the skate bowl in my direction. He wears a red tank top, elbow and kneepads and his head is on trademark tilt due to his spinal condition, scoliosis. He sits on his skateboard and I hand him the Stab hardcover book, the one filled with titties and nudity. He fingers the booby/sunglasses spread, stone-faced. He is a family man and newly religious. Our interview begins with him softly spoken to the point it’s unnerving. In twenty minutes we will be laughing, having discussed skating and surf culture, why skaters can be poets and surfers can’t wear tight jeans without being branded faggots. And what it’s like when your outlet becomes your job.
You’ve travelled to the corners of the globe. Have you found there are cultural characteristics shared globally among skaters?
What’s different with skate culture is skaters live, eat and breathe it. Whether it is watching videos or going to a spot and meeting up with friends, there is a strong sense of community. They don’t vibe each other out as much as they do in surfing. You have more terrain to skate all the time whereas waves come and go and people are trying to fight for that good wave. But it can get territorial at skate spots too when people try to stop spots from getting blown out.
The biggest difference I see between skate and surf culture is the loss of our sport’s liberalism. Skating on the other hand appears to be quite accepting of skaters with passions outside of their sport. Surfers can’t wear tight jeans without being branded a faggot.
I don’t follow the surf industry but I did ask a friend of mine who he thought were the coolest surfers and he said, “I can’t tell, I can’t say one. There is not one I think is a cool dude.” (Cab cracks up.)
[The hate] comes from jealousy. It can happen in skating too. It’s an insecurity and fear that we all carry among us. It’s very rare that people will lift up another person for doing well. There is a lot of jealousy in every aspect of our life, which comes down to the pride we carry in our hearts. Pride ruins a lot of relationships and I try to take it away as much as possible. I have to accept the fact that I have pride in my heart and accept that I’m a prideful person and that takes a lot of humility.
You’re well known for your interests outside of skating (Steve has played in punk bands, dirt biked for several years, tried art and now restores hot rods). Are these essential when your outlet (skating) becomes your job?
I never looked at skating as an outlet to get away. My life was never that bad. Even when I wasn’t into skating I was always into all sorts of things. I like to experience life to its fullest. I’ve never had a fear of trying different stuff. Skating was an outlet that led to music, to art, now I’m into building hot rods and I was into dirt biking for six or seven years. As humans we have so much potential we don’t even know. I try to experience as many things as I can.
A large chunk of the surfing community is reticent to allow surfers this privilege. What advice do you have for an action sports athlete in this conundrum?
Don’t let people dictate who you are. If you’re into tight jeans, wear tight jeans. Does it really matter what other people think? I don’t think so. The way society is, look at the movie industry, the music industry; people are lifted up and as soon as they make one mistake they are squished. They are written off: loser, lame, I can’t believe you did this. That’s the way the world is, they lift you up and smash you down. Once you’re at the top, the only place to go is down. I’ve experienced it many times. It’s a high school mentality and my daughter is going through it now, she is 12. She is short and they make fun of that. They make fun of the way she dresses. The fact she likes skating, you name it kids will find something. It’s fear and insecurity that kids are brought up with. We’re all insecure about something. – Jed Smith
Photos courtesy of Justinbarnwell.com
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Reply #15 on : Sat February 27, 2010, 18:29:34