Lines are often blurred when there’s a crowd of surfers in the water, and drop-ins, angry words or bad vibes can sometimes be the result. Entitlement has no place in the lineup writes Bismark Meyer in this entry into Write To Surf – Zag’s surf journo competition with epic prizes by Billabong up for grabs (see details below).
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HAPPINESS IS NOT AN ENTITLEMENT – by: Bismarck Meyer
Birth is not a birth right!
It’s not – there is no such thing, since we all come from the decisions of our parents. My father always said, “you can never be too careful in the choice of your parents.” He was right.
If we think about it, we all have the privilege of surfing great waves up and down our coast because fate brought us here (I’m using fate and destiny as a loose term) – and in most cases we were born close to the coast – we are coastal children. Early to learn to swim, early to enjoy the ‘birth right’ (I’ll get to that too) of water. Our parents chose home before we had the ability to do so ourselves and for that we can be thankful – after all we could have grown up in Gauteng and had limited access to the beach. Don’t misunderstand me, Gauteng is a good place for a non-surfer and a cage for a surfer in isolation. I spent two years working in Sandton and I have never been unhappier – I know how Jo-burgers that surf feel when they’re ripped from the oceanic umbilical cord they were secretly born with.
In my years, I’ve watched surfers from different ages in the water – and I have to marvel at how different we all are. Our styles are sometimes born of our era and our etiquette in the line-up follows suite. Older surfers tend to enforce a certain hierarchy amongst a group, and a fine line exists between ability and respect for age. This is often blurred and can become an issue when a younger better surfer is in the water.
Our sport was born from the early Hawaiians with little or no formal rules. However that did not mean that human eloquence and understanding was exempt from the water. Surely the chief on his board would have a right-of-passage over the young virile man alongside him as they cast their early versions of SUP’s towards the shore – I am speculating, but I feel that this would undoubtedly be the case. Respect was borderless and so the water should not stop our mutual giving. Recently I have wondered about this. The point breaks always serve as the testing ground…
When a point is working well and a particular take-off zone is known and perhaps cramped, then the protocal needs to be understood – I recently watched this unfold at my local point in the Boland.
A young talented surfer does not necessarily have the right to every wave just because he’s inside and good enough to make it. A very loose border exists, and it is important for all of us to recognise this. In the same way that surfing is ‘born without rules’, it does in fact have a code of conduct that is part of the human nature code. Although eroding at a rapid pace, we all need to realise that we EARN our place – it is not a foregone conclusion.
Our ‘birth right’ to waves is not on merit entirely either; it sometimes comes from a series of factors that add value to what is right and what is wrong. An older guy sitting up the point patiently awaiting his turn should be like the old man at the post-office queue. Allow and afford him a chance to send his post! Amazingly he’s probably in the water at that age because he was once you, and he’s carried his love for surfing longer. Undoubtedly he’ll rip…in a stylish, old-school way or just rip! Depends on the ballie. My point (excuse the pun) is that he’s been through the mill. He carries weight in his wisdom.
On the other hand talent deserves its pride of place and this needs to be recognized too. Some of the younger surfers these days can do the most outrageous things on a surfboard. Their abilities exceed their wisdom. I have seen air reverses on impossible sections of point breaks that have left me wondering how a person actually travelled that distance with a manoeuvre and still made the section? Every other Joe would have raced his ass off just to beat the white water. Marvel! Sometimes surfing stops time and in doing so our presence can alter outcomes. Confusing but part of the mystic, I reckon… What I am trying to say is that talent and wisdom rarely combine.
Localism has its part to play too – how do you feel when a van full of surfers pulls into your local break and begins paddling up the inside…wave after wave. Eventually even the most polite guy is going to ‘strip his moer’ – it’s nature. You do not walk into a person’s house at a braai and suck milk from the hosts fridge – it’s not on. But if the host pulls you over and encourages you to drink with him, then by all means take the cue! Sometimes the milk is Amarula. Sometime the fridge is his daughter?! The situation will dictate and require discretion. That means you need to access all the factors before you choose to scratch up the inside or drop in on someone. In tricky situations a polite statement like: are you going? Is enough. Alternatively if you’ve seen the rightful next-in-line paddle and miss a few then say something like: ‘I’m just going to paddle on your inside, but it is yours if you get it…’ This shows a clear understanding that you have assessed most, if not all, factors surrounding your ‘entitled’ wave.
Entitlement is what spoilt children think is theirs by birth right – it has no place in surfing! I suggest we all carefully assess what the outcome of ‘entitle-list’ behaviour brings. More often than not it is a negative sentiment, that leads to resentment, and although common occurrence in our political arena, we surf to get away from this. Respect earns respect and as surfers, respecters of the ocean – we should know better and pull into the next barrel from a wave fairly earned. Happiness is…..not an entitlement.
Opinions expressed in Write To Surf entries are not necessarily those of Zigzag.
Click here to check out all the published stories from our Write To Surf competition.
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THE FINEPRINT:
Send your stories to calvin@zigzag.co.za. One submission will be selected every six weeks to appear in Zigzag magazine. The selected submission will also receive a hamper from Billabong. At the end of the year, we will select and send one aspirant journalist from the competition on an all expenses paid assignment for a major feature in Zigzag. Zigzag retains the right to use any work submitted for the Zag Surf Journo competition on zigzag.co.za as outlined in the rules and terms of the competition. Zigzag reserves the right not to award a published winner in the magazine every six weeks, depending on the quality of entries. Zigzag is not obligated to run any and all entries submitted, either online or in print. Zigzag retains the right to edit all work submitted for brevity and / or clarity. Please note: Prize hampers will only be delivered within South Africa.
The Billabong prize hamper includes: 1 x Billabong Wetsuit; 1 x Billabong Hoodie; 1 x Billabong Cap; 1 x Von Zipper Sunnies; 2 x Da Kine traction pads.
