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DEL.ICIO.USAre your teens ‘car surfing?’
It’s National Teen Driver Safety Week and the CDC wants you to know about another dumb and deadly thing teens are doing in their cars.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Car surfing may not be new (my husband said he knew idiots who did it high school 20 years ago), but it is deadly and the Centers for Disease Control is trying to raise awareness of this trend.
The CDC reports on it’s web site: “Oct. 19 to the 25 is National Teen Driver Safety Week. Teens ages 16 to 19 are at a higher risk of being involved in car crashes than any other age group. And, a new study shows that teens are also among the age group most likely to participate in car surfing, a thrill-seeking activity with potentially deadly consequences.
“According to an article published in the October 17, 2008, issue of MMWR, since 1990 at least 99 people died or sustained serious injuries as a result of car surfing, an activity that involves riding on the exterior of a moving vehicle. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention obtained information about car surfing injuries and deaths by reviewing newspaper reports from 1990 through 2008. Their findings answer common questions about this dangerous phenomenon, which appeals to young people, especially teenage males.”
“What is car surfing?
Car surfing is a dangerous, thrill-seeking activity that involves a person riding on the exterior of a moving vehicle, such as on the roof or the hood, while someone else is driving.” “How fast must a vehicle be traveling in order for someone to be injured or killed while car surfing?
Car surfing is dangerous at nearly any speed. Injuries and deaths can occur at speeds as slow as 5 mph to as fast as 80 mph. The most dangerous thing that can happen while car surfing is falling off of a vehicle, which can lead to fatal head injury—even at slow speeds. Sudden, unanticipated maneuvers, such as swerving or braking, can force a person off a vehicle.”
Have you ever heard of car surfing? Did you ever do it in high school or college? Do you think your teens are doing it? Will you talk to your teens about it? What is your biggest worry about teens and their driving? What are you doing to help your teens stay safe on the road?
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Comments
By No, it is not a new fad...
October 22, 2008 7:44 AM | Link to this
… I am old and I remember this going on 40 years ago when I was in HS. I remember, too, when I was in college, a NC State football star who was killed when he fell off while “surfing”. Just an example of a “Darwin Award” winner at its finest!
By Jesse's Girl
October 22, 2008 8:03 AM | Link to this
I’ve done this….in high school…but still. Its like drugs and alcohol….you have to let them know verbally and by example that this too is not safe and will not be tolerated. Though, I am unaware of actual grown-ups who still partake of this little nuggett o’ fun. It was the perfect mix of fun and stupid when I did it to allow me to feel the “been-there-done-that” emotion. But I have also drag raced…so go figure:)
By Sugar
October 22, 2008 8:09 AM | Link to this
We never car surfed, but growing up in snow country, when it snowed and the snow packed onto the roads, we would grab on to the back bumper of a slow moving car and hitch a ride. Mostly guys did this but I did it once, just to be cool. One kid got hurt, but nothing serious. I think he fell and bloodied up his lips.
By styles
October 22, 2008 8:11 AM | Link to this
I blame Michael J Fox for making this cool in TeenWolf and look what happened to him
By GLue Gun
October 22, 2008 8:16 AM | Link to this
That’s how MJ Fox got that horrible disease! God was punishing him for car surfin’!
By deidre_NC
October 22, 2008 8:17 AM | Link to this
never did it. i have seen kids do it for a short distance..not really surfing just getting from one place to a place a few feet away. i am not sure if i ever heard of it really.. i cant imagine my kids were stupid enough to do this but you never know. id have a hissy fit on them if i ever found out they did it. how stupid. my little sister was riding on the back of a truck when we were teens and fell off and got hurt really bad.thats stupid enough but car surfing?? geeze
By Mr. Nice Guy
October 22, 2008 8:25 AM | Link to this
Let them car surf - these idiots are Darwin award winners. Stop trying to protect the stupid in this world; let them naturally select themselves out of the gene pool so they won’t reproduce.
If your kid car surfs, guess what - you’ve raised a moron.
By amy
October 22, 2008 8:28 AM | Link to this
I watched friends do this in a shopping center parking lot in H.S. 10 years ago. Not really a big deal. Nobobdy got hurt. But I would never do it, then or now.
By Becky
October 22, 2008 8:37 AM | Link to this
Have never done this, nor I have ever known anyone that did..I can’t imagine that this would be fun..The dumbest thing that we ever did, was to get out & run around the car while the light was red, to see if we could make it back in before the light turned green…Guess we were boring huh??
By Tom
October 22, 2008 8:38 AM | Link to this
Did that over 20 years ago, long before Teen Wolf hit theaters. It was stupid then and it’s stupid now, but like most idiotic things we did when we were young, I’m still here to talk about it. And I SURE hope my son in college isn’t doing it.
By observer
October 22, 2008 8:42 AM | Link to this
Wasn’t this activity portrayed on the classic film Teen Wolf? I for some reason remember a wolf riding on top of a RV or bus… maybe just a bad dream.
By Jesse's Girl
October 22, 2008 8:46 AM | Link to this
Look…no matter how much common sense we pump into our kids, we cannot physically watch every little thing they do. We parent the absolute best we can and pray about the rest. If they take a notion to surf on a car, there is nothing that we can do. Its not like they’re going to ask permission first. Its like with sex, alcohol and drugs. If they want to try it, they will. Darwin’s theory aside….there’s not one single parent on this blog that hasn’t done one incredibly stupid thing in their lives. But that one stupid thing doesn’t negate all the positive we’ve done. I am not blindly accepting the dumb things our kids are capable of. But short of sending them to school in helmets….our best is all we can do.
By ashley
October 22, 2008 8:48 AM | Link to this
Car surfing is for dumb teens that want to be cool but when they sufer and get hurt, they will wish they never would of did it.
By Screwball Willie
October 22, 2008 8:51 AM | Link to this
First off I just gotta say ROLL DAWGS STING EM WOOF WOOF WOOF. That goes without saying. Now I must gotta say CMR still doesn’t respect the gift of the BLITZ. I think that also goes without saying. My hats off to parents these days. Buy your kid a Care Bear not a car. Hugs not Hot Rods. Wookie not Wheelies.
By observer
October 22, 2008 8:55 AM | Link to this
Wasn’t this activity portrayed on the classic film Teen Wolf? I for some reason remember a wolf riding on top of a RV or bus… maybe just a bad dream.
By GLue Gun
October 22, 2008 8:58 AM | Link to this
Screwball Willie? Why don’ tyou car surf on I85 today and tonight? See if you can surf all the way around the 285 perimiter? PLEASE?
By Renee
October 22, 2008 9:00 AM | Link to this
Car surfing is bad and dumb and blah, blah, blah.
But, seriously, what does this have to do with the CDC (Center for Disease Control)?
Shouldn’t they be investigating diseases and viruses? Not just behavior? Are they going to investigate shopping habits of housewives next?
Stay in your area of expertise.
By muffin
October 22, 2008 9:05 AM | Link to this
i knew a guy who did it and ended up in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. the car he was on i think was actually traveling on a road going at least 45 mph though.
By Becky
October 22, 2008 9:05 AM | Link to this
GLue Gun, have you been sniffing the glue?
By SAR
October 22, 2008 9:11 AM | Link to this
It’s a fact that every young person won’t make it until adulthood. Perhaps this si the Big Picture getting rid of the really dumb ones that would have grown up to be dumber as adults. Sorry folks but I bet you don’t see too many class Valedictorians doing this sort of thing. The thinning of the herd.
By KW
October 22, 2008 9:11 AM | Link to this
a family friend’s son died doing it in high school. the highschool population was devestated. They weren’t going too fast either. Never know what can happen. It was quite a tragedy
By Screwball Who Now?
October 22, 2008 9:11 AM | Link to this
The CDC is investigating the connection between car surfing and Parkinson’s Disease.
By CP
October 22, 2008 9:12 AM | Link to this
Thank goodness my kids are too young for this to be an issue. I’ve never done any car surfing in my life (although there’ve been other dumb decisions) & hope they won’t ever want to try it. But if they do try something stupid like this to look “cool,” I’ll find some way to embarrass them in front of their friends. I’ve already let them know I will use embarrassment in front of others if they go way out of line. I think showing up in old fuzzy slippers, bathrobe, curlers in my hair… They’d be mortified. Actually it sounds like fun. :) And if that doesn’t work, I’ll try something else.
By Screwball Who Now?
October 22, 2008 9:13 AM | Link to this
The CDC is investigating the connection between car surfing and Parkinson’s Disease.
By FCM
October 22, 2008 9:14 AM | Link to this
I was at the Y yesterday to pay a bill. As I left someone pulled in and their child (age 4-7 from the look) had their head and upper torso out the sunroof!
The parents’ obvious stupidity and endorsement of the practice (they drove through the lot like that)…show me that this parent would be ok with their teen car surfing.
By mayretter local
October 22, 2008 9:24 AM | Link to this
“injuries & death can occur from speeds of 5-80mph”… so if i get it up to 85, it’s ok?
By FmrMthTch
October 22, 2008 9:28 AM | Link to this
At a high school in Columbus, GA there was a young man who died from car surfing. It is stupid and often tragic.
By Stacey
October 22, 2008 9:46 AM | Link to this
My sister(s) and I did it once and not only did I not realize there was a name for it, I also didn’t know it’s a game (sorry, I’ve never seen Teen Wolf). I was a teenager and my sisters were in there early 20’s. My sister “C” and I were sitting on the hood of “N” car and we refused to move when she got ready to leave. “N” took off with us still on the hood and drove us to a park about 2 miles away and dropped us off and made us walk home. My mother (and everyone in the neighborhood) fussed at all three of us for months afterward. At the time we thought that they were just blowing it out of proportion but we now realize how stupid it was.
By Matt
October 22, 2008 9:47 AM | Link to this
Injuries and deaths can occur at speeds as slow as 5 mph to as fast as 80 mph.
So if someone’s driving, say, 90 mph, and the “surfer” is thrown from the vehicle…they’ll be OK??? This sentence should end at “5 mph.” Adding the last part just makes you sound like a hysterical mother with no logic. Oh, snap.
By Tony
October 22, 2008 10:03 AM | Link to this
I’m 49 and did in HS@ 55mph front hood insane it was.!
By Wow
October 22, 2008 10:12 AM | Link to this
Never heard of it before, and I’m fairly young,nor do I know anyone who’s ever done it. What happened to just plain common sense; what is wrong with people these days, just get in the car and drive!
By Surfer
October 22, 2008 10:27 AM | Link to this
What’s wrong with a little right of passage now and then? The great thing about car surfing is you can’t do it effectively while on drugs or alcohol, so it either keeps you off the sauce, or weeds out the druggies.
By ED
October 22, 2008 10:44 AM | Link to this
I was never fortunate enough to have a car in HS. If I had, I would have never let some dumba$$ get on it and scratch up the paint.
By Mike D
October 22, 2008 10:46 AM | Link to this
Let Darwinism work. If your, or my, kid car surfs, let the forces of nature take them away.
By Mattie
October 22, 2008 10:51 AM | Link to this
Never did it, and I know my sons haven’t either. They actually wear seatbelts! And make sure their friends are wearing them before they put the car in drive! I think kids are a lot smarter today than many give them credit for.
By Jo
October 22, 2008 11:11 AM | Link to this
I have to go with Mr. Nice Guy, Mike D, & SAR on this one. KW’s post doesn’t surprise me at all. The fact that this kid’s entire school was devastated by his death indicated he was one of the “popular” kids. Popular people are usually morons. The so-called “nerds” are the intelligent ones & chances are, if this half-wit had lived, he’d be scrubbing toilets at a company owned by one of the “dweebs” he used to torment. What goes around comes around!
By Buffalo Theory
October 22, 2008 11:20 AM | Link to this
A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. LET THEM SURF!
By pulitzer commitee
October 22, 2008 11:52 AM | Link to this
The most dangerous thing that can happen while car surfing is falling off of a vehicle
For years the medical world, the auto industry and the science community bickered over the exact danger involved in car surfing. This blog has exposed the truth, the real root of the problem; falling off of the moving vehicle. The AJC must be proud, the lady who typed this must be proud, all Gods childen must be proud for today we have finally learned what the true danger involve in car surfing really is, falling off the moving car. We, the Pulitzer commitee, will be flying into suburban Atlanta immediattly to present this years pulitzer to… the hyphenated typer of this blog, which is actually just a cut and pasted montage of googable stuff from the net, but nonetheless, this is indeed a glorious day for humanity, all of it but especially the car surfing community and more specifically the car surfing community that didnt realize that its the falling off part that keeps getting them hurt. I, for one, like during the Kennedy assasination or the 9/11 bombings, will always remember where I was at and what I was wearing the morning that I finally learned that the most dangerous part of car surfing is falling off of the moving vehicle. It is 10/22, remember that folks, it will be a national holiday soon. Slow moving parades down Peachtree street in Atlanta and Broadway in NYC will mark this day. These grand parades will consist of slow moving cars with surfers, not falling off of them, a poignant tribute to this incredible discovery, this awakening of biblical proportions. Yes,it will be a new dawn for a more enlightened generation, when tomorrow, after word of this spreads and the celebrations subside when each man, woman and child wake to discover that car surfing is inherently safe, its the falling off of the vehicl part that hurts people. I must now leave, Road Atlanta is hastily putting together a 48 hour, celebrate the truth rally and I have a reserved spot on the bumper of a new Malibu, sponsered by kaiser Permanante. Oh, and hey, I WONT be falling off!
By Guy
October 22, 2008 12:03 PM | Link to this
When I was in High School back in the 90’s, a kid at my school was killed car surfing in a parking lot. I was on year book staff and worked on his memorial page. It is a totally stupid idea to get on top of a moving car no matter how slow it is going.
By mmz
October 22, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this
pulitzer commitee rocks.
By Cougarmom
October 22, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this
Darwinism’s aside, kids do stupid things. A young man in Huntsville, Alabama (no jokes please - seriously) in the late ’80s was riding in the back of a pick up truck with friends after a football game (all sitting down) heading to celebrate their team’s win at a local eatery. As they passes some friends on the street, the Young man stood up to wave and almost immediately was decapitated by a low wire (power/guide/telephone/cable - not sure) his head landed in a girl’s lap - she promptly stood up screaming reactionary to his head landing in her lap and was knocked out of the back of the pick up because she was off balance. They weren’t car surfing but this is an example of how quickly and unexpectedly things can wrong.
By The pulitzercommiteeguyagainwithbreakingnews
October 22, 2008 12:25 PM | Link to this
Im sure as most of you know by now, CNN and Fox has bumped its normal coverage as well as the networks and are covering this story; the discovery of the true danger of car surfing. Fox just broke into its live feed and announced that GM and Ford which have been hammered by recent economic woes will immediattly begin installing catwalks on the back of every new vehicle manufactured and will retro fit any of their cars free in light of this incredible discovery. The catwalks will allow more people to discover the joys of pain free car surfing. Pain free that is providing you dont fall off! side note; truck dealerships all over the country are reporting a run on flatbed trucks and trailers. entire communities of car/truck surfers are spring up as we speak. Caravans of flat bed trailers ae being reported cruising the interstates, loaded with surfers, joyous of their new found safety. Somebody just shot a “dont fall off” T-shirt from one of those t-shirt cannons, shot from the back of a pick up as it careened through the neighborhood, full of surfers, of course. Whata day, what a glorious day!
By Get a Grip
October 22, 2008 12:32 PM | Link to this
I fail to understand why the CDC would be spending any time or money on this issue at all. Sounds like something parents and our “lovely” educational system should be focusing on. With that being said, if we “get rid” of this problem with our teens, something else will come along to replace it. Another silly, dangerous rite of passage will emerge. That is how it works….a danger for every “season”.
By Mr. Nice Guy
October 22, 2008 12:34 PM | Link to this
The kid who dies doing stupid things doesn’t grow up to have kids of his own.
Let nature weed out the dumb ones.
By Jo
October 22, 2008 12:40 PM | Link to this
Pulitzer Committee, you are spot-on; kudos to you! The horrific scenario described by Cougarmom in her 12:21pm post should have been videotaped & manditorally shown to every high-school drivers’ ed class!! Not that it would sink into the underdeveloped brains of the kids with that idiotic “party” mentality, who “think” (?!?) “Oh, this can’t happen to ME!”
By Get a Grip
October 22, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this
Hey Theresa…..When your kids get to be teenagers do you think this will be a concern of yours?
By Steve
October 22, 2008 12:48 PM | Link to this
Another fine example of the CDC trying to validate its pathetic existence. “Well, we have no MEANINGFUL accomplishments this year, we suffer from internal strife and blatant stupidity at the top of our food chain, but at least we edumacated the public as to the obvious dangers of ‘car surfing!’” Um, way to go.
By Get a Grip
October 22, 2008 12:53 PM | Link to this
The unfortunate fact of being a child or a teenager is that feeling of being invincible - something that we lose as we mature. Can we overcome that? No, we can not. Can we offer guidance and hope that these sort of choices won’t be made? Absolutely. But let’s face it. This is just one more thing in such a HUGE list of things out there that might happen…
By MARCEL MARCEAU
October 22, 2008 1:16 PM | Link to this
,.,?,.,”“.!!!
By Tim
October 22, 2008 1:16 PM | Link to this
Why warn them and foil Darwin?
By rjones
October 22, 2008 1:22 PM | Link to this
If it wasn’t car surfing, these rocket scientists would binge drink, overdose on drugs, or engage in risky behavior of some type. Some people were born to die young and stupid.
By Jessica
October 22, 2008 1:23 PM | Link to this
I’ve heard of it, but when I was a teenager (not long ago) it wasn’t really a big thing. The only “riding on the exterior of a vehicle” that we did was jump in the back of a friend’s pickup truck to get a ride somewhere nearby. That’s the only outside-riding me and my friends ever did :P Daredevils, we were not.
By joey
October 22, 2008 1:28 PM | Link to this
I am the car surfing WORLD RECORD holder. I was once thrown off, but luckily, I was going 81 MPH, so I wasn’t hurt.
By rjones
October 22, 2008 1:29 PM | Link to this
For years, in the USA, we have been warned to death of every conceivable danger, yet despite warnings on cigarette packages, people still smoke. And drive drunk, and take drugs. You cannot legislate STUPIDITY.
By Dan
October 22, 2008 1:32 PM | Link to this
why is the cdc wasting money on this?? Are the working on a stupidity vaccine??? Let Darwin do his work and its not the CDC validating its existence, it is those who hold the purse strings and want to ensure people have the opportunity to blame others for their own choices by coining a syndrome for every problem
By A mommy
October 22, 2008 1:42 PM | Link to this
Mr. Nice Guy — you are a realy jerk! I am guessing you have no children. I have a freind who lost a child to “car surfing.” The car was not even going 5 MPH. The teenager (a very successful child) fell the wrong way and died in the street. It is a horrible case of the youngster feeling invincible. I cannot imagine the pain of burying a child.
By MOTS
October 22, 2008 1:57 PM | Link to this
You guys love to get off topic, but when all else fails, blame teh government right? For those of you unaware, the CDC’s mission is to collaborate to create the expertise, information, and tools that people and communities need to protect their health – through health promotion, prevention of disease, injury and disability, and preparedness for new health threats. Each day at CDC, we try to imagine a safer, healthier world. A world where infants are born healthy and cared for — so, as children, they can arrive at school safe, well-nourished, and ready to learn. A world in which teenagers have the information, motivation, and hope they need to make healthy choices about their lifestyles and behaviors. A world in which adults enjoy active and productive lives in safe communities where they can remain independent and engaged with family and friends throughout their senior years. Get a grip people. Kids will be kids, you can only try to instill good values and education into them, the rest is out of your control. Darwin or not if the button says “do not touch”…kids are going to touch it. Ce la vie.
By Becky
October 22, 2008 2:19 PM | Link to this
I think Mr. Nice Guy is just stating the facts Ma’am..
By Dan
October 22, 2008 2:26 PM | Link to this
MOTS all you said is true, however there are limited resources and you can’t tell me that they can’t be better used elsewhere. As you say if it says do not touch kids are going to touch it.
Agencies such as the CDC were created to engage in research that is beyond the means or capabilities of other organizations. Wasting funds on something that is clearly just stupidity is clearly…well stupidity
By j head
October 22, 2008 2:26 PM | Link to this
Warning to Car Surfers: ALWAYS GO AT LEAST 81 MPH when you surf, or else YOU MIGHT DIE!
Thanks for another, “like”, really great written article.
By Agrees with Becky
October 22, 2008 2:28 PM | Link to this
A Mommy, I deeply feel for that idiot’s parents but not for that idiot himself. He chose to indulge in risky behavior & paid the ultimate price. And how could he possibly assume the driver would NOT speed up at any given time?
By Hmm
October 22, 2008 2:36 PM | Link to this
A teenager who does this is NOT a successful child!
Absolutely absurd and the government doesn’t need to be involved. Survival of the fittest, people. Survival of the fittest. These car surfers are not the type of people I want providing me or my children medical care in the future. Ridiculous!
And, I absolutely disagree with kids will be kids. That is just giving up, a total cop out. We can’t instill some intelligence in our kids, so let’s just let them roam. I guarantee, if I go home today and tell my kid the dangers of car surfing, he’s going to think there’s some joke hidden in my words. I would have a hard time even saying the words with a straight face. Might as well be telling him not to stab a knife into his stomach… it’ll hurt.
By new mom
October 22, 2008 2:40 PM | Link to this
If only that boy had fallen the “right way” off the truck and not the “wrong way”…
Seriously, I can’t believe there are people out there dumb enough to have EVER tried something like this. There are some things in life that we all just learn by first-hand experience, but some things, like standing on a moving vehicle, are just so obviously stupid…even to all the teenagers I knew and still know today.
And do we want/need our tax dollars spent researching how dangerous it is to stand on a moving vehicle?? Expecting the government to fix stupid??
By Hmm
October 22, 2008 2:49 PM | Link to this
Cougarmom, Your tale sounds just like an urban legend.
1) Low hanging wires don’t usually hang that low.
2) The head wouldn’t have landed in her lap if:
a) the truck was moving
b) the girl was moving
c) basic laws of physics still apply in Alabama
It reads just like an urban legend. Can you prove it really happened?
Riding in the back of trucks is stupid too, but far more common.
By surfer dude
October 22, 2008 2:51 PM | Link to this
Simple:
The gub’ment MUST plaster a warning on all cars that warn car surfers to always surf FASTER than 80 mph.
By jon
October 22, 2008 3:07 PM | Link to this
99 deaths in 28 years?
Hundreds of millions of teenagers.
Guess the CDC has cured the world of all the serious diseases so now they have time to work on this.
Sounds to me like they might be a little over-staffed over there at the CDC.
By DaddyTech
October 22, 2008 3:42 PM | Link to this
The movie “Teen Wolf” showed Michael J. Fox truck surfing 20+ years ago.
By MomsRule
October 22, 2008 3:55 PM | Link to this
Hmm, I agree with you, it sounds like an urban legend. That’s exactly what I thought while reading Cougarmoms comments.
By Kathy
October 22, 2008 4:02 PM | Link to this
There is a parent that I see in the car pool line at my daughter’s preschool that let’s her son stand up through the sunroof of her SUV while the carpool line is moving. Is this the toddler version of car surfing?!?!
In the words of the infamous (and inebriated) Ron White….”You can’t fix stupid!”
By deidre_NC
October 22, 2008 6:40 PM | Link to this
to those of you who seem to always dis theresa column subjects-why do you even bother to come here? there are other places you can go and maybe get a subject you think is worthy of you.
i said earlier i have never done this-thats not to say i have never done anything stupid. as someone else said kids have that immortality thing going on. i dont care how many kids die or get hurt from different things most kids think it will never happen to them. just because a kid does something stupid and gets hurt or killed doesnt mean they are not good or successful people. thats why kids are supposed to have parents-to try to guide them in the right decisions to make. that doesnt mean they always will make the right one-we can only teach them and hope for the best. but theres no reason to be mean and hateful about kids who do a stupid thing. or about the subject of this column.
mean people suck
By Jesse's Girl
October 22, 2008 7:30 PM | Link to this
Amen Deidre….mean people do indeed suck. But…you can’t please everyone. For those who have nothing to fill their days, complaining and stirring the pot on a BLOG is a fantastic way to meander through existence.
By fk
October 22, 2008 8:08 PM | Link to this
Never heard of car surfing. I grew up in the Northeast where “skitching” was big in the wintertime. Never did it, but almost all of the n’hood boys did it. If my brothers did it, I never knew. They probably feared a tattle-tale. I am 5 & 6 years their junior. A lot of times, it’s “monkey see, monkey do” among teenage boys, at least that’s been my experience as I only have a boy and grew up around boys.
You can talk to teenagers until you’re blue in the face, but you’ll never know for sure if your point has been received and understood. Two-three years ago, I picked my son up from high school. I think it was October. I saw large bows all over campus. I asked him what was up with the red bows? He had no clue. Then we passed the wrecked car on display. It was “red ribbon week”, aka drug awareness week. Where was his head at???
Teens think bad things happen to other people. They do think they are invincible. They don’t think in consequences.
By blog slogging
October 23, 2008 7:04 AM | Link to this
Jesse’s Girl & deidre_NC
Yes, thanks for pointing out these critics that dis Theresea’s juvenile copy/paste style of plagaristic writing. Personally, I think she should use “like” more in her article. “He was “like” surfing, and he “like” fell off and bumped his little pea-brained head.” She does that so well that I dream about hearing her in “like” actual conversation. By the way deidre, would it be possible for “those who come here” to un-dis the column, and would that give you a happy, glowing feeling? Also, I must wonder what Jesse’s Girl thinks it is that mean people suck. Air?Spaghetti? What? Please be more descriptive. Maybe the nice people just “blow”. See how confused I am. I know plenty of mommy women that like to both suck and blow. Where do they fit in?
By Hmm
October 23, 2008 8:46 AM | Link to this
Don’t hate the blogger, hate the topic.
But for those who asked why certain people visit when they so clearly hate the blogger/topic, I’ll answer for me… I only visit here when it’s linked on frontpage.
By Jesse's Girl
October 23, 2008 9:53 AM | Link to this
Thank you Hmmm for not responding like a 6th grader…that, I respect.
Blog Slogging and Pulitzer dude….if I cared, I’d beg you to get a life. Its pitifully obvious that you haven’t one.
By blog slogger
October 23, 2008 10:58 AM | Link to this
Jesse’s Girl,
Where is it that I can get one of those “life” things? Can I pick one up at WalMart, or do I have to use a special store? Where did you get yours? I want a green one if they offer colors, and maybe I can catch the after Thanksgiving sale for a cheap one.
By Phil
October 23, 2008 1:20 PM | Link to this
We did stuff like this when I was in high school almost 40 years ago. Our favorite was to get Kevin’s parents convertible with the top down, then get 6 guys, 3 on a side, straddling the sides. Then we would pretend we were Vikings rowing a boat in unison and drive around. I even fell off one time at low speed, hit the street, rolled, got up and got back in. But listen up kids, don’t do like I did.
By DadMania
October 24, 2008 4:28 PM | Link to this
I have car surfed (with my dad driving)
I have skeeched (with my dad driving, it’s a midwestern thing, look it up)
I am grateful that we never had any accidents otherwise I would not be hear today.
While it’s fun when you are young you realize as you get older and have kids all that could have gone wrong.
By fk
October 24, 2008 5:07 PM | Link to this
Phi…such a funny mental picture…the rowing part, I mean. Hopefully you and your friends still enjoy that same sense of humor all these years later!