The enmity that exists between surfer and bodyboarder is an age-old trope. Surfers figuratively and literally look down on bodyboarders as second-class citizens – the exact reason for which is murky. Maybe surfers think standing up on a board is more difficult than riding a wave prone? Or just because anyone not riding a wave the same way you are makes for an easy target? Who knows? Bodyboarders, then, internalize said scorn and hate surfers for making them the butt of their jokes. And the world keeps spinning.
On occasion, it’s fun to reflect on the arbitrary nature of the social hierarchy of lineups and how, sometimes, it creates little mix-ups like the ones above at The Wedge in Newport Beach. Thankfully no one was hurt here – save a perfectly guillotined surfboard – but man, maybe if surfers were friendlier to bodyboarders they wouldn’t be on the other end of third-degree burns as illustrated in the three instances here? Or, maybe this is just more fuel for the hate dumpster fire. Discuss!
