We’ve all been there: pumping down the line on the wave of the day when, like a dream turned to a nightmare, a board appears down the line. It’s inevitably followed by a locking of eyes between you and the board’s owner. And then, in what feels like an eternity, the eye contact is broken. He or she hops the shoulder.
Perhaps you don’t make the section. Maybe you never even had a chance. But still, you’re pissed. And if you do make that section, everyone in the water had better plug their ears. You just got the unspoken “ok” to begin a verbal assault on the person who ruined the best wave you had all day. So how do you handle the situation? With a Zen-like resolve or zealous reprisal?
I’ve never been one to yell when I get dropped in on (probably a product of my being 5’10 and 130lbs). For the most part, the offender knows they might ruin my wave, but chooses to go anyway. And honestly, the whole “I didn’t even see you on that one bro, my bad” falls short. My usual response is a passive aggressive look of disdain and a silent paddle back out into the lineup. But when it keeps happening over and over throughout a session how should I, or more broadly, how should any surfer, handle the situation?
I do and always have viewed surfing as a passion; a combination of self-introspection and fun. The last thing I want to do is create a hostile vibe in the water. Yet, when the problem becomes both flagrant and persistent, I feel forced to resort to a series of passive aggressive comments, normally beginning with “Hey man, did you not see me right on the face of that wave?” and ending with “Oh yeah, makes sense. I wasn’t going to make the section,” when in truth I was setting up a cutback. All surfers know the common responses: “Totally did not think you would make the section.” Sometimes the more openly aggressive, “Listen buddy, I’m just trying to get some waves.” Do I need to become “that guy” who starts yelling and calling the dude an asshole for ruining my wave? What if you’re a scrawny 14 or 15 year-old? What line needs to be crossed before it is PC to alter the vibe of the entire lineup because of your individual problem?
I am not sure of the answer. It bothers me when guys yell at each other in the water; it just creates tension and ruins things for everybody. Maybe the answer can be found in the core of the problem: When is it okay to drop in on someone?
There is the obvious scenery, wherein you just choose to be selfish and take whatever wave you deem fit. But how about that grey space, where there is uncertainty whether the guy who took off from the peak is going to make it? Most people handle this by dropping in, and then just kicking out if the person behind makes the sections. But I think I speak for most surfers when I still consider this scenario to be a total bummer. To this day, I still dream about a perfect, head-high, glassy Trestles wall I waited half an hour for, only to be dropped in on three separate times throughout the ride. And sure, all three guys kicked out, but the wave was ruined for me. It’s hard enough to catch waves in our ever-increasingly crowded lineups, but now I find myself not just fighting to get a wave, but fighting to make sure I am the only one surfing it.
My answer, which is definitely a result of my new “let’s all just have fun” attitude, is just to not go. Sure, they might be “too deep,” but when it happens to you, are you really okay with being dropped in on? Probably not.
I still don’t know how to react after being dropped in on. But I do know that if we all would just drop this habit, even if we dutifully kicking out shortly after, the water would be a happier place. There will always be more waves. If a guy blows a section and the wave goes unridden, that’s a bummer. But every surfer falls. Why don’t we all, as one-big-happy-surf-community, just use the golden rule? “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Or let’s call it “just don’t be a dick.”
