The sk8rs on Centre Street in New York City go out of their way to seek out danger. The more dangerous, the better. I know this because I witnessed it first hand. I was in the City for the maiden voyage of the North American Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference (NATEAC) last month. The conference was an excellent exchange of information and ideas about all things relating to the design, construction, and use of performing arts spaces.
The night before the two-day event started, I took a cab from Midtown to the downtown area via Centre Street. As we were passing City Hall Park, a gang of inline skaters emerged from the crowded park and mobbed the intersection when about a dozen cabs stopped for the traffic signal. Some of the skaters hopped on the trunks of several cabs, including the one I was in, grabbing the space between the trunk and the rear window and propping their skates up on the bumper. Others simply held on to the wheel well or the trunk, and when the light turned green, chaos ensued. It was wilder than Central Park after dark.
The cabs sped off, jockeying for position in the very busy street. And then they alternately slammed on their brakes and sped back up, trying to pick off the parasites. Other cabbies began honking their horns in a vain attempt to scare them off of the other cabs. When the start/stop routine failed to shake the skaters, the cabs sped up in hopes of losing them. It didn’t work. The more they sped up, the wider the grins on the skater’s faces. The more the cabs honked, the more attention they got and the more they reveled in it. The speeding cabs were covered with about a dozen and a half thrill-seeking skaters holding on for their lives, bouncing along the bumpy road at about 45 or 50 miles per hour, sans armor — no helmet, no knee pads, no elbow pads, and no fear.
I could hardly bear to look, yet I couldn’t look away. I just knew it was a matter of time before one of them hit a bump and did a face plant into the pavement. But it never happened. Instead, they simply pushed off and headed in a new direction after a couple of miles.
The very next day I sat through four sessions at NATEAC where one of the main themes discussed over and over was how to avoid danger in the inherently risky theatre. It was the complete antithesis to the events of the night before. One panelist after another stressed safety — how to design safe buildings, install safe equipment, operate equipment safely, maintain this equipment so it remains safe to use, be compliant with safety standards, educate people about safety, and everything else about safety that you could possibly imagine.
One of the peculiarities of this seeking danger/seeking safety phenomenon is that it seems to age-related — the older you are, the more you value safety. There was no one at the conference, as far as I could tell, who was as young as the inline skaters, who were probably in their late teens or early twenties. Then again, maybe it’s just that those people who seek danger just don’t live long enough to get out of their teens or early twenties.
If those skaters have a bad accident…No, strike that. When those skaters have a bad accident, then I’m sure it will at least slow them down — temporarily. As NATEAC panelist Monona Rossol said, it usually takes an accident to initiate a good safety program.
One of the other recurring topics in the conference was sustainability. The consensus seemed to be that, at this point, it’s very difficult to produce events that are “carbon neutral,” but every step towards a smaller carbon footprint helps. We still need to raise our awareness of the issues and educate ourselves about alternative light sources and practices.
On the positive side, the skater’s carbon footprint was impressively low. They were fueled only by the cab’s propulsion, adrenaline, and the youthful impression that they are bulletproof. They may not need carbon offsets, but they sure could use some idiot offsets. I propose that every time some kid does something really stupid to endanger their lives, they should be required to buy safety gear for youth theatre.
Can anybody second the motion?.
Richard Cadena can be reached, risk-free, at rcadena@plsn.com.
