We can skate if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
Cause your friends don’t skate
And if they don’t skate
Well they’re no friends of mine
Say, we can skate where we want to
A place where the floor is mighty fine
And we can skate like we come from out of this world
Leave the real one far behind

And say, we can skate, we can skte
Everything’s under control
We can skate, we can skate
We’re doing it from pole to pole
We can skate, we can skate
Everyone look at your hands
We can dance, we can dance
Everybody’s taking the chance

Yes, indeed, if your friends don’t skate, you can leave them behind. But a far better move is to persuade them to come learn to roller skate with you. I challenge everyone in Raw Meat to get a buddy to come with you at least once over the next month. Now is the perfect time to learn—pretty soon, the seawall with be dry and safe for skating, and nothing beats roller skating the seawall with a good friend or two or ten.

At Raw Meat, you’ll learn all the (non-contact) roller skating skills you’ll need to play roller derby, including stops, falls, jumps, transitions, skating backward, agility, skating with others, and more. All of these skills are also very useful when dodging tourists and tiny dogs on the seawall.

If you or your friends don’t have skates, a visit to Rollergirl (www.rollergirl.ca) can solve that. Rollergirl now rents all the safety gear you need to skate at Raw Meat: roller skates, helmet, and wrist, elbow and knee pads. You’ll also need a mouth guard—but please don’t rent one.

Raw Meat meets every Saturday from 5-7 PM at Thunderbird Community Centre, 2311 Cassiar St. Sessions are $7, and we just have two rules: 1. Be safe, 2. Don’t be an asshat.

See you (and a friend) on Saturday!