Today I Surfed...And Now I'm Bleeding

Since I've moved here I have inquired to everyone I meet about surfing. If surfing comes up in the conversation, I pick their brain a bit about how to get started. Take a conversation I had with a guy in my volleyball class:

Me: "Oh, you surf huh?
Guy: "Like every day."
Me: "How would I get started?"
Guy: "Buy a board and walk into the ocean."

Sounds simple enough. It's a heads-on approach. I like it. He then follows up with the following:

Guy: "Don't be a toolbox."
Me: "Look at me, do I look like a toolbox?"

He didn't answer the question, he just continued with his point and warning:

Guy: "There are a lot of toolboxes that think they want to surf because it's cool and then they find out it's too hard."
Me: "I assure you...I am no such toolbox."

While I wondered deep down if I was indeed an aforementioned "toolbox," I still followed his advice and with the help of a coworker found and bought a used board. I later went to a different surf shop to find a wetsuit and since it is the spring, these places are having plenty of sales on the older stock. Lucky me.
I found a sales associate to ask for some advice. When I found him I looked him straight in the eye and asked, "What size would you suggest for me." He looked me over, asked my height and weight, and said with a straight face, "Definitely a medium." I'm not one to ignore advice so a medium is what I picked from the rack and I headed to the fitting room.
In the fitting room I disrobed and stepped into the wetsuit. Sure, it was tight around the legs, but they're supposed to be tight...so I continued. Sure, getting my arms in was a bit of a struggle but the material stretches...so I continued. Yeah, I felt a bit snug across the chest, but it'll loosen up...so I continued. But when I started to zip up the back I felt a pinch. That is when I thought to myself, "Perhaps a medium is a bit too small." I promptly started to peel off the wetsuit and as I looked in the mirror I notice my back was bleeding. It seems my skin had gotten caught in the zipper and gave me a bit of a cut. I had sustained a surfing injury without even setting foot in the ocean...quite an astonishing feat.
I continued to peel the wetsuit off of my body and cleaned the blood off of my back. I resorted to using the inside of my favorite sweatshirt and as we all know blood is quite a stain, so I was not happy. And, regardless of how much I cleaned it up, my t-shirt was sure to get a stain as well when I put it back on...it did and I was even unhappier still. With two articles of clothing down, I refused to leave the store without making purchase. I had to make it worth it. So I tried the next size up...a large short. Needless to say, I approached this fitting with a bit more caution and when it was all said and done...it fit like a glove...absolutely perfectly. So, I bought it and was able to go surfing this morning (if what I did qualifies as surfing...but that's a different tale).
Moral of the story: A surfer dude's advice always runs small.

Til Next Time

States: 24
Countries: 6

P.S. I think my sweatshirt can be salvaged as long as I'm OK with blood stains on the inside, but I'm afraid that I had to say goodbye to that loyal and loving t-shirt. Morale in my closet is at an all time low.

This Post For Those With Limited Attention Spans:
"Buy a board and walk into the ocean."
I did.
"You're definitely a medium."
No I'm not.