When Rink Managers Approach...It's Bad News for Someone

Every Saturday when I go to skate public, there's the same woman in the same corner, doing the same things over and over. Yesterday, she was in the same corner doing the same things over and over, again.

As I stepped off the ice the Rink Manager came up to me and asked, "Do you know who 'that girl' is?"

[By the way, 'that girl' is in her 20s. We're not talking about a kid.]

I didn't have to even look. I know the regulars and their terrain, as well as I know my house. "You mean the girl who camps out in the Lutz corner and does crossovers and bad spins every Saturday? No idea who she is."

"Well, she didn't pay."

At this point the Rink Manager, myself, and my coach who joined us in the discussion, turn and look  at the miscreant.

"Kick her off the ice." I say. Not that I have a dog in the fight, but I'm willing to express my opinion.

The Rink Manager goes out on the ice in her sneakers and confronts the girl while my coach and I trade notes on my skating. A few minutes later the Rink Manager comes back to us and fills us in.

The girl hadn't paid for A YEAR. She says that since she's in LTS, she gets passes and doesn't have to pay. She failed to read the instructions. Or is lying. Or couldn't figure out why she gets only 4 passes.

You're either a crook or stupid, little skater.

So the Rink manager told her: You only get four passes and you have to turn them in to skate, and when they're gone, you have to pay.

Then the Rink Manager tells us that there are Freestyle skaters who get on freestyle and pay their coach and not the monitor, and mysteriously, the freestyle fees don't seem to always get accounted for.

It's the single most expensive freestyle in the area, and now I know why!