After I finished my last post regarding Slater’s will to win, and the way he’s viewed by competitors and fans, I remembered another somewhat related (albeit abstract) interesting story from Lowers. A good friend of mine Dave was in the parking lot the day before. He happened to be in the parking lot car as Kelly was leaving. Enter into the equation: a guy (we’re still not sure who it was, feel free to identify yourself) came flying by on a skateboard, with boards tucked under both arms.

Dave says he felt a static in the air, as if something strange was about to go down.

The freight training skateboarder rounded the corner and met eyes with Slater, who’d just pulled out of his parking spot. And like a deer in headlights, he became unraveled. What followed was a horrendous ass-over-tea kettle, asphlaut kissing, pig pen rolling wipeout, that landed the poor bloke mere inches from Slater’s bumper. Bloodied, scuffed, and disheveled, he looked up.

Slater: “Um, are you alright?”

Unknown guy: “I’d rather fall in front of you in the parking lot than in the water.”

With that, Kelly nodded, pulled around the fella trying to collect himself, and exited the parking lot into quiet anonymity.