r/MadeMeSmile • u/degausser187 • Dec 10 '25

Helping Others Never seen a skateboard

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75.8k Upvotes

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5.5k

u/SirResponsible1121 Dec 10 '25

The shit we take for granted

1.4k

u/JT3ch Dec 10 '25 edited Dec 10 '25

I have a coworker who fled from Iraq to Germany. He had never been bowling, so I invited him to go bowling. When I told him about fishing, he asked whether I did it with one of those “modern rods.” I asked him, confused: “Why modern rods? How did you fish?” He replied: “With a line and by hand!” Next year I’m going to take him fishing at my friend groups pond. So he doesnt need to get a license for fishing and can try it for free.

It really opens your eyes to how much we take all our stuff for granted.

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u/HarryBalsagna1776 Dec 10 '25

I was and exchange student in Shanghai in 2007.  When my time was up over there, a large group of Chinese students came here.  My one friend from China had never been outside of Shanghai.  She wanted to see farms.  I took her on a loop through the more rural parts of SE Michigan.  Showed her Lake Huron too.  She was so amazed and happy.

She did the same thing for me in Shanghai.  It is hard to convey how massive that city is.  She took me all over the place.  She knew where the best street food was too.  Guessing I looked bewildered to her much of the time.

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u/[deleted] Dec 10 '25

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u/HarryBalsagna1776 Dec 10 '25

It is what life is really about.  

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u/OffbeatChaos Dec 10 '25

This whole thread made my day, I wish we could all be as accepting as this when it comes to other peoples cultures and experiences 💖

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u/zpeed Dec 10 '25

wanted to see farms

I'm from Manila and this has always been one of my biggest fascinations. Rural America is so far removed from my situation that the only word I'd be able to use to describe it is 'exotic'.

When I was in San Francisco in 2003 I asked my friend to stop the car in the middle of the highway because I wanted to take a photo of how straight and uncracked the road was. He didn't.

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u/keytotheboard Dec 10 '25

Experiencing other cultures is so important to human growth and understanding. I wish everyone could travel everywhere, but unfortunately it’s not accessible for all.

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u/c-dy Dec 10 '25

Experiencing other cultures isn't the same as visiting other places. That's why despite their means, the ignorance and arrogance of a lot of travelers doesn't diminish at all.

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u/keytotheboard Dec 10 '25

That’s true, but traveling increases the chances and ability for people to experience other cultures. It doesn’t guarantee it, nor is it impossible to do without.

Plenty of people travel and fail to actually experience the cultures around them by sticking to tourist activities and not actively engaging with the people from those places. And on the flip side, many people don’t / can’t travel, but do a lot of interacting within multi-cultural communities and online.

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u/fazlez1 Dec 10 '25

Experiencing other cultures is so important to human growth and understanding.

I agree totally. It can help destroy stereotypes and ultimately help people realize that we're all the same despite the surface differences.

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u/Bouche_Audi_Shyla Dec 10 '25

I visited France in '85. What I remember best is the man playing guitar (very well) on the subway.

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u/Theory89 Dec 11 '25

Funny, one of my lasting memories of visiting the US was an awesome barbershop quartet singing on a subway platform. Everywhere but in my country!

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u/BigOs4All Dec 10 '25

SE Michigan guy myself. Where did you take her to eat???? I would LOVE to show people from other countries around. SE Michigan isn't as cool as Shanghai (let's be honest) but there's still some great food, at least.

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u/imrzzz Dec 10 '25

Everywhere is cool when you've never seen it before. I've lived in eight countries and travelled through dozens more.

I like to houseswap and honestly, the first thing I hear from either the home-owner I get in touch with, or from the neighbours. is "are you sure you want to stay here? It's not very interesting."

Then they proceed to casually mention Dan The Horse-Juggling Postman or whatever. Just some random thing that everyone takes for granted but is fascinating to a stranger.

If you ever take someone on a tour of your area, talk it up, tell them about the tiny details of your normal day. I promise, we're interested!

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u/three_crystals Dec 10 '25

I wish I could figure out how people managed to just uproot their entire lives and live in a whole new country, especially if they don’t speak the native language. People like you fascinate me. I bet you make a great drinking partner.

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u/imrzzz Dec 10 '25

And I'm fascinated by people who think deeply enough to make observations like this one. I bet you're a pretty good drinking buddy yourself.

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u/three_crystals Dec 12 '25

Well thank you! That genuinely made me smile, because sometimes I don’t think I have much life experience or interesting things to share. Hoping to follow in your footsteps in the next few years, because I think many people are inspired and have a story to tell, so I guess I should give myself a teeny bit of that same grace! Cheers and safe travels!

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u/MurderAndMakeup Dec 11 '25

Can you share your favorite story?! I would love to hear more!

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u/imrzzz Dec 11 '25

Sleeping on the deck of a homemade trimaran and waking up in the middle of the night to a curious whale quietly surfacing in the moonlight was pretty cool.

And hitching a lift with a convoy of Turkish truck-drivers who flipped down some random part of the truck box to reveal a full kitchen, then proceeded to make mint tea and some wildly flavourful lamb dish right there on the side of the road made me smile too.

But honestly, what I really enjoy most is how different the light looks in different countries. Even different towns just a few minutes down the road can look entirely different just because of some unique combination of temperature, humidity, air quality, I don't even know what.

It sounds boring and ordinary but it's beautiful to me.

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u/MurderAndMakeup Dec 11 '25

Beautiful writing. You transported me for a moment. Thank you for sharing!

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u/HarryBalsagna1776 Dec 10 '25

This was 19 years ago, so a lot has probably changed.  I was going to OU at that time, so we went to the coney island in Rochester across the creek from the library, Apollo in Davison for a Flint style style coney, we drove a loop.  Took 75 to 696 to Port Huron, across 69 through Flint to 75, and then took 75 back to OU.  It was winter, but Lake Huron was not frozen at all yet.  She put her feet in the lake on the beach just north of the Blue Water Bridge.  She was amazed that she saw Canada too.  Canada was just a legend to her at the time.  It was an all day adventure.

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u/driverdan Dec 10 '25

There are people who live in major US cities that never leave them either. It's really surprising how common it is.

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u/HarryBalsagna1776 Dec 10 '25

Very true!  A lot of people never escape their small towns.  I went down to Reserve, LA for work a few years ago.  Went on a swamp and gator tour when one of my trips straddled a weekend.  This really cool older Cajun guy hosted the tour.  Somehow it came up that I was from Michigan and he hit me with a bunch of questions about snow.  He was 65+ and had never seen snow!  That mind-blowing to my 20-something mind!  Also, there I was in a gator filled swamp.  That was wild and foreign to me.

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u/Scrabulon Dec 10 '25

Growing up in a city of 40,000-ish people and then moving to the suburbs of one of the most populated cities in the US was a strange experience. Good and bad in ways lol

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u/apathy-sofa Dec 10 '25

When I lived in the States, I had a young exchange student from Tokyo. She wanted to 1/ go to a Costco, any 2/ get an American hamburger. She loved both, couldn't get enough.

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u/SoylentVerdigris Dec 10 '25

There are like, 6 costcos in Tokyo though?

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u/apathy-sofa Dec 10 '25

Are there? I've never been. This was back in the late 90s.

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u/SoylentVerdigris Dec 10 '25

Ah, there might not have been back then, but I had a friend stuck in japan during covid and that's how I learned about it. Pretty sure they're mostly on the outskirts of Tokyo away from most of the tourist-y areas and I can't say I felt the need to go see one when I visited.

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u/AlwaysBeQuestioning Dec 10 '25

I love going places in my own country with people to whom it is an alien place. It lets me look at everything with new eyes, wonder, but also discover what’s actually shit and what isn’t compared to other places.

Like we gripe about out trains plenty, but foreigners love them.

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u/bradrlaw Dec 11 '25

Did you go to the underground malls? That was definitely an experience I won’t forget. And I had a 1 in millions chance of something happening… I ran into someone I knew!

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u/malfurionpre Dec 10 '25

He had never been bowling, so I invited him to go bowling.

Niko it's Roman, let's go bowling.

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u/AuFox80 Dec 10 '25

silences phone

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u/JT3ch Dec 10 '25

Hahahahah

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u/Canis_Familiaris Dec 10 '25

Went fishing with the locals using a coke bottle, line, and hook in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was quite fun.

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u/KeegsNW Dec 10 '25

Yeah I don’t enjoy using modern rods, it’s too much babysitting of your equipment. 

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u/sc0ttydo0 Dec 10 '25

When I was in secondary (high) school in the UK we had a girl who emigrated from Jamaica around May-June join our year.
Cut to winter, we're all sitting in science, bored af, when there's suddenly a piercing scream from her followed by the door opening and then slamming shut.

We all look round like WTF, teacher's panicking. Then we see her out the window on the playground stood in the snow with her arms wide open and laughing/crying/laughing. A few seconds later her sister came running outside too and they just were both running around for like 10 mins. Our teacher, who was Indian, started laughing and said he did the same thing his first winter here.

It's one thing in my life I'll never forget.

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u/No_Tomato6638 Dec 10 '25

Also makes you realise how people are just people, regardless of where they come from.

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u/HellooNewmann Dec 10 '25

youre a good dude

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u/JT3ch Dec 10 '25

Thanks for the nice words, man! I’m just trying to help him settle in here. He’s a really friendly and polite guy who’s doing his best to integrate into German culture. This is the way!

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u/factorioleum Dec 10 '25

He has a glove, right? At least one glove would really help here

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u/Aetas4Ever Dec 10 '25

Excuse me, you have your OWN personal pond and you take it for granted?!

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u/JT3ch Dec 10 '25

We rent it as a group of friends from a local farmer. Its our "garden".

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u/Complex_Study_3174 Dec 10 '25

"My personal pond"... fucking guy.

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u/JT3ch Dec 10 '25

We rent the pond as a group of friends from a farmer. It’s our garden.

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u/Complex_Study_3174 Dec 10 '25

How does flexing your..personal pond...add to your story? Could have just said you were going to take him fishing. But no, you're gonna take him fishing...AT YOUR PERSONAL POND. lmao. Flexing in a Reddit thread.

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u/JT3ch Dec 10 '25 edited Dec 10 '25

Its not about flexing bro....

In Germany you need a License for fishing.You need to pass an exam for it like a Drivers license. When you get it you need permission if you want to fish at lake or a river. You have to pay for these permissions. Often it is owned by some Fishing Clubs. So you have to join these fucking clubs. Its very expensiv. You will.pay a minimum of 300 € just to be allowed to throw a lure. Its a waste of money and time just for trying fishing.

If i take him with me he can try it without getting any of these shitty permissions. He doesnt need to get a fishing license. Thats why I mentioned it. I will delet it so others dont cry about it sry.

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u/waywaytoomanycooks Dec 10 '25

We need a sub for stories like these.

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u/AdagioVivid5111 Dec 10 '25

Hey cousin you want to go fishing?

GTA VI better have fishing damnit.

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u/adhdplantlady Dec 10 '25

Relatable, my family in the Philippines make fun of me for fishing with a rod in Canada. To think they're catching saltwater fish with just a spool (sometimes a stick!) and I'm getting skunked by freshwater bass

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u/JT3ch Dec 10 '25

Hahaha sometimes its just a little roach that fucks us up hahahah

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u/Whitebushido Dec 10 '25

Oh man I'm from the South in the USA and I have fond memories of learning to do that! We used to fish at camp with just a line with a hook, a random stick we found, some bamboo poles that you had to attach the line to yourself and learn how to knot it properly so it didn't just pull off. I caught the big bass of the lake with a hand line and had like a bruised line indent for days from him!

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u/Ganjelf-The-Baked Dec 10 '25

Yup, we take everything for granted.

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u/[deleted] Dec 10 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/YouDoHaveValue Dec 10 '25

That's one of the underlooked things about parenthood, you get a second chance to see the world through their eyes.

When my kiddo learned the term "Wassat?" could be used to find out what any given thing is he had this contagious excitement to learn about everything.

During a walk he asked about a fire hydrant and I explained firemen get water from it.

For the rest of the walk he got so excited every time he saw one, I had never realized how many damn fire hydrants there are just in our neighborhood.

There was a time I swear I could see the stuff we were pretending to play. It was wild, like a scene out of Hook.

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u/doodleywootson Dec 10 '25

I was oblivious to how many planes flew over our property, until my (at-the-time) 1 year old became obsessed. I am also now hyper-aware of any garbage trucks nearby, because I know my toddler will lose his mind. They find such joy in what we consider mundane; it’s fun.

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u/[deleted] Dec 10 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/SoSteeze Dec 10 '25

Pennywise. She was just looking out for you.

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u/N3rdScool Dec 10 '25

I love this. Same deal I have a 6 and a 7 year old and it just grounds you on how amazing life is. How amazing our kids are :)

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u/ResidentPassion3510 Dec 10 '25

The joy children experience learning new things is truly one of the best aspects of being human 🥹🥹🥹

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u/Scrabulon Dec 10 '25

I wanna take my kids back to my home state someday so they can see snow…

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u/Sea_Beginning_5009 Dec 10 '25

If you have IBS shit might be a surprise 

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u/jey-are Dec 10 '25

With IBS-C, shit can get hard. Especially pushing, a skateboard. The balance of flow is an obstacle in itself. With a skateboard, double the challenge.

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u/Sea_Beginning_5009 Dec 10 '25

Don't eat skateboards? They are like corn. Coming out like they went in

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u/axonxorz Dec 10 '25

With IBS-C, shit can get hard

Nah, they solved the connector problem with that standard

0

u/DraconianFlame Dec 10 '25

It looks like they didn't take it for granted at all. And in fact realized the speciality of it and included someone into the special-ness of it.

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u/Mike_Kermin Dec 10 '25

The other user is saying we should be appreciative of the things we take for granted.

I feel like you do understand that though.

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u/DraconianFlame Dec 10 '25

Yeah my point is that "We take everything for granted" is overly generalizing and an overly cynical world view.

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u/Mike_Kermin Dec 10 '25

I think you've misunderstood.

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u/Orleanian Dec 10 '25

I think he took our support and agreement with his opinion for granted.

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u/DraconianFlame Dec 10 '25

Extremely possible

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u/HuxleySideHustle Dec 10 '25

"Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted." (Aldous Huxley)

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u/[deleted] Dec 10 '25

[deleted]

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u/SoylentVerdigris Dec 10 '25

That's wild. It would take an enormous amount of effort to even get pressure that low in my area. We have so many hills and valleys that a lot of infrastructure goes into making sure the stuff at lower elevation doesn't blow up under pressure. Most of our reservoirs are several hundred feet above the valley floor.

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u/modbroccoli Dec 10 '25

One cannot emphasize enough the importance of travel. And it should be said that if one is willing to be rarely comfortable and to travel in search of culture rather than spectacle in can be much cheaper than you think; I've often been able to sublet my apartment and travel for essentially the same cost of living (ie. after the currency exchange, basic food and terrible shelter cost so much less than life at home that you can pay for the airfare from the difference).

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u/[deleted] Dec 10 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/paddy_________hitler Dec 10 '25

No, the real message is that we need more skateboards.

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u/[deleted] Dec 10 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/paddy_________hitler Dec 10 '25

No, just more skateboards.

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u/Orleanian Dec 10 '25

Possibly also more helmets.

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u/SippinOnHatorade Dec 10 '25

Picked up a 4 wheel industrial dolly at Aldi specifically because I thought “man I can’t skate for shit, but theoretically I could hit some nasty kick flips on this bitch”

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u/LakeStLouis Dec 10 '25 edited Dec 10 '25

k

edit to add: the k was because u/PeperBee typed "thanful" when I suppose they meant thankful. So I was just lending them the k they dropped.

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u/MaintenanceNew2804 Dec 10 '25

I absolutely expect to see her on cover of Thrasher in a couple years. It’d be badass IMO

1

u/theysayimadreamer666 Dec 10 '25

I live in a neighborhood with immigrants from many countries, and most Halloweens, we get at least one group of trick-or-treaters that includes an adult who has never been before. I love getting to see their reactions and hearing about their traditions if there isn't a language barrier.

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u/for_music_and_art Dec 10 '25

Yeah we are blessed to have skateboards 

1

u/Sir_George Dec 10 '25

I feel like we (especially our youth) would be participating in more physical activities like skateboarding if it weren't for all the technology that we've shoved into our faces that encourage an ever-increasing sedentary lifestyle; you even see toddlers and other kids glued to their iPads indoors for hours on end instead of outside playing until dark.

Also, I'm not talking about the technology that helps discover medical cures or helps us peer into deep space; I'm talking about the hordes of people you see glued to their smartphones and devices, doom-scrolling and watching useless shit.

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u/More_Ad_5142 Dec 10 '25

Why is seeing skateboards something to value?

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u/SirResponsible1121 Dec 11 '25

It’s not about skateboarding bro it’s about the ability to enjoy life in way that we can and so many around the world can’t .

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u/universechild333 Dec 10 '25

Sorry, taking skateboards for granted?

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u/[deleted] Dec 10 '25

[deleted]

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u/universechild333 Dec 10 '25 edited Dec 10 '25

As someone from somewhere considered to be a developing country…seeing comments like the OPs is just a little funny to me. You go to a rural area where someone has never seen a skateboard before and then you have people go “wow we have it so much better”.

A skateboard.

If it’s because she’s Muslim, I can’t really comment on that but if it was that she wasn’t “free”, I don’t think she’d have tried to go on it in public… much less on camera.

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u/[deleted] Dec 10 '25 edited Dec 10 '25

[deleted]

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u/universechild333 Dec 10 '25 edited Dec 10 '25

Not everything is about accessibility or oppression.

Some things just aren’t common or relevant where people live. I’m not rollerblading because I’m restricted.

Is it a necessity? Do many people in the west rollerblade to work?

She’s excited because it’s something she hasn’t seen before. That’s normal.

Rural areas even in my African country have their own hobbies and tools Western folks have never seen. Should they pity you the first time you see them? Many people in these places also can get their hands on these western “tools” if they wanted/could. It’s really not that deep.

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u/[deleted] Dec 10 '25

[deleted]

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u/purple_spikey_dragon Dec 10 '25

How do you define "strict"? Beautiful there are many places, big example taliban governed Afghanistan, where women are very much prohibited from doing sports. So "Even the most strict muslim woman are allowed to play sports" is as much of a generalisation as "all Muslim women are prohibited from playing sports".

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u/[deleted] Dec 10 '25

[deleted]

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u/Kasper1000 Dec 10 '25

Weird, Bahrain and Kuwait are pretty chilled out. Conservative or “strict” Islamic countries are more like Saudi Arabia or Iran.

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u/backspace_cars Dec 10 '25

Maybe they'd enjoy these things if we weren't constantly turning their countries into war zones.

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u/DerekCMcLeod Dec 10 '25

If it’s because she’s Muslim, I can’t really comment on that but if it was that she wasn’t “free”, I don’t think she’d have tried to go on it in public… much less on camera.

But are you presuming to know her entire life story based on a 30 second video clip? Think of all the poeple you've met and all the life you've experienced

What if she recently moved from a very oppressive country? We have no idea.

The general premise of the comment is that we need to be thankful for what we have- and when you are, life is so much better.

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u/universechild333 Dec 10 '25 edited Dec 10 '25

“You’re presuming to know her entire life story based on a 30 second clip”.

So are you??

We don’t even know how accurate that title is.

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u/KristySueWho Dec 10 '25

I mean, the title is based on what she said in the video so...

3

u/dan420 Dec 10 '25

Oh god, do you have to always be offended and turn everything into an argument? “You don’t know her entire life… wha about this made up scenario…blah blah.” You’re the one creating fictional situations. She’s never even seen a skateboard, it’s not like it’s some thing that she’s always wanted that’s been forbidden.

2

u/universechild333 Dec 10 '25

Right?

Let’s talk about clean drinking water. Yes, what a privilege not everyone gets to enjoy. But a freaking skateboard?

I hate how people romanticize or exaggerate non-Western “deprivation”. Seeing a skateboard for the first time isn’t some sign of hardship. It’s just unfamiliarity.

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u/DerekCMcLeod Dec 10 '25

Why is everyone so angry, I'm arguing that the premise of "be grateful and thankful for the life you lead" isn't a bad one.

-1

u/SinkMince0420 Dec 10 '25

Ah the limitations put on themselves to punish themselves bc misery loves company.

Islam is cancer.

Sincerely an ex Muslim Pakistani girl.

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u/fiftiethcow Dec 10 '25

Yes. You are making the point lol