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04/02/07 Today started out weird but ended well. |
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Today, I spent about 3 hours talking with someone from the industry who was not very happy about my last blog. They felt it was too personally aimed at them, so I mellowed it out a bit just to show that I am willing to make concessions as long as no one is pressuring or bullying me to change it. I thought that is what they were going to do, but in the end, I believe we came to understand each others side of things though we both realize that we will probably never see eye to eye on everything, especially the issue covered in that last blog. Nobody punched anybody and we left each other with more respect for each other than we had the day before.
I had a good conversation about many issues and personal feelings involved with this ever so deep, ever so passionatly driven thing called skateboarding. It's amazing how two people can have so much of their life shaped by the same thing, yet be so far apart on so many issues as well. I guess sharing thoughts and beliefs is the first start to tolerating each other. I guess the skateboard industry is like any group of neighbors, friends, or family. You just have to find a way to not kill each other. The same way that a brother must learn to live with his sister, and put up with her personality and the differences that drive him crazy, competitors can learn to tolerate each other as well even though they will always be different.
Hopefully, in the end, we both came away with a better understanding of each other and what drives us to believe what we do, even if we don't believe the same thing. I guess time will tell if that is the case. It makes me realize that if all of us with passion and a good position in the skateboard market worked harder and smarter on some of our common goals, that maybe more of them would come true faster.
It's going to be an interesting year in the skateboard industry. Let's see how it progresses.
Jim
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