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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

rink rat
–noun Canadian.
a youth who spends a great deal of time at a hockey rink, helping with maintenance work, sweeping, etc., often without pay or in return for free admission to the rink.

[Origin: 1940–45]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Such was the result of a dictionary.com search for rinkrat/rink-rat/rink rat this afternoon. I can hear you now. "Rachel, why are you even looking up the definition of rink rat? Don't you know? Haven't you been one in your past life?"

Yes, yes, I am well aware of what exactly a rink rat is/does. And I have been one in the past. And I thought I was pretty much done with that. However, such has not been the case this weekend.

First, an addendum to the above definition. The rink rats I have known don't actually do any work around the rink. They get dropped off by their parents with their skates and enough money for admission and maybe a candy bar. Maybe this was just Grippen, but we were expected to "babysit" these kids, especially if it was an afternoon session and an evening session with a hockey game in between. The parents would come back hours later. (Or, in the case of a certain family, we would take the kids home.)

See, these rink rats don't actually do any work. They just hang out and skate and ask for more money so they can have hot chocolate. They followed the skate guards around and hung out in the office with the manager. (He often ordered pizza on said evenings...)

Rink rat is a general name for the kids who are at the rink for every public skating session, who know all the skate guards, managers, and Zamboni drivers. I know. I was one of them. Get to know enough people and hang around long enough, and they give you a job. Then I got to clean the locker rooms as well as keep peace on the ice.

Rink rats hang out in professional arenas as well. Or maybe we were just spoiled, growing up in the smallest arena in a certain professional league. I was friends with entire hockey teams and their wives/girlfriends/parents/kids/dogs. (For some, it was all of the above. At the same time. Don't ask.) The equipment manager sharpened my skates. I had run of the entire arena. Then the league changed and security got tighter. And the names got bigger and I got less involved.

Nothing has changed how much I love to skate. Only location prevents me from doing so more often. I got new skates at the end of the 04-05 season, and I wish I remember why. That year, my rink flooded, then I had back surgery, then they didn't get the rink reopened for the winter. (It's closed. Permanently, I believe.) So, to go skating, I had to drive to the community college, register to park, pay more than the old county-owned rink, and make new friends with the employees. Being social (!) and from a small hockey town, it wasn't that hard, but the rink was different.

With not enough time to break in my new skates, I packed up and moved to downtown Seattle. Yes, the skates came too. I skated once last year - in Renton. This does not break in the skates. See, the biggest problem with living here is the lack of skating facilities. A guy last night was practically bragging that they have 6 quality rinks in a 30 mile area. In my opinion, that is not nearly enough ice for as many people as live here. But, then, I don't exactly consider this a hockey hotbed. Sure, we have the Thunderbirds, but American Junior hockey played in a building that also is home to an NBA team kinda loses the closeness of junior hockey that I know. I've been twice.

Where was I going with this? Oh yeah. Every (?) holiday season, a.k.a the period of time between Thanksgiving and New Year's, Seattle Center holds Winterfest. And during this time, they have an ice rink. This is good, yes? I can walk there. Well, it turns out, that it's not so good. Yes, it's ice and it can be skated on, but... It's really small and it's not well-maintained. (Read: There is no Zamboni!) They scrape the ice down and flood it. I went last night. I asked a lot of questions. I have a new friend. In that order.

So. Last night. I walked the 5 or so blocks to Seattle Center, stopped at the ATM and headed into Fisher Pavilion. I paid my 5 bucks, put on my skates, and hopped on the ice. (Literally - it's a big step up then a smaller step down onto the ice.) I started skating - a little shaky as I haven't been in a year! (Hard to imagine!!!) Got back into the rhythm and was like, "this ice feels funny." The guard on at the time was a young Indian (?) guy and I felt like he would not be able to answer my questions.

A few laps later, I realized the guard had changed. So I went over to his corner and asked how they made their ice. Not gonna lie, I was expecting a really flip response - something about water and cold. But no, he actually started explaining how they made their ice, and how it is 1 foot thick. Hence the funny feeling to the skating. Having been around rinks for long enough, I asked lots of questions and got really good answers. Then we talked about where we were from - me, upstate NY, him, Minnesota. So, of course, we talked hockey and rinks and speed skating (him, tho he's built more like a hockey player). And it was like social hour at Grippen all over again. I just hung out in the corner and chatted. After the ice "cut", he skated for a while. I got to help him get a little kid off the ice after he hit his head when he fell. It was like old times. (I think there are some grammar issues with that sentence, but hopefully it makes sense.)

When the session was over, he took off his skates and walked out with me. He told me to stop by and see him again and I said I might. I got all reflective on the whole rink rat thing on my walk home last night. And I would have posted this last night, but I was exhausted from walking/skating/walking, so I went to bed.

Today, I slept in and cleaned my apartment. I do lead SUCH an exciting life..! About 4 this afternoon, I was feeling very house-bound and friend-less. My phone had rung only once in the last 36 hours, and it had been my mother. So, I dressed warmly and headed for Fisher Pavilion. PK (yes, he has a name) was glad to see me and took his lunch when I said I had to go meet some friends. We stood outside and talked about the lack of snow in Seattle, then he hugged me and told me to call. I might sometime.


xo