It Makes a Difference to the Sheep

are about the coolest thing to have come out since sliced bread.


After saving his money and adding to it some birthday money (thanks grandparents!), my eight-year-old son got himself a pair. It took him a couple of days (and a number of falls) to get the hang of it, but now he's a pro, coolly gliding here and there with a maximum aplomb and a minimum of effort.

Having him own a pair has changed our lives because he now doesn't mind going shopping as it gives him an opportunity to glide down the aisles (store floors are often the best surfaces for this). What used to be a kicking-and-screaming tooth-and-nail struggle to get him out the door and into the car is now a much more pleasant experience for everyone involved.

But for me the biggest appeal to these newfangled skate-shoes are the looks he gets everywhere he goes. Kids, especially boys, anywhere near his age invariably look at him with the greenest of envy; if he happens to encounter a fellow Heely-dude, they generally roll past each other with the slightest of nods, acknowledging fellow membership in the coolest of clubs; older kids and not a few adults regard him with a wistful "if only they had those when I was a kid" look.

We were in one of the huge freight elevators at IKEA the other day and a kid who looked to be somewhere between 16 and 18 asked him, "are those the shoes with the wheels in the back?" When my son replied in the affirmative, his only comment was, "sweet!"