I'm Stephen Serrano, s dot serrano ya diggg.. I work at a skateshop, Mission Skateboards, I'm super hip bro, I wear glasses so can't wear sunglasses tho.
How long have you been skating?I've been skating for about 11 years.
Where are you from?I'm from Sedona Arizona, its a pretty kooky place, but its really pretty.
What kind of differences do you see in the skate-scene in Sedona as opposed to San Francisco? Are kids everywhere the same?Here in San Francisco theres actually a scene, The scene is funny tho, to sum it up its either youre in or youre out. Theres also the unspoken rule of when youre in you don't even speak a word to people that are out, Theres also alot of unspoken rules of what you can and can't do on a skateboard... Where I'm from theres just people that skate at the local skatepark and do whatever they can do , theres a little bit of imitation of skate industry, but its like three years behind tho. As far as the unspoken rules, I don't really try to follow them, I talk to some kooks at video premieres and do front blunt to 5050's on the big wall at sneath lane in my video part.
As far as kids, yeah they're pretty much the same everywhere, out here they know a little more tho. haha.
What makes you stay in SF?Theres not much going on in Sedona Arizona, so I would be doing nothing there. I might as well be here and I got a job too, and get to go skate and film and shoot photos and stuff ... It's cool fo sho, fo sho.
Now onto Mission, which is a more hardcore skate-shop and less boutique-like than most other shops in SF. Give us some history and general info on Mission Skate Shop..Well the owners are Thorin and his wife Abigail, Thorin was a part of the OG embarcadero posse with people like James Kelch, Mike Carroll and Henry Sanchez, Those guys used punk everybody down at the EMB, So pretty much we aint no sucka's over here at Mission. So we just sell primarily hard goods, stuff from Deluxe Distribution, Street Corner Distribution and some other brands but to blunt were not really trying to sell all over print shirts and fitted hats to kids.
How has the opening of the Potrero Skate Park changed business at Mission?We now get alot of random out of towners coming through , on a one time only basis, its cool more business.
What are your responsibilities at the shop? What do you do when business is slow?Umm.. Sell as much product as possible, Do some inventory, Kick bums out. When its slow I lurk hard on the internet, youtube , myspace , myzion.tv and consume as many dollar fifty tacos as possible.
What product do you sell the most of? Shoes, clothes, boards, wheels?We sell alot of Anti Hero ,Real and Think boards, Nikes, Spitfire wheels, pretty much, we are super awesome.
Has skateboarding in SF changed since you've been here?The new potrero park has made things a bit hesh gnar gnar, slasher steez .. um third and army's got a flat bar now, changed the flow there, things are generally more hesh now, than when i first came here.
Do you think the greater public will always think about skateboarding as something vandals and troublemakers do or are skaters starting to lose their bad reputation?The Ryan Sheckler show has made things a little better, hahaha. But skaters will always be punks, in contrary though you can goto spots and not get punked now, skaters just vibe now, weak. I'd rather have somebody be straight up and try to rob me than have somebody stare me down and vibe me over and over again, I just rather keep things out in the open you know?
What is your favorite terrain to skate?I like stuff like ledges down 6 to 8 stairs , I like little handrails and I like skatepark street setups.
If you could change anything about skateboarding, what would it be?I would change everything/anything haha.. I'm working on it.
