Quicksilver and ripcurls

Last week we went to a surfing shop. They sell surfer outfits which enable you to blend in with the Australians. We felt it was time we stopped looking like tourists and buy something trendy instead. If I had known in 1980 that I would be living in Australia when I grew up, I would definitely have kept my clothes back then. Stepping through the surf shop's door felt like being warped back in time. The baseball caps, the clothes, everything could have come straight out of the "Back to the future" trilogy, which by the way was a great movie ( at the time ).

We were greeted by a tanned and cool looking surfer dude. His light curly hair trapped under a green baseball cap which seemed to be missing a propeller on top of it. He was the typical surfer : Loose sitting T-shirt, tanned and this air of carelessness about him which read "I'm cool and you're not and you know it". I must admit, he was pretty cool. He must have spotted us from a mile away by our lost looks and lured us further into the shop to make sure we wouldn't run out and buy something in another shop. "How's it goin' guys, What can I do you for ?". It was only then that I realized that the shop was only busy because of all the staff working in it, there weren't actually that many customers. After we came in though, some other people ventured in and eventually it was quite a buzz in the shop. I told him that I was looking for some nice swimming gear and that I didn't want to look like Mr Bean on the beach. I'm not a swimsuit model and I quite well know it, my body proportions aren't perfect ( and that's giving myself a compliment ) and I have pale skin which luckily after a week of recent sun is getting a bit of a tan. He smiled and said that that was a good idea, and showed me some of the latest model "baggies" ( swim gear which reaches the over the knee and sits loosely ). The choice was rather simple : If you wanted to be cool, you would have to get Ripcurl, Quicksilver or Billabong. It's allowed to mix the different brands, although people will usually buy something that their favorite surfer is wearing. I learned that Kelly "Quicksilver" Slater had been 9 year surfer champion so you couldn't really go wrong with some Quicksilvers. He was quick to add a reassuring "But don't worry, the other brands are just as good". He advised "The thing to avoid buying are the external elastic bands, only Mr Bean wears those, so make sure your pants have straight edges". I tried on a few pants that didn't seem to fit me but then spotted a very nice Black / Grey / White Ripcurl that was made for me. Tried it on, fitted like a glove : This would be the one. We thanked the cool guy and proceeded to the counter, when I remembered that I still needed some head wear for the sun. I always fancied a Crocodile Dundee hat, one of those leathery cowboy hats, so I tried some of them on. Cool guy quickly intervened, almost running to my rescue "Nooo, no. You don't wanna do that, mate" and quickly put the hat back, as if it was cursed. "Only grandpa wears a hat like that". His advice was to buy a baseball cap like he was wearing, they're the thing at the moment. I realized that this was not a sales pitch but he was honestly trying to help me when I noticed the prices of the caps were a lot lower than the Crocodile Dundee hat. I tried on 10 different hats and eventually bought myself a blue Quicksilver cap. I was now cool again and ready for the beach.