The Real "Magic Mike"

Last night there was a knock on my door at 12:30 am. There was a tall skinny guy in a tank top that looked like Sid the sloth from the movie “Ice age”. He had a big goofy smile on his face. It was Mike a.k.a “Sid”, a.k.a “Mike Jones” one of the kids I took with me on a 3,000-mile skate trip across America for the Boys & Girls Clubs a few years ago. He had a certificate in his hands.

I had my first real conversation with Mike the day before we left for our cross-country skate trip; I was approached by a mentor at a church I went to. She asked if Mike could come along for the trip. It was a last minute decision that made me uncomfortable because Mike dropped out of school at 16. He is a very gifted skater and loved everyone around him most of the time more than he even loved himself.

Because Mike cared so much for those around him, I knew he would be great for the trip. He was a big part of teaching kids to skate and raising money for after-school programs. However because Mike cared so little about himself I was worried that he would never finish his education and spend his youth wandering the Tacoma/Parkland area after the trip was over. 

So, I told Mike that if he went on the trip he had to promise that he would finish his education and get his GED when we came back. We locked eyes, spit in to the palm of our hands and shook on it. Looking back, I wish I had put a timeline on the deal.

The next day we loaded up our van and drove down to San Diego to pick up a ton of free gear from our sponsor Sector 9. The warehouse was huge and packed with skateboards, longboards and a large bowl to skate at the top of the warehouse. 

E.G. from Sector 9 walked over to Mike and gave him his first sponsored skate deck amongst all of the bearing, longboards trucks and hardware that we would need for the trip. For a kid who spends his days hanging around the skate park, it’s a really big deal to have a large company hand you a free skate deck. Mike was stoked to be sponsored a complete skate deck and longboard for the trip and wouldn’t stop talking about it.

After we left San Diego and skated East for a few hundred miles we arrived to a place called Gila Bend, New Mexico. It was by no means a wealthy part of the country but the people were welcoming. We pulled over at a truck stop and found a garden hose to wash off all the sand and dirt that we acquired from skating two weeks straight through the desert. Mike, Jerry and Ryan wanted to go skate street spots around the library. Suddenly they were surrounded by nearly 30 local kids. I was filling up the support van with gas so, I drove to the gas station and came back to tell the boys where we would be sleeping that night. 

Mike was talking to one of to locals; the kid was about 10 years old, a bit dirty from being outside all day. He was wearing a ripped up shirt, had a skateboard that was so beat up it didn’t even roll anymore and was splitting in half. 

When I pulled up to the skate spot, Mike walked up to the van and reached for his first and only sponsored skate deck that he wouldn’t shut up about for two weeks and gave it to the kid he just met with on of his Sector 9 “bomb hills, not countries” T-shirts. Then he told the kid, “you’re now sponsored by Sector 9 skate company.” 

I really couldn’t say anything for a while, part because of exhaustion from skating so much but more perplexed that Mike gave away what he most valued at that time: his first sponsored skateboard that he was so thrilled with. 

Mike’s level of compassion for others around him is immeasurable, how mike viewed himself however was a different story. 

During the trip he spoke to me thinking that he wasn’t smart, and there would be no point in fishing a degree anyway. I don’t know who has been telling him these lies but it is sad to think that such a selfless guy didn’t feel valued in the school system he grew up in.

Though Mike didn’t value himself, he made a promise that he would finish his education if he went on the cross country trip. He did put if off for a while, but he finished what he started. He actually scored much higher than what is required to pass the G.E.D. test. Mike is now thinking of possibly going to community college or trade school.   

It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know Mike. I have learned so much from him. I am so proud that he is investing in himself and will have even more to give to others. Mike’s ability to love people with out holding back and new confidence in his own intelligence will make him an unstoppable force. Some day 20 years from now, when Mike is wildly successful in whatever direction he chooses to go, I will be able to brag stating that “ I knew him when”. 

I never thought that day we spit into our hands and shook on it that I would have learned so much from and loved such a goofy kid. It has been an honor and a privilege to know Mike “Sid” Jones: Scholar, Gentleman and King of Compassion.