Roller Skating is Huge on TikTok and It Makes Me Miss Roller King

Do any of y'all remember Roller King? It was a skating rink we had here in El Paso. Actually, do any of y'all remember roller skating rinks? They were huge back in my day! Roller King closed back in 2008, but in it's prime, that was a great place to take the family! I don't want to brag, but, I used to be a really good roller skater! (I say "used to" because I haven't skated in years!).

Recently, while I was on TikTok (yes, I know, insert your eye roll here) but while I was scrolling on TikTok I found this really cool girl skating at a rink. It doesn't sound amazing, but it caught my attention enough that I immediately followed her. Her name is Ana Coto and I just love the way she skates backwards

@anaoctohas anyone done this on skates tho? @yodelinghaley♬ Say So - Doja Cat

Then, I found another cool video of another girl roller skating backwards!  

@oh.thatsreese
##rollerskate ##moxiskates ##fyp ##nfyp
♬ Happiness Over Everything (H.O.E.) - Jhené Aiko, Future, Miguel

I, for one, am loving this trend of skating backwards. It just looks so cool. And I'm not the only one who thinks so because their videos have thousands to millions of views! The views spiked as more states starting implementing stay at home orders. Ana Coto tells Buzzfeed that she thinks people watch these videos as a way to live vicariously:

"Not everybody has that ability to go outside because of the weather or because of their state’s current lockdown situation. It’s a chance for them to just live through the video and create some kind of serotonin."

Because of the popular TikTok videos, Google Trends reported a surge in roller skate searches that resulted in actual sales. Seeing these girls skating certainly made me relive a moment in my childhood where I used to skate all the time. Trips to Roller King were my favorite. I know that there were other roller rinks in town, but none captured that Roller King magic. When all this is over, I think we should bring back roller rinks!