Image by Annette on Pixabay.
Someone on Facebook posted a short video of a couple, presumably in Budapest, on what appears to be a public skating.
The couple – who aren’t young, appear to be skilled skaters, doing turns and whirls on the ice. So far so good. Here’s the link.
What’s disturbing are the comments. This video seems to be an image that brings out people’s thoughts, like a photographic Rorschach test. Most of the comments focused on the couple’s age and their relationship.
The video was labled, “Old couple skates in Budapest.”
But the people may not be especially old! The couple’s bodies were buried under bulky clothing. The man had silvery gray hair, but he could be as young as fifty. The woman had artificially blond fluffy hair which could be any age.
And they may not even be a couple. Most skating partners aren’t romantic partners. It’s entirely possible that each skater had a romantic partner waiting on the sidelines. Competitive skaters are taught to project romance, just like actors, singers, and ballet dancers.
It’s unlikely they’re amateurs. They’re really good…and you can tell, they’re not going full out, as they would in a competition.
“This elderly couple is adorable,” reads one comment pasted on the video.
I’d say they’re too young to quality as “elderly” (especially the woman). We don’t know if they’re a couple. And the word “adorable” should be reserved for babies, kittens, and puppies.
“We can see how much they love each other,” reads another caption that appears on the video.
Really? They’re having fun together.
When I posted this to a group on FB, someone who knew the ice skating world responded. She said maybe they knew each other from competitive skating and met at the rink for some extra practice. Or they ran into each other and decided to give it a whirl.
I hope more people respond, pointing out the idiocy of the comments. It’s appalling that the first thing people see is an age range (which may be inaccurate) and a relationship (which may not exist). Hopefully scenes like this will help us all become more aware: it’s so easy to stereotype and make up a story that’s totally unjustified.
Meanwhile, let’s use this image as a reminder: “Things are not what they seem.”
