Is a sign gonna stop two bros from going toe to toe?
Anger. It has many manifestations in lineups throughout the world and goes by many names. Localism. Surf rage. Enforcement. Regulation. For better or worse, anger is a defining emotion in the social landscape of many a surf spot – especially the more crowded ones. But is signage the answer?
According to a recent article in PerthNow, a handful of local surfers in Perth, Western Australia are urging their city council to install “surfer’s code” signs to educate the general public about the rules of engagement in the lineup. The problem, they say, is various spots have been overrun in recent years by surfers of varying ability levels on all forms of craft, with different interpretations of the unwritten rules.
Other beaches in Western Australia and across Australia have installed “surfer’s code” signage in an effort to educate the public, and, apparently, the signs aren’t cheap. Installing three would cost about $3k, says PerthNow.
But, behind the call for a clear declaration of the rules are a handful of underlying assumptions.
For one, it’s that anger stems primarily from surfers that are unfamiliar with the governing laws of the lineup, and that if they only knew the rules the lineup would run like a well-oiled machine. But as any person who’s made a go at a crowded lineup can attest, even someone who knows the rules might intentionally break them for a variety of reasons. Then, of course, get angry when you do the same to them.
Second, signage only works when people read it. Unfortunately, there’s no hard data on how well “surfer’s code” signs work. But chances are good a person’s more likely to remember the rules after being verbally accosted than when given the chance to go find a sign, read it, understand it, and put it into practice.
I don’t mean to pick on the Cottesloe Longboard Club who are calling for the signs to be installed. But it’s instructive in the sense that anger in the lineup is both a universal phenomenon and something that is seen as a problem that needs solving. A Kiwi psychologist is studying it. In the case of Lunada Bay, it’s being litigated. Etc., etc.
But if a majority of surfers really want to stymie surf rage, how can it be done short of policing every lineup? Especially when anger seems more to be a product of overcrowding than anything else? Therein lies the question. The solution will take more than a couple signs.
