Instagram post from friend and South Bay resident, Alex Gray.
Instagram is fucked. In a simple black and white dichotomy, Instagram is teetering in between a very vain, very self-obsessed social environment and an easy, effective marketing and advertising strategy for business. Over the years, that line has become much thinner, and there is, of course, utility for your average Joe looking to interact with, for example, his favorite surfer. But in the same social circle, there often exists an overwhelming presence of butt cheeks, hotdog legs, juice cleanse progress, hashtags, and the ridiculous obsession with selfies. This is more or less Instagram.
Some love it, some hate it, and others love to hate it with the fiery conviction, claiming that it serves no greater purpose than to destroy every traditional understanding of genuine social interaction. But love it or hate it, on occasion, Instagram is still utilized for the most noble of reasons. Such was the case just the other week when Instagram facilitated the return of a quiver of surfboards some shithead stole from professional surfer Seth Moniz while he was on a one-day layover in Los Angeles just before heading to South Africa. It was a major feat against the vermin thief, but none of it would’ve been possible had it not been for the man, the myth, the legend: Alex Gray.
“My boards were firmly strapped to the roof of the car in front of my sister’s house in Hermosa Beach,” said Seth. “It seemed safe. Mitch [Crews] was even packing his boards in the garage, too, so I didn’t think anything of it.”
To make a long story short, the thief cut the straps on the roof of the car and quickly made off with Seth’s bag, which contained six fresh boards. Yes, six. After several attempts to find the boards through local police, Seth accepted the boards were gone forever. After all, police have much better things to do, like write seatbelt and parking tickets. Of course, things could’ve been worse, but I sympathize with Seth. As a person who treats new boards like flesh and blood, I couldn’t fathom how it would feel to lose six brand new freshies, let alone one new board—especially for someone who’s been working his ass off year after year to get on tour.
Following the incident, Seth took to Instagram to see if he could somehow get his boards back. Unfortunately, Seth had no luck. That is, until good friend and South Bay resident, Alex Gray, came to the rescue by reaching out to the South Bay community via Instagram.
Attention #southbay shredders: one of the coolest ever @sethmoniz had boards like this pictured stolen while visiting #hermosabeach. I think theft is the lowest act we can do to one another. So I offer this: For any board found or returned, I’ll trade you one of mine. No questions asked. Please DM me. Sorry this happened Seth. Our community shouldn’t be represented like this to rad visitors like you.
To make an even longer story short, Alex Gray found the boards, bought them from the person who allegedly bought them from the alleged thief, and returned them to Seth.
Justice is served… and it tastes sooo good.
While this incident clearly illustrates the possibility that Alex Gray is perhaps the raddest, most altruistic human in the surf space (just look at all the rad things he’s doing), it also serves as a reminder that we must always remain vigilant. Board theft is way, way too common. It sucks, I know. But as much as people want to portray surfers and the broader surfing community as this utopian ideal way of life, it’s simply not. The truth is, there are shitty people everywhere, including surfers, who are involved in a wide array of sleazy, scandalous behavior. And to ignore the fact that they’re there would be foolish.
Most of all, this incident illustrates the belief that when the surfing community comes together to help others, it trumps all the self-serving, narcissistic pestilence that plagues most forms of social media. Alex didn’t have to do what he did. He didn’t have to take money out of his own pocket to get those boards back. But he did. And he wanted nothing in return. He did it because he didn’t want the South Bay community and surfers in general to be represented by a thief’s feeble attempt to come up in life. He used his vast following to help a friend out and foster change. And for that, I commend him. Perhaps we can all take a page out of Alex’s book. Good on ya, Alex. Good on ya.
