Midnight sadness

As it nears the end of the season along the delmarva peninsula -
basically from Rehoboth on down to Ocean City - the surf shops hold
these things they call midnight madness sales, at which deep discounts
are taken on all summer merchandise; after all, Labor Day more or less
spells the death of the summer torrent of easy dollars rolling in from
the tourists looking to feel "authentic" for their week at the beach.

I usually try to hit these sales, mainly because the clothes I buy will
comprise the bulk of my April through September wardrobe, and because
the last set of swimtrunks - or I mean "boardshorts" - that I bought
were from 2003 and it gets tedious wearing the same pair day in day out.
Oh yeah - and I want to feel "authentic" for my week at the beach.

Anyway, tonight I happened to be in Rehoboth, so I ventured down to
Dewey for East of Maui's sale. I hadn't been in this shop since I was a
kid, and tonight made me realize that I hadn't missed a thing. It is
hands down the worst surf shop I've been in for several years. For
starters, they're more of a kayak store than a surf shop, and once
you've experienced the horrible shorebreak of south Rehoboth and Dewey
Beach, you'll understand why. The two foot waves don't break until they
hit the rocky sand of the shoreline, meaning you can't ride these waves
on anything but a skimboard.

There's absolutely no excuse for a surf shop to exist under such
conditions. Now down by the Indian River inlet you'd have an excuse or
even in Ocean City, where the waves, small though thay may be, at least
have the decency to break a reasonable distance from the shore.