I love seeing comments like Todd Richards', seeing that there are people who think the same as someone who is tired of so much posing in the surfing world.

It's a pose that's easily identifiable when you've been here a while, but it doesn't seem to matter to new faces, brands, and buyers who don't consider it a serious issue or simply don't realize they're being scammed.

It's good to see the farce and it's good to denounce it as Todd Richards did.

It was great, I hadn't laughed and enjoyed watching something in a surfing video that much in a long time: “I was getting changed to go surfing at Neptune, here in Encinitas, and a guy went by skateboarding on a piece of wood with trucks, barefoot, zigzagging down the damn street. He was wearing short shorts, he looked like he had fallen out of a van in 1968,” Richards says.

He adds: “It’s funny, everyone has an old van that barely works, everyone has really long hair, everyone tries to look like they just came from Woodstock, and these kids are soft as shit.”

It's all perfect, because of course if you're not true to your style, you're going to be a softie, as he himself says.

And also, you're a fucking softie in your life if you're pretending to be someone you're not.

It's incredible, but this reminds me of a series of movies I watched with my young children, it's called Diary of a Wimpy Kid… It's about a pre-teen who starts high school and tries to fit in and be popular.

And in his attempt to fit in, he lies, pretends, tries to be something he's not. And the lesson is crystal clear: Every time he does it, everything goes wrong; he ends up grounded, fights with his friends, and so on.

On the contrary, whenever he is honest and authentic, things turn out well for him.

What I mean is that what we experience in the world of surfing is applicable to all things in life.

If you're a fraud, things will never go well.

I said it not too long ago and I'll say it again: You might get it right once or twice, but the people who have been around for many years know, they know very well, what you did last summer.