Drama, drama, drama

"Of course there's going to be drama - what do you expect when you have a bunch of women hanging out together?" That's a sentiment I've heard wherever rollergirls convene - and one I don't altogether agree with.

First, let's throw out the gender factor. Anywhere you have more than one person, you have possibility for conflict. Benjamin Franklin said, "Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead." I say, "Two will agree perfectly if one of them is dead." Not as catchy, but you know what I mean.

Second, almost every rollergirl I know thinks of her team as her second family, her derby sisters. (And if she doesn't, she probably just joined!) And almost every rollergirl I know says that sometimes there's just too much drama in derby.

Both of those may be true. And maybe it's because we think of each other as family that we feel comfortable enough to speak up and try to shape our leagues and persuade our teammates with our own ideas.

Mignon McLaughlin wrote, "Family quarrels have a total bitterness unmatched by others. Yet it sometimes happens that they also have a kind of tang, a pleasantness beneath the unpleasantness, based on the tacit understanding that this is not for keeps; that any limb you climb out on will still be there later for you to climb back" (The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960).

And, to me, that pretty much sums it up for family, derby, drama, and how in the end, the combination of them all are okay.