It is the same mistake...

This week, I decided that classic cross-country skiing sucked, and that skating cross country skiing must be so much better. For my friends unfamiliar with the subtle differences between classic and skating skiing, I am providing a graphical explanation below:



And I also decided that buying the required gear must be the most difficult part in starting this new activity. So I went and spent my money on a pair of skis which look very much like the skis I bought last year for conventional skiing, but twice as expensive, and a new pair of shoes. This is not the first time I spend my money for expensive gear, thinking that the technical know-how will come naturally... and then realizing that either I don't have the skill, or that I don't like the activity. Had I paused for a minute to reflect, this is what I could have recollected from my history:
-at the age of 9, I was designated goal-keeper by my classmates for the recess soccer games (Designating someone as a goal keeper is a diplomatic way of conveying that you are really bad on the field and that one more demotion sends you playing with the girls). The first thing I did was buying a pair of goal-keeper gloves, convinced that with those, I'd be the next "Joel Bats". Next thing I know I was playing "Dungeons and dragons" with the other nerds of my school.
-later in life, I picked up tennis. I had very promising skills, and clearly, my progression was only limited by the low quality of my gear. So I bought a new racket (brand "Lacoste")... Later, I quit tennis after a long 5-year "plateau", with the highest reward being the finalist in the double mixed tournament of Miribel.
Other examples of impulsive purchases of sport items include my clothes for triathlon (I never ran a triathlon), a high-end heart-rate monitor loaded with cool features which I never used, the expensive clip pedals for my bicycle which I must have used 5 times in total, my russian sports car...
End of the story: the new skis specially made for skating don't make skating easy. I can't really say yet I like the sport... any activity where I fall in public more than 2 times within 30 minutes is not likely to be my favorite activity. And I can't get that duck-like step right. Maybe it's because I don't have those lycra stretchy pants that look really cool and don't impair the leg movement?