Surf Early In The Morning example essay topic

An Economic Approach to Surfing The following represents a specified depiction of a typical day of surfing for me, in a manner described using economic terminology. Although there are many definitions of surfing these days, including surfing the internet, surfing departments stores, magazine surfing, etc., we will focus on the meaning of surfing as it was originally intended, defined as "The water sport of riding the surf into shore" (Webster's New World Dictionary, p. 739) Using this, I will recount a surf trip a friend and I made to the beach a few years ago, beginning and ending at my home in Valley Center California. The Events I experienced will be depicted using primarily economic concepts. What would seem like ordinary events will be portrayed using an economic microscope of interpretation. It is five A.M. on a scorching Saturday morning in the summer of 1998, and I am awakened by the unpleasant sound of my alarm clock. Now you may be wondering why I am crazy enough to wake up this early on a Saturday, but for the dedicated surfer it is a necessity that one must take in order to maximize utility.

Utility is defined as "A measure of the satisfaction, happiness, or benefit that results from the consumption of a good" (Arnold, p. 849). The good in this case being surfing, and in order for me to be fully satisfied, receive happiness, and benefit optimally from this good, I must awake early. By awaking at five A.M., I can prepare for surfing without other members of my family inhibiting me because they will all be asleep. Everything is quiet and peaceful, and this factor alone allows me to start my day in a sort of positive and spiritual mode. The roads at this time in the morning are virtually empty, which enable me to arrive at the beach in approximately 20 minutes as opposed to 35 minutes during regular hours. The main concept explaining this circumstance has to do with supply and demand.

At five A.M. the amount of traffic in relation to spaces available on streets and freeways is relatively small. At eight A.M. however, the amount of traffic in relation to spaces available on streets and freeways is relatively large, often causing extremely congested circumstances. Granted, my surf trip is on a Saturday, and most people have the weekend off from work, but the same economic concept applies on the weekend as it does during the week, but not as drastically. Due to this inconsistency of traffic, and a limited supply of road space, a rationing device must be used among drivers. Here in San Diego California, there are no toll roads, so Californians are forced to use a "first come first serve" method of rationing road space.

In other words, the early bird gets the worm, and in this case, those drivers who choose to wake up early and beat the morning traffic will be rewarded with expanded road space, allowing them to arrive earlier to their destination. In my instance, I will be rewarded in the payment of increased time to surf, as well as earlier arrival necessary for utility maximization It is now 5: 15 a. m., and I am heading over to my good friend Blake's house to pick him up. Surfers typically prefer to surf with friends because it makes it much more enjoyable and competitive. The layperson or non-surfer may try understanding my reasoning for bringing along a friend in terms of safety reasons, and / or for simple indulgence. They may think that by bringing a surfing companion, my chances of drowning and / or getting hurt would decrease, and that my overall enjoyment level would increase. And to an extent they may be right.

But to be completely honest, surfers tend to have somewhat of an uncaring attitude for common sense safety measures, and mere personal enjoyment is hardly a good enough reason for a surfer to be accompanied by a friend. Competitiveness promotes improvement, which in turn advocates a healthy society. Competition in the business and economic world are usually thought of as healthy attributes because it forces companies and individuals to improve themselves and prosper. I like to think of surfing in the same way. In a competitive market, firms must compete with other firms in order to offer the "lowest available prices" for consumers. In other words, consumers have alternatives to choose from when buying a particular product; thus keeping firms on their toes at all times.

Once a firm looses its desire to stay competitive and successful, it will eventually be forced to shut down because the price of its products produced would in essence be less than the average variable costs to produce them. The same goes for surfing in the sense that once a surfer stops competing, or stops his search for self-gratification and improvement, he will only sink to the bottom and be pushed aside by the competition. After a smooth 20-minute drive to Grandview Beach in Leucadia California, I have finally arrived, and I am optimistic of what lies ahead of me. As I put my wetsuit and sunscreen on, I can hear the surf pounding against the shoreline, and judging by the force of the sound, I would estimate the surf to be anywhere from three to six feet in height. But I was quick to learn that I was wrong.

As I walked down the steps to the beach, I could tell the surf was at least five to eight feet in size, with possible 10 foot sets to be expected. The conditions were epic and there were not yet many surfers in the water. The water was 70 degrees and glassy, and a slight offshore wind existed causing the waves to break slower and with larger tube sections. The water was crystal clear allowing for impressive scenery beneath the surface.

Today would be remembered as an infrequent occurrence; a day that does not happen all to often. There is however a price surfers must pay in order to surf on a day such as this. As I mentioned before, my reasoning for waking up at five A.M. was to achieve maximum utility. I initially took into account the fact that a good day of surfing such as today tends to attract a larger crowd to the beach and surf areas. A day such as this is very rare, or scarce as an economist would call say.

Scarcity in economics is defined as "The condition in which our wants are greater than the limited resources available to satisfy those wants" (Arnold p. 848). In this case, surf able areas are the limited resources. With an expanding surfing population and a limited supply of surf able areas, surfers are forced to make a choice. This choice can be anything from when to surf, or what time of the day to surf, to where to surf or how one should surf. Economics is concerned with how these choices and decisions are made. For example, when a surfer chooses to surf early in the morning, as opposed to later in the day, he is giving up sleeping time in order to satisfy his need to surf early in the morning.

Granted he may also be giving up other things, such as reading time, time with his family, house maintenance time, etc., but chances are he would still be sleeping if it wasn't for waking up early to surf. The sleeping time given up in this example is known as the opportunity cost. An opportunity cost can be defined as "The most highly valued opportunity or alternative forfeited when a choice is made" (Arnold p. 846). As a mentioned earlier, surfing in this case can be referred to as a good. Most types of goods are limited, which correlates with scarcity.

By choosing to wake up early, I have beat the crowd to the beach and I can enjoy a limited time of surfing un-crowded waters. Much like my previous rationing example in which I awoke early to defeat morning traffic, the same principle exists in the water. The early person in this case is awarded with un-crowded waves and better conditions, allowing for more utility. By now, it is nearing six A.M. and I have managed to paddle to the outside of the surf zone without getting my hair wet. A good surfer will tell you that a person knows he is successful if he can complete a surf session without getting his hair wet, but I have yet to achieve that high ranking. As I wait patiently for the first set of waves to roll in, I feel a sense of anxiety in the pit of my stomach because I know the surf is going to be big.

Looking on all sides of me I notice that the surfers in this location have spread out evenly from one end of the surf zone to the other. They do this because they want to maximize their utility by catching the most waves possible in the time period in which they are surfing. If all surfers in the water congregated to one particular spot, then surfers would receive dis utility because they would hardly catch any waves at all due to the dense amount of surfers in that area. Granted, it is comm on to see more people in one surf spot and fewer people in others, but this is simply because at a given surfing location there are better breaks than others. Dis utility can be defined economically as "The dissatisfaction one receives from a bad" (Arnold p. 841).

To explore further, a bad is defined as "Anything from which individuals receive dis utility or dissatisfaction" (Arnold p. 839). Therefore, an extremely crowded surf spot can be viewed by most surfers as a bad, and thus causes them to receive dis utility from surfing that specific area on that particular day. In this atmosphere, surfers would actually prefer not surfing. Looking out into the distance, I noticed an enormous mountain of water rapidly coming my way. This was a huge swell, probably about 10 feet in height. Because of its huge size, the rest of the surfers and I were compelled to paddle toward the wave as quick as we could.

Staying where we were would only cause us to be drilled by the horrendous force of the wave. Amazingly, I made it over the incoming swell, but looking back I noticed a few poor individuals who were not as fortunate as I was. They were ok, but the beating of the wave took a toll on their strength and confidence level. By now I noticed another large swell coming toward me and it was all mine.

As I paddled toward the shore in order to best position myself on the wave, I felt the strong force of the wave pushing my surfboard and me as if we were as light as feathers. I quickly jumped up, turned my board vigorously to the left, and quickly ran to the nose of my board, obtaining optimum speed and utility. I then attempted to get into a compacted position in hopes that I would be able to ride inside the tube of the wave, but the wave managed to close out on me before I could do anything. This quickly put an end to my short ride, but the thrill of merely dropping into a wave of that magnitude was almost overwhelming.

A few other surfers attempted to drop in on me, but due to my increasing speed and my right of way, they hesitated and decided not to do so. The costs of them dropping in on me greatly outweighed the benefits of them doing so. By dropping in on me, they would have risked hitting my board and getting hurt, or possibly drowning. I, unlike most surfers of today, prefer to ride a traditional long board, just as they did prior to the late 1960's. These long boards can weigh up to 75 pounds, and getting hit with the force of one of these boards could be life threatening. Most surfers respect the right of way rule in which he who is on the wave first gets to ride the wave without any interference.

Taking these factors into consideration, the two surfers were economically viable. Whether or not they knew it, they were thinking economically in terms of costs and benefits. The layperson and even most surfers in general would be quick to argue that the two surfers were merely using common sense surfing skills and nothing more. But by taking a microscopic approach to the situation, it is quite evident that they were in fact thinking economically in terms of costs and benefits. After catching several near perfect waves, it was approaching nine A.M. The good conditions were weakening, and the crowds were growing rapidly. Given these increasing factors, I decided that my optimum point of surfing for today had been reached.

Blake on the other hand disagreed with me saying "Aaron, we drove all this way from Valley Center to the beach. Plus the surf is better than I've seen it in a long time. Why do you want to go already?" I explained to him that the crowds were increasing and that the conditions were worsening. Blake made a valid point in his argument, and it was obvious to me that he really wanted to surf longer.

Blake's optimum amount of surfing for this specific day was different than mine. When two people commit to the same activity, whether it is surfing, golfing, kissing, etc., two different optimum levels are often discovered but usually only one is reached. As a result, arguments as well as trades are bound to occur. In my particular case, I had reached my optimum level of surfing whereas Blake had not. In order for Blake to reach his optimum level of surfing, I would have to cross my equilibrium point and surf longer, thus establishing dis utility. However, I was the driver and the driver usually gets the right of way when deciding when to head home.

Despite Blake's argument, I decided to head home, but there was a slight cost in my decision to leave. I was ethically compelled to buy Blake lunch. Although a free lunch for Blake did not cause his optimum level of surfing to be achieved, it did however add to his amount of utility. And as far as I was concerned, the benefits of buying Blake lunch greatly outweighed the cost of buying the lunch, mainly because the idea of a free lunch deterred him from thinking about the surf he was missing, and the fact that his optimum surf level was not reached. As Blake and I ate our fish burritos at the local taco shop, we reminisced about our impressive surf journey.

We both agreed that we had surfed some of the best waves of our lives today, and that this day will always be remembered. We also talked about our love for surfing and the ocean, with Blake making the comment "I could never get tired of surfing... I could surf for the rest of my life and never get tired of it". I questioned Blake's comment asking him how he could have known of such a thing since he had been surfing for only 6 years. He replied by asking another question: "How could anyone get tired of surfing?

I just don't get it". By then I had set the issue aside because I honestly didn't care to explore it any deeper than I had done, but after taking a course in economics, I now look upon that day with a little more intelligence than I previously had. I view Blake's reasoning for his comments to have been in a manner in which a layperson would have described it as. But I would argue against Blake's comments using the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility. The law states that "The marginal utility gained by consuming equal successive units of a good will decline as the amount consumed increases" (Arnold p. 844). In this instance, I argue that given a certain amount of time, Blake's desire for surfing would eventually begin to lessen over time.

At the time I questioned Blake about his comments, he would have sworn to me that he would continue to surf for the rest of his life, permitting all other things held constant (i.e. good health, availability of waves, clean oceans, etc. ), Ceteris Paribus. But today, Blake rarely surfs because he has taken a recently new interest in down hill skateboarding, and he works a lot, thus lessening his desire to surf. Blake still loves to surf, but not to the extent to which he did in 1998.

I occasionally remind him of his comments, and he usually replies in a reserved manner "Yeah I know, I'll get back into it again one day, don't worry."I'm not worried", I tell him. "I just understand the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility". It was now roughly 10: 30 a.m. and I said my goodbyes to Blake as I dropped him off at his house. I then drove over to the local community pool where I would relax for a couple of hours and think back upon my day and the things I've done. I remembered my early morning awakening as my irritating alarm clock went off at five A.M. I remembered my quiet house, when all of my family was asleep except me.

I recalled the drive over to Blake's house as one in darkness and weakening fog. I felt rational in my economic decision to leave the house early in order to avoid traffic, and to be rewarded with the treats that early morning surfing offered. I can recollect the waves I caught, and the daring people who almost dropped in on me. I can remember their intelligent reasoning for not doing so because they knew they would have a high probability of receiving dis utility from doing so in terms of costs and benefits. I will never forget the argument Blake and I had in the water regarding our optimum surfing desire, and the fish burrito I bought him as a trade of good faith. And every time I see Blake skateboarding I will remember the Law of Diminishing Marginal utility as it applied to his eroding desire for surfing.

This illustrious surf journey will always be a pleasant memory for me, as well as an economic guide in understanding the way the world works.

Bibliography

Arnold, R. (2001).
Economics fifth Edition. Cincinnati, Ohio: South-Western College Publishing. Guralnik, B. (1966).