as a skater who is almost 50 and has actually been consistently skating since i was about 11 or 12 (with all of the attendant injuries and physical costs), the first question that popped into my head when i looked at your first post, and saw that you are 50 and just now deciding to do this is: how did you (and your friends) treat the assumedly rare skateboarders that you had at your grade school, junior high, and/or high school when you were younger?
for those of us who are 50 (or near it) and have been skating most/all of our lives, we lived through the era when skaters were absolute pariahs and i personally--at points being the only skater at schools i went to--had to fight and defend myself daily literally just because i skated, was immersed in skating and its ancillary cultures, and i looked like i skated.
all water under the proverbial bridge at this point obviously, but i share this to perhaps shed some light for you regarding why at least one strata in the--dare I say--community that you have chosen to engage with this thread might view you and this thread with skepticism or perhaps even some hostility…many of us “lifers” went through varying degrees and forms of harassment, intimidation, and even brutalization at points simply because we skated, and consequently, now that skating has been commodified, popularized, and “trivialized and confined” (Lance Dawes) in many ways, it’s inevitable that newcomers especially of your age might be viewed with varying degrees of doubt or rancor.
that being said, congrats on the drop-in—if you think that is a rush, if you stick with it and progress wait until you feel the rush and speed of rolling in…