and go for the world speed record.
I'd like to hit the big three number going to 100 miles an hour sometime.
I have a job and a family and there's no sense in pushing my luck.
I think I've got as much out of it as I want to get out of it.
I've been lucky long enough.
Yep, you're right. That's really dumb.
That's right. And really dangerous too.
You bet. I mean there's no way to control that sucker.
Oh yes there is. I rode one of those down the hill
and I must have got up to about 60 miles an hour
but I had no trouble stopping at all.
So how did you do it? Did you use those brakes?
No, I hit a tree.
Did you get hurt?
Yeah, twice.
Twice, huh?
Once going into the tree and once coming out the other side.
Okay, but you're alright now, huh?
Huh?
You're alright now, huh?
Well, I still don't hear so well on account of my toes.
What do your toes have to do with your hearing?
They're still in my ears.
I guess that skateboarding isn't for you, huh?
Like I said, huh?
Anyway...
No, it's not now on because I'd rather be like the kids down in Florida
where it's nice and safe, they're supervised, they have helmets and pads
and they're in a local neighborhood rink like this one.
Like I said.
What's the best thing about being a kid?
Hmm, skateboarding.
What's the big kick about skateboarding?
The energy and a way to stay in shape.
It's good for you, huh? It keeps you thin and trim.
Yeah, you don't see many fat people out here.
It keeps you a little bit nervous.
It keeps my mind clear.
I got a big bruise on the bottom of one foot and my fingertips are raw.
You see that one bit raw right there?
You don't worry that it'll happen again, you don't care.
Oh, you want to bet?
You get hurt more on bicycles, riding in the street.
No, I think it's not so dangerous. Surfing is even more dangerous.
You ride back with more real people.
Excuse me, does that blue stuff really work?
AIM tastes good.
My kids wanted AIM because it tastes good.
But fluoride, not taste, fights cavities.
AIM has fluoride.
No toothpaste fights cavities better than AIM.
AIM is clinically proven to reduce cavities.
Bobby likes it so much he may be brushing longer.
He's getting great checkups.
Great checkups?
Come on, we'll be moving all our kids to AIM.
Take AIM against cavities.
AIM is accepted by the American Dental Association.
I'll beat him. I'm wearing my lucky shirt.
Dad, you mean ring around the collar helps your tennis game?
You've got ring around the collar.
Those dirty rings.
I tried sprays, I tried powders, then I discovered whisk.
Whisk is strong enough to get ring around the collar and your whole wash load clean.
You'll beat him this time.
Even without the ring around my collar.
Whisk, strong enough to get ring around the collar and your whole wash clean.
When it's your daughter's first recital, the batteries in your recorder have to be...
What did 1979 mean to you?
Well, to me it was the year that we found out the true meaning of the expression nuclear fission.
Nuclear fission now means catching trout off of Three Mile Island.
It was the year that we found out that we cannot close down all of the nuclear power plants in America.
Unless we are prepared to heat the rest of the country by forest fires.
It was the year that we heard rumors of 700 billion barrels of oil shale deposits
locked out there in the mountains of the West.
And so the question is, do we want to continue kowtowing to the OPEC nations
or do we wish to solve the problem and have a flapped Colorado?
1979, the year that interest rates got so high that we decided if John Dillinger were alive today
he wouldn't rob banks, he would open one.
It was the year that the mayor of Chicago, Jane Loveham and Leaveham Byrne
switched allegiances from Jimmy Carter to Teddy Kennedy.
But Jimmy Carter, the decent man that he is, continues to pump federal money into Chicago
for a test site for the MX missile.
1979, the year of an unfortunate rift between blacks and Jews in America.
At one point it got so bad that Sammy Davis Jr. would not eat with himself.
On Real People we've presented individuals who have achieved a great deal,
but I don't think any of them have achieved more than this young athlete whose name is Carol Johnson.
Recal State Fullerton Titans are starting their new season with some of the best female gymnasts in the country.
Again this year they will be the team to beat in the race for the national championship.
Even though one of their top performers has what she admits is something of a handicap.
Carol Johnson says she's only four feet nine and a half inches tall.
To Carol the fact she was born with only one arm has never been a handicap.
It's amazing that with one arm that Carol became a gymnast at all,
let alone about the best in her field and becoming more exceptional every day.
Sammy with a half twist.
Her accomplishments in gymnastics have amazed and awed crowds and teammates alike,
including the Fullerton men's team and their coach.
My original reaction was a one-armed gymnast, I don't think so.
The thing that was really astounding was that she could work bars.
I felt it was possible that she could work floor because I've had some of my own gymnasts
work tumbling with one arm and a cast or something like that for a brief period of time.
But the fact that she's worked all the events and has been an all-around gymnast is just astounding.
When I came to Fullerton I was really self-conscious about my arm.
My coach then and the team members always used to joke around.
They made me feel really comfortable that it didn't matter.
When Carol first arrived the rest of us knew that she was uncomfortable and it wasn't easy for us either.
I think one of the first things to relieve my tension as well as relieve Carol's started calling her lefty.
I don't think anybody said it was that blunt before.
I think we think of all the girls here as individuals and Carol is just Carol,
one-armed Carol or not short Carol, she's just Carol.
One of the reasons why I spent most of my time in the gym when I was younger was
in the gym the kids accepted me as being normal and I could do the things that they were doing.
So I spent a lot of my time in the gym.
I began gymnastics in Canada when I was 12 and I had a really good coach at that time.
And by the time I was 15 I was doing very well in competition in Alberta.
And now in college it's my whole life.
When I first came to California it was my first time away from home and I had learned a lot of things.
I knew my roommates would help me out but I just worked on it until I could do it.
This year I'm really trying for the national championship title for floor exercise.
I've changed my routine and last year I was second by missing first by a bit.
And I think with my changes that I've made I can really go for that title.
To go for that title every meet becomes more important.
Today against UCLA Carol and her teammates arrive at the gym an hour early to prepare and practice.
Tonight I'm going to be doing an exhibition on bars.
I've been having a bit of problems with my dismount lately and I'll be focusing in on that.
I want to do the best that I can even if it's not the nationals I always have that pressure.
Tonight's meet is with UCLA but I don't usually get butterflies until I'm right out there ready to warm up.
But today Carol does not get to compete. On this practice dismount she falls.
Carol just relax. Carol this is my orthopedic guy here. Let's let the doc take a look at her here.
There's no way she can compete tonight with that knee as unstable as it is. It's going to feel unstable and probably throw her off.
It was really terrible to be down that low. I was feeling guilty too because it was time for the meet to begin.
And it's hard for the other kids just like they worry about you and it's hard for them to get back in to what they're doing.
I feel kind of like I've worked so hard and then it's just ended right all of a sudden and it's a shock to your body and to your brain that the hardest thing is watching other people compete knowing that you should be out there and you can't.
When there's someone missing from our team we try and put it out of our mind and just concentrate on our performance.
But it's always there's always that empty spot. This season could be gone right now for her. Put her about eight weeks behind schedule and unfortunately our nationals is in about eight weeks.
A week out of the gym is very crucial. If Carol's knee is not able to come back gymnastically she'll just be good at whatever else she chooses. That's just Carol.
If Carol's knee is not able to come back gymnastically she'll just be good at whatever else she chooses. That's just Carol.
I have a chance at a title and I just have to do it. That's my goal.
Carol had the worst kind of knee injury that can befall an athlete. Badly torn ligaments and severed cartilage. The following day she underwent extensive reconstructive surgery and no sooner was she off that operating table when she got back on the bars.
My biggest adjustment is that I can't walk. I really know what handicapped is now and that was the hardest thing I found that I couldn't do the things I used to. I was so used to being able to do anything I wanted and it's really frustrating.
My classes are in the phys ed department along the same hall so I just go up and down the hall. But I did have to drop my jogging class.
Right now I'm working out for about an hour a day stretching and doing sit ups. I do about 200 sit ups, about 20, 25 leg lifts. I'm finding that I tighten up a lot more than what I used to.
The first thing I'm going to do when I get out of my cast is take a shower. And then I'm going to sit outside in the sun and try to get my left leg the same color as my right leg.
She is determined to compete again.
I know there's a lot of hard work that I have to do.
Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Carol Johnson.
My skin is softer.
She's going to be featured this fall in a Disney's Wonderful World and they'll make her film available to schools and libraries throughout the country.
We're short of time so good night everybody.
It's been too long.