got a scooter in 1999, just mostly went up and down the sidewalk. in 2001 i got a book about scootering and tricks and stuff and i tried to do the tricks that were in there (hardest one was a tailwhip lol). so over the years i kinda did tricks, like back wheel spins lol, and x-up no footers and whatnot. i saw RVM2 in summer 06, thats probably what really showed me the possiblities of scooters. On Indepedence Day in 2006 I signed up for SR, and have been on ever since. thats what i consider to be when i started riding.
although i've been looking for scooter vids since fall/winter 05, so maybe you could say i've "been around" since then.