Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Roller Coasters

I love roller coasters. I do. I love being taken for a ride, as one would if they loved roller coasters. I love the thrill of it. It's just a good time. I haven't been on too many roller coasters in my time, though. There's eternally-great Lagoon and i have fond memories of Colossus and the rickety white one. The thrill of that one comes mostly from the fear of death, but hey, a thrill's a thrill. I also recall being a fan of Jet Star II. Why do I remember these things? I don't know. Anyway, and then I spent half a rainy day at a Six Flags once and it was fun but I barely remember anything.

In these parts, the closest and easiest amusement park i can get to is the one at Coney Island and if you've been there, well. It's not exactly "new." And I wouldn't even say it's old, either. It's really old. I haven't been on the roller coaster there though because going on a roller coaster by yourself is lame.

My problem, see, is Sean is deathly afraid of roller coasters. Or, I should say, any kind of ride that is any amount of feet off the ground. (Yeah, riding the bus is a real problem. HAHA. that's a joke. ) The first experience I had with this was when we went on the ferris wheel at Coney Island. Allow me to repeat myself: FERRIS WHEEL. No, it is not as if the ferris wheel spins rapidly around and around and around and all over the place. It's your grandma's ride. It's slow. No turns. Just up.. down...up....down. To his credit, this one is slightly different in that some of the cars are on a little track that, when coming up to the top of the circle, eeever so gently slide and swing a tiny tiny bit. It is a soft gentle slope and Sean FREAKED OUT. It was hilarious. And I marveled at him and his ridiculous fear. Anyway, so I can't go on roller coasters and it's sad. Because I love them. Sacrifices, I tell ya.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

As I have said before, I am happy to hold your purse while you enjoy your beloved nightmare death machines of terror.

Joel said...

I totally empathize with you. My wife doesn't like the exciting rides. I keep wanting to take her to Lagoon, but it seems like it would be a waste if she wouldn't go on the fun rides. So long, Colossus...

MelBroek said...

Okay. I love rollercoasters, and I'm not usually particularly disturbed by ferris wheels except in two specific cases.

1) in Pre-Calculus Sophomore year, Mr. Todd "the worst teacher ever" Vawdrey made us do a unit on Trigonometry. okay fine... maybe even a little fun. okay maybe I get more satisfaction that I should from trigonometry, but still... He compared it all to a ferris wheel, and there was some elaborate "share your feelings" story line to go along with "share your feelings" math. So that sort of made me resent ferris wheels. Not because I hate math, just because I hate Mr. Vawdrey and "share your feelings" math.

2) When they are the kind on a track. I've never been more scared on a ride than during those 12 minutes of hell on the rolling track ferris wheel cart at California Adventure. You're NOT strapped in, and the cart was whizzing down that track at mach 5, and then it just abruptly swings back up and tosses your body around like a lifelessly limp green bean. It was terrifying.

Ashley said...

I'm with you, Sean! Don't let Jen bully you. I made a point to avoid any roller coasters until I was about 15 or 16, when I decided to face my fear and at least give it a try. But really, they're not all that exciting. I'd almost rather someone twirl me around a few times and then punch me in the stomach — at least that way I'm still safely on the ground when it's over.

)en said...

Ash, I think i can help you out with that. But you're not scared of heights, right? Just rides. But i thought you went on them and liked it. Stop being a phony.

Yeah, Colossus is the reason to go to Lagoon. That and getting spit on or stepping in goo. Do they still have that big sky arch thing? That was way fun.

Melissa, there should never be such thing as "share your feelings" math. If i participated in that, there would be a lot of cursing and chairs being thrown out of windows. So actually, I wish i HAD participated in that. I still have a lot of pent up anger.
And i feel about 100 years old right now because i think your math teacher is younger than i am. I went to school with his older sister.

Kimber said...

The best collection of roller coasters, chocolate-themed or not, is Hershey Park. Seriously, if you have a chance, go there.