The one thing you should NEVER do if you value your sanity...
...is to ride a roller coaster.
But if you don't mind losing your sanity (or if you have no sanity to lose), feel free to do so.
I'm not saying that you have to ride a roller coaster if you want to prove that you're insane. I know plenty of insane people who wouldn't want to ride a roller coaster if their lives depended on it. What I am saying is that the roller coaster is not a ride for the sane.
For good reason, too. Who in his or her right mind would go on something that zips around at fast speeds through gravity-defying tracks? I mean, that isn't safe!
Well, we know that they're safe. Physics says so. And if they weren't safe, they wouldn't exist! (Well, hopefully not, at least.) But who thinks of physics or the existence of roller coasters when he/she is on the top of a giant hill awaiting a huge drop into a loop-de-loop? What makes one so sure that a bolt doesn't come unscrewed, or that by some supernatural force, the harness doesn't suddenly disappear?
Tee hee... I could list all sorts of feasible problems with coasters, and perhaps research some statistics on coaster disasters, and make any sane person never even want to go to an amusemsent park! Bwahahaha!
So anyways, on June 2 of this year, I went with my school to an amusement park: Six Flags Great America. This park happens to be right in my hometown of Gurnee, IL, so I had been there numerous times before.
Obviously, I hadn't been there enough.
On that day, I tried six new roller coasters. SIX. I don't think I did that many new ones in one day even when I was at a place where all the coasters were new. Hehe... Anyways, my first new roller coaster was also my first upside-down experience. Prior to this, I had never really been in any roller coaster that went upside down. Then again, prior to this, I feared roller coasters. There's just something ominous about being at the top of a tall hill, ready to take off at insane speeds once machinery cuts loose and gravity reigns. And going upside-down... even if I knew that I wouldn't fall out, the idea of being put in a position contrary to gravity was not one I was in a hurry to experience.
Anyways, the roller coaster in question is called Superman. Intended to recreate flight, the ride puts the riders into the "flying position" (Oh, I'm sure you've all tried to fly at one point or another) before launching them through a coaster with a loop, multiple banking curves, and finishing with a corkscrew. Keep in mind; this will be my first experience upside-down. So I'm going up the incline, and then gravity sends the coaster on its jolly way... and suddenly, I see the loop in front of me, and I suddenly realize, "Oh my gosh, I'm going to go through a loop!" The world turns around, and gravity pushes me against the back of the seat (when it would've otherwise pulled me away from it... yeah, that was fun), and then suddenly I'm right-side-up again, except my sanity was not. (Yes, you can lose your sanity even when you have no more to lose.)
I came from that ride deciding that my time upside-down was the most fun I had ever had on a roller coaster.
But over the rest of the day, I tried several more coasters, all of which would've been way past my comfort zone before that day.
Now, I know that I have nothing to fear about coasters. I trust physics. I trust the builders and the park that put the coasters there. I trust God. That's why I can ride these coasters and enjoy them. My logical side wonders what's there to trust; for these coasters I have to ignore that side. Indeed, when my adrenaline pumps me up for those drops and loops, and I go rushing the way of the track, I feel like I've lost my sanity again. And y'all know how fun that is!
But my roller coaster adventures are not done yet! I have still more coasters to try, and more thrills to be had, and more chances to lose my sanity all over again!
So, my parting words: For those of you who love roller coasters like I do now, enjoy! Remember: you can trust the coaster.
And for those of you who still don't want to go on a coaster: that's fine. I realize these things aren't for everyone, even as far as the insane go. But if you're letting rational fear hold you back from these thrill machines, then I suggest you throw rational caution to the wind: get on a coaster, and feel the wind rushing past you take your sanity to where it will not be missed.
But if you don't mind losing your sanity (or if you have no sanity to lose), feel free to do so.
I'm not saying that you have to ride a roller coaster if you want to prove that you're insane. I know plenty of insane people who wouldn't want to ride a roller coaster if their lives depended on it. What I am saying is that the roller coaster is not a ride for the sane.
For good reason, too. Who in his or her right mind would go on something that zips around at fast speeds through gravity-defying tracks? I mean, that isn't safe!
Well, we know that they're safe. Physics says so. And if they weren't safe, they wouldn't exist! (Well, hopefully not, at least.) But who thinks of physics or the existence of roller coasters when he/she is on the top of a giant hill awaiting a huge drop into a loop-de-loop? What makes one so sure that a bolt doesn't come unscrewed, or that by some supernatural force, the harness doesn't suddenly disappear?
Tee hee... I could list all sorts of feasible problems with coasters, and perhaps research some statistics on coaster disasters, and make any sane person never even want to go to an amusemsent park! Bwahahaha!
So anyways, on June 2 of this year, I went with my school to an amusement park: Six Flags Great America. This park happens to be right in my hometown of Gurnee, IL, so I had been there numerous times before.
Obviously, I hadn't been there enough.
On that day, I tried six new roller coasters. SIX. I don't think I did that many new ones in one day even when I was at a place where all the coasters were new. Hehe... Anyways, my first new roller coaster was also my first upside-down experience. Prior to this, I had never really been in any roller coaster that went upside down. Then again, prior to this, I feared roller coasters. There's just something ominous about being at the top of a tall hill, ready to take off at insane speeds once machinery cuts loose and gravity reigns. And going upside-down... even if I knew that I wouldn't fall out, the idea of being put in a position contrary to gravity was not one I was in a hurry to experience.
Anyways, the roller coaster in question is called Superman. Intended to recreate flight, the ride puts the riders into the "flying position" (Oh, I'm sure you've all tried to fly at one point or another) before launching them through a coaster with a loop, multiple banking curves, and finishing with a corkscrew. Keep in mind; this will be my first experience upside-down. So I'm going up the incline, and then gravity sends the coaster on its jolly way... and suddenly, I see the loop in front of me, and I suddenly realize, "Oh my gosh, I'm going to go through a loop!" The world turns around, and gravity pushes me against the back of the seat (when it would've otherwise pulled me away from it... yeah, that was fun), and then suddenly I'm right-side-up again, except my sanity was not. (Yes, you can lose your sanity even when you have no more to lose.)
I came from that ride deciding that my time upside-down was the most fun I had ever had on a roller coaster.
But over the rest of the day, I tried several more coasters, all of which would've been way past my comfort zone before that day.
Now, I know that I have nothing to fear about coasters. I trust physics. I trust the builders and the park that put the coasters there. I trust God. That's why I can ride these coasters and enjoy them. My logical side wonders what's there to trust; for these coasters I have to ignore that side. Indeed, when my adrenaline pumps me up for those drops and loops, and I go rushing the way of the track, I feel like I've lost my sanity again. And y'all know how fun that is!
But my roller coaster adventures are not done yet! I have still more coasters to try, and more thrills to be had, and more chances to lose my sanity all over again!
So, my parting words: For those of you who love roller coasters like I do now, enjoy! Remember: you can trust the coaster.
And for those of you who still don't want to go on a coaster: that's fine. I realize these things aren't for everyone, even as far as the insane go. But if you're letting rational fear hold you back from these thrill machines, then I suggest you throw rational caution to the wind: get on a coaster, and feel the wind rushing past you take your sanity to where it will not be missed.
posted by stardf29 at
3:47 PM
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