When I was 12 or so, I was on a family trip with my parents, and I was starting to hit the age where I only wanted to be around people my age, that it was only fun to play with young people, no old people allowed, etc. etc. They felt enormous pity for me, and so when we saw an amusement park from the highway, they pulled over. “Won’t that be fun, Yunny?” and I really just sulked in silence, hanging around boneless, despondent with adolescent despair. Terrible. To show they were fun and good sports, they walked me to different rides and asked if I wanted to go this one, or this one, or this one. “Why, I have no one to go on it with.” We stopped in front of a ride called the Zipper, and we had the exact same exchange, but this time, my parents both decided to go on the ride and left me to wait for them on the ground.
My poor parents.
The zipper is like a giant stick with several cars attached (which people board) that 360s as the entire ride pinwheels. It goes really fast and it looks horrible. I still remember my mother screaming.
They survived of course. This isn’t like a Holocaust story, but they are not scary rides kind of people and that moment was so memorable.
Why didn’t you ride the Zipper?
i’m afraid of heights, although i did not know the ride would do what it did til i saw my parents tumbling, and they were tiny and skinny even back then. have you been on the zipper???
They got you good. You don’t want to go on any rides? Then you just have to stand there and watch us endure it! I’ll remember that for my own parenting arsenal.
Oh the laughing I’m doing right now. Wish you could see it.
Your poor parents! I absolutely love how they were so sweet and took you to the park to try to make you happy. And see how they were repaid… with a terrifying ride…
i know, this is the story of their life. i should i ask my mom if she remembers. it makes me laugh now. i was a bratty 12 year old