Okay, I snapped.
This weekend prompted my yearly guest rant. It's about a week earlier than last year, but it has to be done. Get excited. First, I'll tell you the story that threw me over the edge. Long story short:
A group came up to get on with their special access...20 minutes early. So I made them wait. The assumed leader of the group (a super bitchy old woman) came up to me 3 different times asking if it was time yet. The third time I told her they still had 5 minutes, she THREW her special access booklet at me and said "You BETTER sign this and get us on the ride." Against my better judgement, we put them on the ride. After they got off, she walked up to me and said "What time do you have so I can set my watch accordingly?" CLEARLY, she was being facetious. So I ignored her, thinking she would walk away. She stood there, and shortly asked "Well?" I snapped. I told her I didn’t deserve to be treated that way. She replied "I don’t need to be treated like you treated me EITHER!" I proceeded to tell her that I had not intentionally been rude, nor was I unpleasant to her when she was asking me questions. As she walked away, she said "You’re right...I’m sorry," without even looking at me.
Get mad at me because I make you wait your fair time, just like everyone else does. Do it. That will get you on the ride faster and not stapled. I dare you. Special access is a PRIVILEGE, not a right.
So, I got to thinking...
I think I’m going to write a book and call it "Don’t eff with the people in charge of your personal safety." Spielberg will turn it into a movie...kind of like Waiting.
This weekend, I had ONE guy that said "Thank you" to me this weekend. He was the first one in about two months. I think I can remember about FIVE thank-you’s this summer. Here I am, sweating my ass off for you to be happy. I don’t have to hurry, but I choose to because I don’t feel like dealing with your crap or looking at you anymore.
What is it about an amusement park that turns people into animals? I’m sorry. Did you mistake this place for a zoo? You sit, stand, swing, hop and jump on things you’re not supposed to. You go in to fenced off areas. You leave trash wherever you feel like, most likely about 5 feet from a trash can. Some of you even pee yourselves.
I realize that you are on vacation and you paid a lot of money to be here. I just don’t understand why you have to throw a fit when we ask you to follow a few simple instructions. I also don’t understand why you assume that people that work at Cedar Point are second class citizens. You assume we’re all college/high school dropouts and completely stupid. I don’t think you even realize that we have real lives outside of the park, not complying to your every wish.
You glare at me when I ask you to put your purse inside the loose article bin. Who brings a purse to an amusement park anyway? Same people that wear mini-skirts to an amusement park, that’s who. I’m not in charge of your bag, purse, wallet, glasses, souvenir bottle, hat, phone, walkie-talkie, pager, stuffed animal, basketball or anything else you can walk your ass over to put in the bin yourself. Do I look like I have nothing better to do than hold on to your crap while you ride? I’m not your slave.
"Where’s the orange seatbelt?" Popular question at my ride. It might...it MIGHT be that thing you just fastened. If also might be bright orange and impossible to mistake for a black shoulder harness.
"This seat is really uncomfortable!" Another popular comment at the Screw. Maybe because you’re SITTING ON TOP OF THE HARNESS, you ass. Try opening it up and sitting UNDER it. I’ll bet money it’s a lot easier on the butt. But still not as comfortable as those hard, super uncomfortable silver handrails you like to sit on.
Here’s my favorite. A mother, sitting in the train with her kids in a seat behind her. As I check her seat, she says to me "Can you make sure my kids are buckled in?" Why yes, I’m glad you said something. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have checked to make sure, and your kids would probably die. You saved the day. Good work.
So that's about it. I just can't figure out what possesses some people to be so rude! I don't know what goes through their heads. I also can't understand how such simple tasks suddenly become so difficult. You'd think that asking them to pull on their seatbelt was really asking them if they could perform brain surgery.
All these negative things aside, I really have enjoyed portions of this summer. It's of course, nothing like '04. I don't think the first summer can be topped. I really thought I'd hate working where I did this summer, but it was actually pretty amazing. I met a lot of incredible people, and had a really great first year leadership experience. I had two great supervisors, and some fellow TL's that really helped me have a great summer. In 3 more weekends, I will get to say a final goodbye to working at Cedar Point. Ready go.