… as a teen, I thought roller coasters, the mad mouse, gravitron and all the other crazy rides were FUN! I liked being fooled into thinking I was going off the rails / being held against the side of a wall by gravity like a glob of cake mix / having the bejesus scared out of me.
I’d fall out of the ride, walk around dizzily, and have a breathless giggle with friends. Then queue up for more.
But I can’t take it anymore.
I clutch onto metal bars so hard my hands freeze up. I don’t think it’s funny when the ride controller decides to speed things up, or give us ‘another round’. I think about all the reported ride accidents I’ve seen in the newspapers (granted, over many years ..) I always seem to smell smoke …
When did it change?
When did I become Ms Cautious, the person not-able-to-understand-that-rides-were-made-this-way and it’s all just good fun?
It’s show time in Adelaide. My family goes every year, and increasingly it’s a case of me standing around, nervously watching my kids whizzing around on rides.