I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but ...
[And, before I do, theme week alert! For the next few days, Amusement Parks will feature into my posts.]
... with the origin of the word "amusement" springing from the need for any diversion designed to distract medieval folks from warfare, it seems like visiting a theme park nowadays and risking being caught in gang battles seems to eviscerate the true intent of that qualifier. Such parks are the backdrops for key chapters in my life: my older sisters using a day at DorneyPark as a way to try to get our parents back together shortly after their separation (sounds like a Disney/Nick movie idea, no?), frequent visits to Knoebels to escape my youth (more about that on Monday), the tried and true adolescent rites of passage at the ever expanding and mostly sweet smelling Hersheypark (that SuperDooperLooper lagoon being the main exception), and several destination vacations with various groups of friends over the years to Six Flags, Cedar Point and Walt Disney World.
To think that those long waits in line (a problem in its own right, solved creatively with the caste system recently launched at many locations -- let the rich folk pay more to jump in front of the poor masses) become a breeding ground for rival gang factions to flash signs, hoot and holler and break out in violence destroys the chance for others to truly enjoy the experience is disheartening. (I can recall one visit one summer when I learned sign language from the group behind us in line -- a project that I would not dare undertake today for fear I flash a signal unintentionally.)
Courtesy of the internet, follow the links below for stories that are disturbing in how opposite of amusing they are -- and then, let's take back our public social areas! Let's return to the days when cries were from kids who weren't tall enough to ride a certain ride and screams were from children with rot gut from eating too many sweets -- not the sounds of the wounded young-uns proving their affiliation and earning their teardrop tattoos!
THIS IS NOT A NEW PROBLEM (1985):
http://articles.latimes.com/1985-06-22/local/me-2100_1_flags-magic-mountain
ALTHOUGH CALIFORNIA SURE DOES COME UP A LOT:
http://www.knowgangs.com/gangs_news/
AS DOES SIX FLAGS:
http://shoryuken.com/f3/six-flags-selling-its-theme-parks-sad-day-115886/
POLICE BLOG THAT COMPARES PARKS TO FEASTING AT WATERING HOLE:
http://www.policemag.com/Blog/Gangs/Print/Story/2010/03/Gangs-at-the-Amusement-Park-Turning-Fun-Zones-into-Shooting-Galleries.aspx
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