RollerCoaster

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RollerCoaster


We've all been there. It's a brilliantly sunny
         Saturday in June. You, your friends and another
         several hundred thousand folks all get the same
         great idea: let's pile in the car, head on over
[Image]  to Six Flags, part with thirty-five bucks and     [Image]
         check out that new coaster!

         Once inside the gate, you make a beeline towards
         the park's latest attraction,

"The Spleen Shredder." And there you're greeted by that awful
posted sign: "Waiting Time From This Point - hours." Do you
shrug your shoulders and walk away? No! Of course not. You get on
line and wait with all the other livestock.

Why? Why do we spend all that money, give up all that time, just
for a slender few moments of thrills? First, because it's a lot of
fun. Kind-of-like-sex fun. Think about it: you wait those long
hours while the anticipation builds. Your pulse quickens; the
adrenaline flows. Then, finally, that intense physical and
emotional release... You feel drained, happy, at peace.

But it's more than just that. Rollercoasters afford a rare
opportunity. We, as civilized members of society, are allowed,
even expected, to scream our throats raw in a very public way (see
accompanying photo). This outburst is an important catharsis. How
many times have you wanted to just let go with an ear-piercing
shriek standing by the water cooler at work? Or waiting on line at
the post office? Or sitting politely at a family dinner? But you
didn't, wisely, because it would have gotten you fired, arrested
or disowned. Probably all three.

But on a rollercoaster, all those social conceits vanish. You can
holler, bellow, yelp, cry, screech, howl, let every last ounce of
tension go. I know I sleep better, like a baby, really, after a
long day of screaming. It keeps me sane, and I'm sure it works
wonders for many others like me. It's primal scream therapy at
sixty miles an hour.

So, the next time you're feeling wound up, the weight of the world
heavy on your soul, make tracks to your local coaster get over it
the fastest way I know.


Rollercoaster Homepage

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