Americas Stupidest Public Comments

I don't really talk about Coasters with my friends since I don't have any Coaster Enthusiast friends, but I do talk about DDR constantly, and annoyingly.

But if someone brings up Coasters in a normal conversation, I will usually butt in with my knowledge, and then politely confirm to them that yes, I am a geek.

My contribution to the original thread...

1) At Idlewild this summer, I was walking through Hootin' Holler, when suddenly this young guy and gal dressed in 1800-something clothing went running past me. The guy was carrying a burlap bad with a large $ symbol on it. They ran up to one of the buildings and began pounding on the door. Just then I passed two women coming toward me. One turned to the other and said "I wonder if they're employees."

What I wanted to say... "No lady, they really did rob a bank dressed in Little House on the Prairie costumes and decided to hide out in the fudge shop in an amusement park."

2) At Dorney Park Halloweekend, a woman two rides away from boarding Steel Force says "You mean this ain't the line for that little wooden coaster over there?"

3) Since this is considered a public forum, I'm sure there's at least 10,000 good examples on this site.

My comments about the rest of the thread will follow when I have a good two hours to compose. But I am getting a good laugh at all the "closet" enthusiasts in here. BTW, if the e-word bothers you that much, just say that you go to parks a lot.

I'm somewhat of a "closet" enthusiast, RGB.

I didn't use to be. When I was a teenager and my Mom interrupted me and yelled, "JUST SHUT UP ABOUT COASTERS FOR A FEW DAYS, TRAV." That's when I realized how annoying I could be.

I am really very happy that I found this site though. I can get it all out of my system so I don't feel the desire to talk about coasters with all of my friends and co-workers.

I sometimes go to parks alone. A lot of my friends hate parks.

I'll only start talking coasters with people in line if it will help them to not be scared, or if it will make them more excited to ride. It is a concious decision on my part to start or not start talking coasters with a stranger. For the most part I like to relax and be silent.

Ramble-ramble-ramble...Thanks for reading.

Well, you did it. You made ARN&R. I hope you're happy now!

Oh, and I particularly liked the AdBuzz peice. Esp. the Douchbag comment. Thanks 'WCT', whomever you are. :)

I have made some lifelong friends in this hobby, but we have more to talk about than coasters. :-)

Actually, I am not ashamed to say I am an ACE member, Coasterbuzz member, etc. I just go with the flow and don't take this s*** seriously. I ride coasters to have fun, period. It's all about fun, adrenaline, friends, etc. I have seen the good, bad, and ugly as far as enthusiasts. I have seen people take this WAY too seriously.

I take it with a grain of salt, like I do with life. All that really matters is the friendships you create along the way. :-)

Personally I like hanging out with peeps who have other things to talk about than coasters and/or "non-enthusiasts" or newbies who have never been to any particular park. It's always fun to watch their expressions on their first Legend or Dragster ride.

It's priceless. They could care less about technical bull**** and only want to have fun. Most hardcore enthusiasts only want to complain about trivial crap.

-Tina

*** Edited 12/3/2005 6:06:53 AM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

This didn't just make ARN&R...it made the main news page. Usually forum posts are reserved for the sidebar. This is a truly noteworthy day.

ARN&R'd!!!

^Sweet! I love those guys. :-)

-Tina

Tekno - I understand the spirit of the discussion. I just found it a little humorous that some are going out of their way to make sure everyone knows that they don't talk about coasters and pretty much denying their enthusiast status. As if talking about something you enjoy, on even the smallest level, is a bad thing. Of course, some of them have track records of 650. :)

I can back-up my non-coaster enthusiast status. I have yet to make it through an entire podcast (although what I've heard is well done :) ) and I have a track record of 19. But the fact remains, I still care enough to even keep a track record and to participate in discussions here. Not to mention my slightly OCD web site (though I never deny my Cedar Point enthusiast status :) ).

I'm not saying that the original post wasn't the funniest thing I've read on here in months. Or that obsessively talking about the most boring details of this hobby is a good thing (try reading the web cam threads at PointBuzz). Without a doubt there is a level of enthusiasm that makes other enthusiasts look "normal." I just thought some were running too fast in the opposite direction. :)

*** Edited 12/3/2005 2:00:27 PM UTC by Gemini***

And my thread a year or so back only made the sidebar.

Yet again, I have been trumped by an ACE'r.

Oh yeah, this thread just reminded me why CoasterBuzz is the only "enthusiast" club I belong too. No renewing my ACE membership all those years ago was well worth it to not be associated with peeps like that.

And I thought I had found all the ways to be pretentious.

+Danny

LOL Danny. Why was I thinking the same thing.....

Tekno, just checked the adbuzz piece. Woowee, thats some lethal stuff. I'm surprised ANRNRNR posted it :0

Im sorry if im a bit confused but what exactly is ANR&R, does it have to to with my post, should I be proud or something.....Im a little lost.

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Agent Johnson said:
Next time have that ACE card laminated and on a lanyard around your neck. Easier to grab that way for both parties.

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You know what's really frightening, is that I was going to post the same thing...

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TeknoScorpion said:
Oh, and I particularly liked the AdBuzz peice. Esp. the Douchbag comment. Thanks 'WCT', whomever you are. :)

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WCT is an ass. The only stories I've ever seen from him (or her, whatever) on ARN&R have been really... mean... to real people.

Talk about calling somebody out, geesh.

*** Edited 12/4/2005 12:30:07 AM UTC by Michael Darling***

I can recall one experience when I was at Mount Olympus, queueing for Hades and there was a lady who was scared to death for this ride. Her friends were all trying to convincer her it was fine. They asked me if I'd been on it before. I said no (this was my first time) The ladies main concern was, what happened inside the tunnel. Some of her friends scared her by telling her that they heard you go uspside down. I informed them that you don't go upside down in the tunnel, then I showed off my nerdy side by saying, well technically you do, seeing as how its a 91 degree turn. Some elderly people overheard me and started asking me questions. They seemed really intrigued. I told them that this ride is one of a kind and that you'll love it. After I get off I ask the couple what they thought of the ride, they loved it and thanked me for helping convince them it was a fun ride.

I think sometimes its alright to show what you know about parks. If its not going to embarass anyone and you don't go over the line. Convincing people that its worth it, that when you get over you'll want to go on again is perfectly fine. Just don't over do it, you'll give us 'enthusiasses' a bad name. ;)

I remember while in line for Top Thrill Dragster I was talking to a cool guy. Not a rollercoaster enthusiast but just a guy visiting the park with his friend who is an employee. We were talking about Dragster's downtime and I said "Yea, the Hydraulic launch system still has a few kinks to be worked out." The guys friend says "No I work here. I would know better than you. It doesn't have a hydraulic launch." I said "So how does the train shoot to 120 mph?" "It uses steam."

I burst out laughing and he didn't know why I was laughing. Then I said "What department are you in?" he said "Food Service" and I laughed even more...

Coasterfreak2,

ARN&R a satire website about coaster and enthusiasts.

It is at times very mean spirited. The only way a few of the sites "secret" writers can be funny is to make fun of other people.

They are making fun of you. I, as well as many others here, have been the butt of their jokes at one time or another. (Coasterbuzz creater Jeff is even made fun of in the article just above the one we're talking about.) My advice is to laugh with them and hope that it all blows over soon.

You shouldn't let them discourage you from posting here on CB. Half of the people here don't like them.

I understand why you "flashed" your ACE card. It was to proove to the man that you had a little more knowledge than he did about the subject of coasters without telling him verbally. Maybe you did it to be a wise guy. I think your story, as any really good story, was stretched a little. the only problem I had was that it wasn't really a good story.

I did something like this once in my younger years too. It wasn't well thought out and I felt stupid afterwards.

You told us this story so that we would laugh with you. It backfired. Shrug it off and move on with your life. Post intelligently and maybe people will soon forget it.

Tuan, I'm not WCT :).

But WCT did post in this thread. S/He is Hi-Larious. Don't pay attention to John-Michael :). *** Edited 12/4/2005 4:04:07 AM UTC by TeknoScorpion***

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I just found it a little humorous that some are going out of their way to make sure everyone knows that they don't talk about coasters and pretty much denying their enthusiast status. As if talking about something you enjoy, on even the smallest level, is a bad thing.

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That I can agree with. The reson I don't talk about it much nor do I present myself as an enthusiast, though is because of the way certain people make the community as a whole look. I'm also a Trekkie, and I don't ever tell people that, because a few bad apples spoil the bunch in those cases. I don't want to be associated with a hobby most people consider to be filled with weirdos. I guess it is kind of funny, maybe even ironic, but I don't want to be judged as such.

News flash, I wear park t-shirts to parks (but never from the park I'm going to that day) AND I talk to people in line. There I said it.

And before you all recoil in horror, I will say that my conversations don't consist of droll technical descriptions of this or that machinery. I have no clue about any of that stuff and I don't try to pretend I do. Nor do I have the enitre content of RCDB committed to memory. I let all that talk to you non-enthusiasts in here.

But I will tell you about a few of my conversations. One was actually at a restuarant in VA on the way to PKD. A guy noticed the Knoebels shirt I had on and said "Is that place still open? I haven't been there in over 20 years." I told him it was and all the changes that had taken place there. He said that he'd love to take his kids back there someday.

The second was in the queue for Exterminator at Kennywood. I was there by myself (yes I do that too occasionally, the horror of it all) and ended up talking to some guy about parks. I got to ride with him and his sons and I answered his questions about Hershey (he had never been there before), and he told me about Conneaut, Waldameer and Geauga. Nobody ran from the line screaming or gave us so much as a look.

Talking to people doesn't mean inserting myself into other people's conversations uninvited. It doesn't mean trying to dazzle people with bs either.

As far as group events goes, people who do eventually become friends obviously will have something more to talk about than coasters. Those of you who've hung out together at umpteen events already know what your friends think about which coasters, so you better have something else to talk about.

But for "newbies," coasters are the only thread they have in common with the other people there. That may even be true for some who aren't so new. But how welcome would somebody new feel if the entire conversation revolved around inside jokes or people and events about which they had no clue? They probably wouldn't be too interested in coming to the next event.

I guess I've spoken my piece for now at least. All you non-enthusiasts can tune back in to your i-Pods for some more non-enthusiast talk.