Gum

And now for a topic we can ALL agree on....

Why do people feel the need to stick their gum on supports / queues / walls of roller coasters? I was just thinking about how often this happens and just how disgusting it really is. I had noticed it most on The Legend on the stairs, but there were plenty of other coasters that have more than their fair share of gum on them. Most queues have trash cans about every 30 feet, so that is not the reason. I am sure that nobody here on the Buzz is to blame, so it's a moot point.

So, without resorting to violence or childish name-calling, if you see a gum-sticker, what do you do? I am a pretty vocal kind of guy, so I will usually point out the nearest trash can by saying "Hey, that's gross, and there is a trash can right there."

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So you want a coaster in your backyard? I hope you have a big backyard.

Looks like I have an answer! People put gum under rails and such when chewing it becomes boring and the taste is gone. These people do not care if there is trash can 10 feet away. I have been to parks with these kind of people and I yelled at them for doing so. I do not chew gum myself though.
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Phantom of the Opera?
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Phantom's Revenge
Oh I knew that!

One word: Punks.

Well, actually, I think it has more to do with "group mentality". You have a group of people who are all trying to be cool or whatever and stunts like that tend to happen. I think that people tend to copy what they see as well. People see gum stuck to something so they stick their gum there, and the people that come after them do the same.

I really think that I lot of people need to develop their critical thinking skills and learn to realize "Hey, this is a stupid, disgusting, and pointless thing to do."


*** This post was edited by millrace on 10/24/2000. ***

Miirace is right about this " group mentallity " issue . I don't know if it's like this now , but there used to be a couple of trees on the line for Thunder River @ SFoG . As people would walk by , they'd just be like " look ! I'm gonna put my gum there , too " as if the park had put these trees out and designated that it would be fun to stick your gum on them . Trash cans everywhere !

The more I think about it, the more I become convinced that RCT is closer to real life than most people would tend to believe. Case in point: I was in line for the Villian. This girl was with about 6-7 of her friends and was carrying some nachos. I guess she didnt want them anymore because she looked around and then said something to the effect of "Could one of you throw over there" pointing to the grass "I really hate to litter". Of course several of her compatriots obliged. Now the funny part of this story is that not more than 15 ft away was a garbage can. In fact she would have to pass the can to get into the station. Apparently, she couldn't see the can from where she was. And as in RCT if the peeps cant see it, they dont know its there. Now, while I think CP's idea of a trash can every 5ft is a bit excessive, I do believe, most people will use them. Perhaps parks should make them in bright colors instead of the dull browns. That would make them more visible.

A place where this is a problem is on Gold Rusher at SFMM. On the lift hill, there is a spot where the people sitting on the left side of the train can put there gum on one of the supports. It looks like a gum mosaic. And it's very disgusting. People need to start treating coasters the way that person wants to be treated. Coasters are things too. I wouldn't go sticking gum to someone's back if I had the opportunity. I would only do that if I hated that person a lot. I don't think a lot of people dislike the Gold Rusher. It is a great mine ride and especially fun at Fright Fest when the lights are turned out. The helix at the end is very fast and intense, and it is still the second smallest coaster at SFMM. That says a lot about The Mountain.
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"There's another monster on the drawing boards!"

First off, I think this subject is being overanalyzed. I highly doubt people would stick gum places to try and look cool. I think it has more to do with laziness. They don't want to walk all the way to the garbage can so they just put it where ever

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Randy Hutchinson
You build it, I'll ride it

Psychological one must first examine the social environment that exist in a queue line. The instintual desire to take out ones frustration on others has been deeply analyized. One must understand Brains theroy of "tension release" to fully comprehend this phenomonon.

Just kidding I really don't know

They also stick coins in the gum after they stick the gum on the wall. I bet there's $20 on the station of Magnum.



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Magnum-Just Ride It!!!

Here's an anser SWALLOW YOUR GUM.
(By the way how do you bold?)

Click on the green "help" next to where you typed in your reply.

At SFGA last week, I was standing in line for Viper when my daughter pointed out that I had a huge wad of gum on my shirt. Man, was I mad. It was one of my favorite shirts, my ST shirt.

Talk aboout really rude. Somebody spit out their gum on ME! By the way, does anybody know how to get it off the shirt?

That is really nasty. See, I dont think we would have this problem if we went back to the days of public floggings LOL.

BTW: Try rubbing an ice cube across it. It will harden the gum and you should be able to flake it off....I learned this trick because I was a somewhat messy/clumsy child :)

I hate gum I don't even chew it. Thats the reason the jack rabbits on the fence around the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood disapeared. Day after day the staff would scrape it off. I hate when you want to lean against a wall but can't because it loaded with gum.

Too bad parks can't have a NO gum policy. When you walk thru a metal detector it can check for gum too. Anyone else for it?
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Parks Hit For 2000! PKD, BGW,DP,HP,PKI,HW,SFKK,SFA,GAdv,SFNE,LC,GE,QP,CDP,LP,KG,SFO,WG,GE,KW,IW,WL,

there's already no smoking in line... the same should apply to chewing gum. I think that's fair. :)

If you had a no smoking and no chewing gum, that'd make the people who couldn't smoke go insane. Its something you have to consider, would you prefer no gum on walls, or extremelly torked people in the park.

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Randy Hutchinson
You build it, I'll ride it

Strange, our Six Flags has never had any vandalism beyond a few scratches on the Super Man station wall, and there are peole around who call it Six Flags over the Ghetto(sorry 2Hostyl, but some idiots do). No litter, no broken fances, none of that stuff. Just some gum and name scratching.
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Where would we be without the rumor mill?

I say put down the nicorette and wear a patch. :)

just kidding,

I am a smoker myself... but not in line. Smokes are way to expensive to share, even second hand.

I'd like to adress another dumb thing people do. what i'm talking about is throwing pennies and such on footers. Good new people you can win great prizes wit your peny throwing skills just walk down the midway and find that toss-the-penny-on-the-plate game. No as bad as gum but still annoying.

SP 91-00: How do you think parks pay for their new coasters? They just have a guy run around and collect all the pennies and in a few years, wala a coaster!

You didn't think they were built on ticket sales did you? ;)

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Randy Hutchinson
You build it, I'll ride it