SFGAm - 10/16/11 - Good day turns craptacular...

I've stopped sticking my neck out in those situations, after frequently getting little or no response from park personnel.

The worst thing in this situation (IMHO) is that no one else says anything. It's the whole growing phenomenon... people have no spines. Watching others get beat up, cut in line, etc.... (no, I am NOT equating getting beat up with getting cut in line).

Here's why I wouldn't (and don't) say anything.

That one person cutting in line means dick to my day. It's not worth the aggravation. And I care even less if it's a kid or two catching up with a parent further up in line.

And I think the reason most people don't say anything is for this very reason.

Is it against the rules? Yes. Doesn't it matter? No.

And at the risk of alienating myself further (and this isn't directed at anyone - especially not George, but more of a general statement), if it is something like a kid catching up with parents or family or something and no one cares and everyone else seems to accept it - when you raise a big stink, you're probably the asshole in the situation.

Like a kid who calls the cops when his teenage buddies are drinking beer or the person going 70 in the fast lane when the general flow of traffic is going 75 or 80.

Just how I sees it. :)

---

And yes, you could argue, "Well, then what if everyone started doing it?" except that everyone isn't. But I always thought that while it is indeed against park rules, it was generally accepted that someone slipping through to meet their group was no biggie. At least I've never seen someone get bent out of shape over it.

And I've never seen bonafide detrimental line cutting (large groups with no consideration just having their way) happen at any park. Ever.

Except for those that pay for the right...and God bless 'em! :)

^ But again, Gonch, she never said her family/group was up ahead...and neither did her father before he pushed me from behind.

This all could have been avoided had he tapped me on the shoulder and informed me of the fact she was with their group rather than pushing me.

Besides, Gonch, we all know you are pro-line jumping...(Q-bot)... lol ;) (Sorry...had to go there...) lol

I can recall back in the Geauga Lake ghetto days, growing up, groups of people actually traversing an entire line and getting right on. That's not cool. Maybe the point is that if no one draws a line in the sand, eventually the queue gets out of control.

I never really thought of anything about people cutting in line to catch up to their group until I experienced the running of the bulls at Holiday World for the Wildabeast. It wasn't just one person using the excuse, "I have to catch up to my kids", it was more like 40-50.

Generally, I feel the same way Gonch does. It doesn't mean I don't have a spine, it's just not worth the effort to raise a stink about it. I get a little annoyed, then I'm over it.

On the other hand, I've witnessed hoards of folks line jumping in just about every queue I was in on that particular day. This was at SFA, probably in '02 or '03 when the park was at its worst. Might have even been the last day I ever visited the park.

Gonch said:
or the person going 70 in the fast lane when the general flow of traffic is going 75 or 80.

Wait...this person isn't in the same league as the others you mentioned. This behavior is downright criminal. :)

Jeff said:
Maybe the point is that if no one draws a line in the sand, eventually the queue gets out of control.

And the more people are "successful" with line-jumping, the more out-of-control it gets. The purpose of the line is to ensure that guests ride *when it's their turn to ride*. To me, the line has to be enforced somehow, and it SHOULD be the responsibility of the parks...IMO, YMMV, etc. Guests end up doing that job, much like grouping, when the parks fail to do so.

"Your call is important to us, but not as important as the call that just came in right after yours - so be patient, and we'll get to you...whenever" - my next VM message. ;)

Lord Gonchar said:

And I've never seen bonafide detrimental line cutting (large groups with no consideration just having their way) happen at any park. Ever.

I've seen this occasionally. It wasn't a giant group of people just picking their way through a line with no reason, but I've definitely seen one person holding a spot for 5 or 6 for 45+ minutes (i.e. not "Dad waits in line while Billy goes to the bathroom"). In fact, I can't remember when, but I have definitely seen that happen multiple, multiple times while waiting for one ride, to the point that it probably added two trains to the waiting time. Whether that's a big enough deal to care or not is probably different for each person.

In all fairness, maybe the reason I don't see it is because I don't stand in lines where it makes sense to cut like that. If a line is that long, I'm probably not in it. In the the little 20 minute lines, there's little incentive for a large group to push through.

Look up there! It's Lord Gonchar, floating in the ether, supremely and nonchalantly above the quibbles and foibles of us mere mortals! Is that a daquiri he's holding? How does he maintain such perfect aerodynamic balance? Must be those darn glasses.

:p

I am one Zen mofo.

:)

I have no problem with holding my arms out and hanging onto the bars of the queue so that someone can't pass. Especially when it's ongoing. Just ask the group at SFoT.

I'll overlook a kid here or there, but a constant thing, I won't just stand and get out of the way, I tend to get in the way and ignore the "Excuse Me".

But that's on the more and more rare days that I go to a park and wait in an hour line.

Tekwardo said:
I have no problem with holding my arms out and hanging onto the bars of the queue so that someone can't pass.

I did that on the stairs of Green Lantern back in May. A large African-American woman had pushed her way to my position, but I locked. I got called an "elephant-headed, white boy a...hole" for my trouble..rather loudly, I should add, as even *I* could hear it (I'm partly deaf, for those here who don't know) She was saying those things..and others, less printable, to her group already in the station. She kept saying, "I got out of line to go to the (bleeping) bathroom. I just kept smiling and asking her to repeat the first part of that sentence. She did so, and I kept saying, "Oh, you got out of line?" I had fun, and the applause I got from others around me was pretty cool too.

I bet that must have been great fun. See, if it had been me, somehow I would've been the one to look like the fargin' icehole. That's just my luck in these things. So now I just shut up and try to blend in...

I get too wound up, and even on the right meds, I probably shouldn't pop off to those one or two folks (assholes) cutting in line. It's ruined my day before. Thanks for different perspectives.

Part of it probably comes from working at parks, where it was a part of my job.

But I sure do like to see others standing up against it. Me and a friend used to carry around a Cedar Point brochure (when we worked there, and went to ride) and show the 'line jumping policy' section to those who were trying to pass us.

Ensign Smith said:
I bet that must have been great fun. See, if it had been me, somehow I would've been the one to look like the fargin' icehole. That's just my luck in these things. So now I just shut up and try to blend in...

It sounds like you practice the fine art of how not to be seen...

Yes, it was the middle one.

Still a classic.

"Best" example of line jumping I experienced recently was in the queue for Lightning Racer a few years ago. A girl came up the ramp behind me and said "excuse me. I'm trying to catch up to my friend." I had both hands on the rails, so I told her that I guessed I could let her go. A few minutes later, a different girl came up and said she wanted to catch up with her friend. I followed the Gonch line of thinking and figured they were only going to take up one row between them anyway, so I let her go.

But when this girl got to the first girl I let through and her friend, you'd have thought she was Reggie White trying to get to the quarterback. The two girls put their shoulders and elbows out, making sure there wasn't an inch between them and the rails. The first girl I let through mumbled something to the effect of "bitch tryin' to cut in front of me."

I was tempted to tell the people in the station that those two girls cut in line and fix their smart asses. You say it's only one or two people, but at what point does it become a problem? Or rather, at what point does the park decides it's necessary and worthwhile to actually implement the rules they set up?

RatherGoodBear said:

You say it's only one or two people, but at what point does it become a problem? Or rather, at what point does the park decides it's necessary and worthwhile to actually implement the rules they set up?

Logically, it becomes a problem when other customers begin noticing and their experiences in the park are impacted to the point where they don't want to come back as often. But since line cutting can't negatively impact customers (see Coasterbuzz Canon, chapter and verse), this is a non-issue.

[ /snarky rant ]