Ok, so I did an 8 page report on "Roller Coasters: Are They Safe?" and today we each had to present our topic to the class. I explained pretty much all of the basic statistics, explained how almost all of the recent deaths on coasters were not the fault of the coaster, I explained G forces, the safety features such as block brakes and how when a coaster is stopped, its not "broken" or "stuck", its a safety feature.

Of course, it didn't matter. They didn't listen and/or had already made up their minds about what they think they know about roller coasters. After I get done, my teacher asked the class "Who here has been stuck on a roller coaster?" The first guy to raise his hand says "Yeah, I was once stuck upside down on Batman: the Ride at SFGAm for almost a half hour." My response? I may have been a little rude, but I was quite clear. "No you didn't, and I know you didn't because that never happened and if it did, it would have been on the news." Then he kept insisting that it happened, and then when I asked him how he got off, he was like "I dunno! It just started moving again!" Um... HELLO?!? That totally breaks the laws of physics! I kept trying to tell them that there are only certain spots on a coaster in which a train can stop, and if it stops anywhere else, its either a rollback, or a freak accident. But they wouldn't believe me, and they wouldn't believe the laws of physics either.

The whole class then decided to call me an idiot and tell me I didn't know what I was talking about. God. So correct me if I'm wrong, but B:TR at SFGAm has never had a case where it stopped, nearly upside down, and I'm willing to bet that its never had a rollback. Why do people INSIST on claiming to have been stuck upside down on a roller coaster?? That bugs the hell out of me!

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The only ride I know that got stuck upside down is the Demon at SF: Great America.

[url="http://xavier.cs.northwestern.edu:8000/article.asp?articleID=4054&item=archives"]http://xavier.cs.northwestern.edu:8000/article.asp?articleID=4054&item=archives[/url]

Also, I thought if a ride just "stopped" that it was [i]automatically[/i] "broken". :rolleyes:

Yeah, I even mentioned the Demon incident, and how it was stastically a freak accident because the axle snapped. But SOMEHOW, 3 students in my class had been stuck "on loops." :rolleyes:

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Everyone wants to feel important. I guess telling people about his tramatic experience on Batman makes him feel important.

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"Back to the 602; It's a 105 in the shade and I'm sippin' on a lemonade. Phoenix, Arizona puts the heat up on ya; I should warn ya the girls is fine as California." - Sir Mix Alot

Of all the coasters out there, I think the Batmans roll back the least. My friend Tom Zeliff told me Batman at Six Flags Magic Mountain has never rolled back, to his knowledge.

That kid was probably terrified of the incident and created a false memory. It happens. Did you know that some people who saw Hitchcock's "Psycho" insist the blood in the shower was red? It's impossible because it was chocolate syrup, but their minds see red, and they "remember" seeing red the day they first saw it.

Just let it slide. I have a friend who said he was on an airplane and a bolt of lightning struck the plane. He said it missed hitting his testicles (he was sitting in his seat) by two inches. I'm sure any lightning enthusiast would beg to differ, as you bould be burned and electructed being that close to it, and you're not grounded so it wouldn't hit it.

That kid in your class is not so much an idiot as he is completely uninformed. Don't let this get to you. Will you even see him in three years? No. Unless he's stalking you, but that's irrelevant. Just let it go. We know about the non-enthusiasts.

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ThrillNetwork Editor Emeritus
Voyage is the best roller coaster ever.
2008 Raptor ride count - 126. Lifetime - 1,143.

I find the title of this thread offensive.

[QUOTE=General Public]I find the title of this thread offensive.[/QUOTE]

That is truly funny!


Unfortunately, we all just have to accept that people in general are stupid. Last year, there was a coaster accident at SFGAm (where the girl choked on her gum) and everyone at work came up to me and asked me what I knew about the accident at Great Adventure. And I work with relatively smart people (I work for a software company)!

Just like the people at my part time job in a bookstore who don't know the difference between Disneyland and Walt Disney World...I know the names are similar, but one is in California and the other is in Florida. They always shelve Disneyland books with the Florida travel books.

One word of advice...when arguing a point about people being stupid, do a spell check or you could truly be called out;)

[QUOTE=leeloo1953]Also, I agree with GP, since I consider myself part of the general public I wish you would have found a different word other than "stupid".[/QUOTE]That's true. We're all members of the general public. The insiders and people in the industry are pretty much the only people who aren't.

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ThrillNetwork Editor Emeritus
Voyage is the best roller coaster ever.
2008 Raptor ride count - 126. Lifetime - 1,143.

[QUOTE=leeloo1953]I hope you're including yourself in that statement. ;)[/QUOTE]

I'm always open to admitting my stupidity (on those rare occasions I do or say something stupid). ;)

And we wonder why the U.S. sucks in terms of education.

[QUOTE=General Public]I find the title of this thread offensive.[/QUOTE]
At least it didn't say "General Public truly is stupid"

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ThrillNetwork Webmaster/Systems Administrator -- My Official Fansite -- Get Firefox!

I did a report last marking period comparing six flags to cedar fair in a stock/financial sense. Ever sense ive been noted as a coaster geek and people constantly say dumb things to me. For starters I had to explain to my entire class that rollercoasters dont run like an old fashion steam engine with wheels and axl's just on top of the track. People still didnt get it. It then lead to me explaining how inverted coasters worked and i had a kid claim he got stuck on wicked twister, i figured this was a typicle thing and informed him that the train just got stuck in the brakes on the way out of the station, he then said "no, you see, i got stuck on the twirly thing going up." i just stopped talking to him after he said that.

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Pick it up!

Some people are just compulsive liars and will just about say anthing to get attention. Sometimes their stories are so outlandish or even downright stupid, you want to pull out your (fill in the blank) and smack them with it.

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I want to go to John's Park.

bleh GP can be annoying, like, V2 got stuck on the back tower and someone broke his ribs :rolleyes: , or on V2 the operator presses a button to get it to stop, there are just to many to say

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Tokyo Drift: Missing the apex and burning tires one turn at a time.

Yea like most everyone has said Areen, don't let it get to you. Their liars and you know that so what does it matter. I would suggest not doing reports and stuff on roller coasters though. WE may not see it as a weird topic but mostly anyone else will think its a strange hobby. If you don't care about that stuff then good for you but like someone said earlier, they will refer to you as the coaster geek.

Yes most people are stupid, but your class seems to be full of some of the worse ones.

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TV/Event Guide Editor