Since I posted my chasing seagulls inquiry last week, I’m starting to question my definition of good clean fun relative to my other readers.
To see if I could clear up the issue once and for all, I need to share another story about a trip to Legoland, CA we took last year. We were in town for a close friend’s wedding and it just seemed like a fun place to go.
The story takes place on Pirate Island in Legoland. My husband and I were taking turns as to who would be with the baby and who would do the rides with our other son and I got to do this particular ride. It was hands down the funnest ride I’d ever been on. It’s not fun in a roller coaster type way. It’s fun because it’s very interactive. You have these hand crank water guns that shoot a pretty good distance and at first you are shooting people in the other boats. As the ride goes on, you get to a point where you can shoot spectators and they can shoot you back. I remember getting nailed in the face by one of these clever spectators from a secret shooting location. The boat is moving so it’s not like you get to really super soak any one individual. Plus, if you’re an onlooker, you can see the wet spots on the ground and you stand back from shooting range.
Shooting spectators was my favorite part of the ride and I was yelling to my son “Shoot them, Shoot Em All!” We were both laughing hysterically. I was too excited to notice this at the time, but because I was so excited about nailing the onlookers, I was cranking my watergun at about a million RPM. My husband was watching the whole thing and said that my gun went about 10 feet further than anyone else’s.
So here’s where the questionable morals part of the story comes in. We’re shooting along and in the middle of the spectators was a little old lady in a wheelchair and I yelled “GET HER” and we did. I mean we didn’t soak her, but she definitely got wet and was surprised that someone actually shot her. I blame whoever parked her in front of a shooting water ride. We pretty much singled out anyone in range and she just happened to be one of the dozen or so people we blasted.
I get off the ride laughing and asked my husband if he saw us shoot the old lady in the wheelchair. I forget what he said but I defended myself by saying she was fair game because she was within spraying distance and obviously wanted to cool off a bit.
This is what I’d call a classic Sandy story but now I wonder if my idea of innocent fun would be considered more sinister to others. I can tell you if I ran into crazy seagull protecting lady, I would have loved to spray her in the face with my watergun.
So what’s your vote? Should I have stopped my gun when I neared the old lady and spared her and all the ones around her? Or should I have gotten every squirt possible out of my 50 minute wait in line?
Oh and just to finish off on Legoland. It was a great little park for young children. I took my son when he was 4 and there were all kinds of wonderful and fun kiddie rides and activities (the ball room was also very fun). I found it way more fun than disney for a kid his age because there were a ton of things that he could participate in and the whole place was setup so that you could play with other kids. I’d definitely go back there if I was in the neighborhood again.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
If she could not get away, then no, that was not good clean fun. If she placed herself there, knew of the dangers, and could leave if it got to be too much, then it was ok and part of the ride.
I’m with Nicole on the “it depends” answer. Sounds like a totally fun ride though!
I would have avoided her myself. I am assuming she had no control of the situation, and ended up ‘in range’ by no fault of her own.
I would avoid her unless I saw that she was participating in the fun… then she would be fair game. 🙂
You were probably cooling her off!
I think you have a bunch of ‘it depends’ stories in your history. Hey, I say it you don’t mind if someone confronting you if you do cross the line it doesn’t bother me.
Years ago as I was driving my kid to school when two cars came speeding down the shoulder past ALL traffic. When I got to the school one of the cars that did this was right in front of me. When we got out I said in a really friendly tone, “Well, even though you drive like an ass and scared the s**t out of all the other drivers speeding to school I still got here right behind you.” She giggled (thinking I was being funny because of my tone) and then apologized. A few weeks later she came up and thanked me. She said she and her friend thought it would be fun to race each other to school but after I confronted her she felt awful. I liked her so much after that because 1) she was flawed and 2) she didn’t mind admitting when she was wrong.
I’ve done things in the moment thinking they were funny only to look back and question myself.
You did the right thing. Old folks in wheelchairs are notoriously prone to overheating. You might have saved her life, even.
Wow..Outvoted again. I guess I am evil. You know, here’s my justification. A lot of old people don’t have a whole heck of a lot of exciting things happening to them in life. I gave her something exciting to talk about for at least the next year. “Remember Marjorie when you parked me in front of that water ride and I got sprayed.”
But… you could use the exact same argument for why rape is a good thing. (It isn’t a good thing.)
The water itself may not be so bad, but the being trapped and forced to endure something uncomfortable with no means of escape is a terrible thing. Nobody likes to feel trapped except people who are really into bondage, and even then they have safe words.
@Nicole, your last comment had me laughing and turning beet red at the same time.
@Sandy, first of all, I totally want to get on that ride now!
Secondly, if the old lady looked sad or mad or anything negative, then I would have felt bad. If she smiled and reached for a gun of her own, I would have felt great. I know “it depends” is a sucky answer, but I’m all for shooting people who wanted to be involved and avoiding everybody else. Of course, that probably means I would be soaking wet since I’d wait to see who was shooting me before shooting back, lol. Don’t beat yourself up though – you didn’t mean any harm and I truly doubt that a little water is going to ruin her. I will keep this in mind if I’m ever in a wheelchair though, lol – either roll myself away or get armed. 🙂
Crystal – she didn’t look sad or mad..just a little surprised.
Nicole – I think comparing this stunt to rape is stretching it. Yes, it might have been done in poor taste and yes I was also the kid who would throw snowballs at passing cars. If I spat in her face or was violent with her, yeah, I could see how that would be interpreted as degrading and considered assault. Last I checked squirting people with water in amusement parks is not illegal but rape and assault are. For me, throwing snowballs at cars never escalated into vandalism or theft…there did seem to be a morality line that I wouldn’t cross. It’s just that your line is in a different place than mine.
I’m not saying what you did was like rape, I’m saying that the justification you used would fit exactly for that situation. “A lot of old people don’t have a whole heck of a lot of exciting things happening to them in life. I gave her something exciting to talk about for at least the next year.”
A separate comment is that nobody should be trapped and forced to feel helpless. That feeling is what is bad, much worse than the actual water itself.
Okay, I get it now. Sorry, misunderstood. I did get wrapped up in the heat of the moment and I’m sure I wouldn’t do it again if I had time to think about it. I once put a stuffed cat in my mom’s shower on halloween. It scared the bejesus out of her and she talked about it for ages. It was a good story for her to retell but I shouldn’t have assumed that a stranger would behave similarly.
How old was the old lady? If she was old enough that I’d give her my seat on the bus then I wouldn’t soak her. Otherwise, it’s fair game…