"Is this ride scary?"

Lately I've been going to work. Working in the most magical of all jobs can be a bit stressful. I mean, I have to make magic everyday, it's not the easiest thing to do. In Dinosaur we have to do a million and a half things all at once to make sure the ride is safe, and entertain the people in line, and run the ride, and make sure the dinosaurs don't eat any of the young children. Everyday there's at least one child I have to convince that the ride won't hurt them, that the dinosaurs can't touch them, that they will make it back. BUT the other day I had a mother come up to me and say, "whatever I ask you say 'no'" I said sure... but very tentatively. Then her daughter and husband came up to us, and she asked me the number one most asked question at this ride...

"is this a scary ride?"

I had had enough experience with this question that I could answer, but she had asked me to flat out lie to her child. I was furious, inside, but still smiling. I bent down to her daughters level and explained the ride, kinda like this:

"well, it's not a roller coaster. You don't go upside down, or backwards, or spin around. You get thrown around a lot, cause it's really bumpy. It'll be really loud. It'll be dark and have flashing lights, there's gonna be lots of scary dinosaurs. BUT, you'll be in a jeep that has an invisible force field around it so the dinosaurs can't touch you." The mother kinda glared at me. BUT the child was now prepared and willingly went on the ride knowing what to expect. Although, she did come off shaking and crying.

Seeing children crying when they get off the ride doesn't really effect me anymore. There's at least one every couple of minutes. The part that still gets me riled up is the parents that force the children into the seats and buckle them in and hold them in against their will. The children are kicking, screaming, crying for someone to save them. BUT we can't touch the children, or make the parents take them out unless it could be a threat to their safety. Most of these children leave crying and come back in utter shock, tears streaming down their face and all of their energy gone. They must've screamed and cried the entire time. Those poor children. It's even sadder when a guy does it to his wife or girlfriend, and they come back with a tear streaked face and physically shaking when they get off the ride.

So the answer to the question "Is this ride scary?" is a resounding YES!!!