Saturday, September 30, 2023
  • Advertise
  • Submit Story Idea
  • Submit Event
  • Calendar
Arlington Today Magazine
  • Home
  • Categories
    • Arlington News
    • People
    • Community
    • Commentary
    • Business and Education
    • Featured
    • Wellness
    • Scene
    • Design and Interiors
    • Uncategorized
  • Digital Editions
  • Join the Newsletter
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Categories
    • Arlington News
    • People
    • Community
    • Commentary
    • Business and Education
    • Featured
    • Wellness
    • Scene
    • Design and Interiors
    • Uncategorized
  • Digital Editions
  • Join the Newsletter
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Arlington Today Magazine
Home Commentary

OK. I think I’ll just watch you do that

Kenneth Perkins by Kenneth Perkins
May 1, 2021
in Commentary
0 0
0
OK. I think I’ll just watch you do that

This is what Six Flags Over Texas at 60 looks like (at least from my vantage point on the ground). (Photo: Six Flags Over Texas)

0
SHARES
168
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Wade Family Funeral Home Oct 2020

The first time I rode a roller coaster, around age 10, at a modest amusement park just outside Chicago, the tracks were, at best, five feet off the ground, it didn’t loop or go upside down or have sharp turns or deep dives. It was bumpy and rickety and noisy and short in duration. By the time we exited I was ready for more.

While the technology of amusement park thrill rides at larger behemoths like Six Flags Over Texas graduated to bloodcurdling and downright foolish, I was still game, until I got older and more petrified and less foolish, which eventually pushed me out of the thrill-seeking demographic.

Related posts

Speaking of Sports

Speaking of Sports

August 1, 2023
Happenstance or Destiny?

Happenstance or Destiny?

August 1, 2023

When I learned recently that Six Flags was turning 60, I thought of taking a ceremonial ride on the Texas SkyScreamer or the Titan, which stands more than 225 feet and can reach speeds of 85 miles per hour. The plan was to do it as a sort of a toast, yet 30 seconds into this notion I came to my senses.

I can barely climb a six-foot ladder these days without feeling woozy. My son no longer snickers when being summoned to blow the leaves off my roof. It is what it is, he now says.

During a visit to the USS Lexington that sits in Corpus Christi Bay, I was cool climbing steep ladders into confined spaces and dimly lit compartments armed only with a small flashlight, but once we headed out onto this long strip off the deck, high above the water, well, my knees went loopy.

I’d always experienced motion sickness, but it has become far more pronounced with age. So, young bloods, it’s not that we don’t want to hit the Titan – we literally can’t, as the brain’s equilibrium (the inner ear) loses its ability to make sense of the motion it is experiencing. The result; nausea, dizziness, anxiety that you really are going to perish.

It is why park staff are trained to keep an eye on older riders, looking for those facial signs of distress.

The last time I ventured inside the Six Flags park, during the annual AISD day, how content I was watching others go up, down, around. I remember catching the eye of another dad my age. We grinned at one another, not saying a word, but knowing precisely why we were both where we were.

Whenever I speak with park officials, they often remind me how speed and conquering one’s fear are actually positive effects. Psychologists describe it as “physiological arousal”; indeed, when I ventured over to the park one Saturday, 23-year-old Vincente Diaz described it as a legal means of “experiencing a natural high.”

Angela Scott said it was a mixture of stress and pleasure, like skydiving.

Another park goer I spoke with compared thrill rides to watching a horror movie, though why you’d want the same visceral sensation in the middle of a ride you can’t escape is beyond me. (At least with the horror flick you have the remote).

If you view the history of Six Flags you can see how the rides have become bigger and faster and scarier.

Of course, Six Flags is more than that. It’s a great place for family time and friend time and fun time.

For its 60th Anniversary, for instance, Six Flags started the year with the Fire & Ice Winter Festival, went into its Spring Break Celebration and is now building up to a new festival, ¡Viva La Fiesta!, which began last month. Nothing scary about that.

But now that I have a granddaughter, my much better half insists this is our opportunity to experience places like Six Flags through her.

I agree, which is why I’m making reservations as we speak for the Fort Worth Zoo.

 

Can’t get enough of Six Flags Over Texas (especially now that it is celebrating its 60th anniversary)? Check out the Finish Line on page 66, as Richard Greene shares how the park helped a number of notable locals meet and/or bond over the years.

Tags: Around Town
Fundentists

Follow Us

  • Arlington Today remembers Arlington Police Officer Darrin McMichael who we sadly lost Thursday, September 21. We send our thoughts and prayers to his friends, family and fellow officers during this time. 💙
  • The TSLF Milestone Mentoring Program is turning this Hilton into a  home sweet Homewood! Read all about it in the link in our bio.
  • We’re ALL about ENTREPRENEURS! Read our September Issue in the link in our bio!
  • Want to know what’s All Around Arlington? Check out our calendar at www.arlingtontoday.com and send us YOUR upcoming event at info@arlingntontoday.com!
  • Marie’s Cherokee Lounge celebrates 60! Celebrate with us in the link in our bio!
  • It’s raining FUN with Arlington’s Value of Water Mini Poster Contest! 🎨 Grab your art supplies, your WATER colors and submit TODAY! 🌧️
  • Long Live our Levitt! Read our exclusive interview with Letatia Teykl in the link in our bio!
  • Read how Richard and Sylvia Greene have made their mark on Arlington in the link in our bio!
  • Are you up to date with Arlington? There’s only one way to find out! Click the link in our bio.
  • 12 Mighty Orphans: There’s a fascinating ‘story behind the story’ regarding this fine film

    12 Mighty Orphans: There’s a fascinating ‘story behind the story’ regarding this fine film

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • March Scene

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The Visionary Who Didn’t Give Up

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Boot-scootin’ Boogie

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • In case of emergency: Mansfield Fire Department introduces the ‘Vial of Life’ initiative to keep residents on the ready

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Arlington Texas Area News and Events Magazine

Follow us on social media:

Recent News

  • TCC Graduate Appointed General Manager of Homewood Suites by Hilton
  • A Richard and Sylvia Greene Honor That Will Last A Lifetime
  • Pearl’s Cherokee Lounge Turns 60

Category

  • Arlington News
  • Business and Education
  • Commentary
  • Community
  • Design and Interiors
  • Featured
  • People
  • Scene
  • Sports
  • Uncategorized
  • Wellness

Recent News

TCC Graduate Appointed General Manager of Homewood Suites by Hilton

TCC Graduate Appointed General Manager of Homewood Suites by Hilton

September 10, 2023
Happenstance or Destiny?

A Richard and Sylvia Greene Honor That Will Last A Lifetime

September 6, 2023
  • Advertise
  • Submit Story Idea
  • Submit Event
  • Calendar

© 2023 Arlington Today - Designed by

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Categories
    • Arlington News
    • Community
    • People
    • Commentary
    • Business and Education
    • Featured
    • Wellness
    • Scene
    • Design and Interiors
  • Digital Editions
  • Join the Newsletter
  • Contact Us

© 2023 Arlington Today - Designed by

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist