Large metal sculptures.
Yesterday, along with nearly 3,000 other IBMers, I attended the "IBM Family Picnic" for the greater Washington DC area at Six Flags America in Maryland. Apparently, IBM considered renting out the entire park for the day at a cost of $250,000, but decided that even they couldn't justify quite that much wasted corporate expenditure. So they just bought everyone tickets so we could go for free and stand in line with the tattooed and pierced amusement-park-attending general public.
If you ask me, IBM ought to have paid extra for the privilege of such superb people watching. One of my favorite moments was watching a 4-year old lick the wooden railing dividing the line in a roller coaster waiting area while his mother stood next to him and objected not by saying "stop licking that foul germ-infested surface immediately before you die of an infections disease," but rather "Jimmy, come on, the line is moving and daddy wants to get the front car!" I made a concerted effort to keep my arms firmly folded throughout that entire line to avoid accidentally leaning on the foulness.
It was definitely a fun day - I love amusement parks - but this particular amusement park seemed to utilize its roller coasters more as giant metal sculptures than as adrenalin-pumping rides. Some were roped off and marked "closed for maintenance," others seemed operational but were apparently clubhouses for slacking employees who sat around chatting and when approached said "uh, we're experiencing technical difficulties" but couldn't tell you when the ride might re-open.
It was pretty strange, but the Mind Eraser was quite fantastic as was the FREE food at the picnic which kept me from succumbing to my weakness for Dippin' Dots. For those of you interested, a small Dippin' Dots at Six Flags now goes for $4.99. You get about 17 dots. But hey, it's the Ice Cream of the Future!
Yesterday, along with nearly 3,000 other IBMers, I attended the "IBM Family Picnic" for the greater Washington DC area at Six Flags America in Maryland. Apparently, IBM considered renting out the entire park for the day at a cost of $250,000, but decided that even they couldn't justify quite that much wasted corporate expenditure. So they just bought everyone tickets so we could go for free and stand in line with the tattooed and pierced amusement-park-attending general public.
If you ask me, IBM ought to have paid extra for the privilege of such superb people watching. One of my favorite moments was watching a 4-year old lick the wooden railing dividing the line in a roller coaster waiting area while his mother stood next to him and objected not by saying "stop licking that foul germ-infested surface immediately before you die of an infections disease," but rather "Jimmy, come on, the line is moving and daddy wants to get the front car!" I made a concerted effort to keep my arms firmly folded throughout that entire line to avoid accidentally leaning on the foulness.
It was definitely a fun day - I love amusement parks - but this particular amusement park seemed to utilize its roller coasters more as giant metal sculptures than as adrenalin-pumping rides. Some were roped off and marked "closed for maintenance," others seemed operational but were apparently clubhouses for slacking employees who sat around chatting and when approached said "uh, we're experiencing technical difficulties" but couldn't tell you when the ride might re-open.
It was pretty strange, but the Mind Eraser was quite fantastic as was the FREE food at the picnic which kept me from succumbing to my weakness for Dippin' Dots. For those of you interested, a small Dippin' Dots at Six Flags now goes for $4.99. You get about 17 dots. But hey, it's the Ice Cream of the Future!
posted by Andrea at 11:03 AM
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