This is a long one folks, sorry. L~W.
Your with your family at an amusement park, everyone is having a great time! No worries, no problems.
Your herding your family onto a ride after waiting in line for what feels like hours but is really closer to twenty minutes, when you see out of the corner of your eye two people running like crazy. You pay no attention to it because it is something that you've seen all day, maybe they were late for the bathroom ride. Whatever...
After you're in the ride's car and in motion for a while everything stops. WHAT???? You look around and you notice that every ride is stopped that can be stopped (Enertia being the rule that several tons of steel can't break), as all the electricity in the park is gone. You and your family are approximately as high as a six story building with no visible way to get down. Your feelings of anxiety are coming close to the surface now and as you look at your family, you realize they are close to a full blown panic!
Just then the parks speakers come on at full volume and scratchy as the first cell phones were 15 years ago. Every word you hear is distorted because you are not where the speakers are aimed at. And you can understand about one word in five, if your lucky.
Your spouse is trying to get your attention to help with your kids (assuming you have them). Between the speakers blaring and the yells coming from everyone on the ride with you and what is making it up from the ground, it is very hard to hear anything your spouse is saying.
Your kids are whimpering and crying and very scared! You feel a panic attack coming on and you know now is not the time! You fight the feelings and grab the child closest to you, making them look into your face while explaing that the power stopped, and that things will be ok.
You are able to get them all calmed down, and you start telling them a story to keep their interest in you and not in the panic that is close at hand.
Finally, someone comes by with a bullhorn loadspeaker trying to get the attention of everybody on a ride. They say that rescue teams are in the park and not to panic, there are more arriving every minute. Just hold on and they will be here as soon as they can.
Here's the question...
How do you keep your family from panicking?
(Afterword: Two teens are arrested for sabotaging the amusement parks electrical system, and you are called in as a witness at their trial. You tell the jury how you felt being trapped their for five and a half hours. Do you sue the Park or the families of the two teenagers or both ???)
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