HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-06-11, Page 22PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 1997
For Teens, By Teens
JANN FLANDERSA day in Wonderland
By Erin Roulston
Summer is here - It is now the
time of year when adventurous
teenagers all head for the ultimate
destination: Canada's Wonderland.
Teen heaven. Tons of candy, rides,
and more teens, every where you
turn.
I visited "teen heaven" on
Saturday. It was my first visit in
two years and it was exactly how I
remembered it; expensive. A
chicken burrito (my lunch) cost $6.
I didn't even look at the prices of
the pop...I knew I couldn't afford
it. And if I could afford it the only
pop they sold was "Coca Cola", the
official soft drink of Paramount
Canada's Wonderland.
Ah...yes. The park is also now
owned by Paramount, and they
never let you forget it. "Welcome
to Paramount Canada's Wonder
land". "Enjoy your stay at
Paramount Canada's Wonderland."
"Hope you enjoyed the rides at
Paramount Canada's Wonderland."
Good grief.
Now, if you are going to an
amusement park of this size, and
plan to have any fun at all, you
must come to terms with one fact;
you will spend most of your day in
one lineup or another. Lines for
food, lines for bathrooms, and
mostly, lines for rides.
This day it wasn't loo bad. We
were averaging a half-hour wait per
ride. Sometimes lines can be up to
three hours, especially on the new
coasters, on a beautiful sunny
Saturday. Lucky for us, it was
raining.
Our first ride of the day was Top
Gun. Another promotion for
Paramount films, Top Gun's lineup
is decorated with memorabilia from
the film. The actual ride has
practically nothing to do with the
movie. The coaster is suspended
from a track above and there is no
floor beneath you. Many a shoe is
lost here.
Also, being my first roller coaster
in two years, the first drop almost
killed me. My insides aren't used to
that type of activity.
Next we trekked to the other side
of the park to The Bat. Any roller
coaster pro knows that the shortest
lineups are in the first and last
hours that the park is open, so go to
all the big rides then.
The Bat is my favourite ride. Il’s
the big red one; the two peaks of it
can be seen above the trees from
Hwy. 400. It's very thrilling and
worth a three-hour wait. Luckily,
we only waited 35 minutes.
I prefer to sit at the back. That
way, when it pulls you backwards
to the very top of the track at the
start, you can see the whole train
under you. Then, when you least
expect it, the brakes let go and the
train barrels down the tracks,
through the loading shed, past the
wailing people and out into the
open, through loops and turns, all
the passengers screaming with fear
or joy.
Halfway up a hill, the train slows
to a halt. A cable pulls it up to the
top and holds you there until
"Woosh", the brakes let go and you
do it all again; backwards. It is
amazing.
By the time we got off the Bat,
the park was getting pretty packed.
We passed by the new ride, called
Drop Zone, but decided it wasn't
worth the wait. It looked very cool,
though. You are strapped into a
seat which plummets free-fall from
a very tall tower. The ride only
lakes about three seconds, but my
friend who did wait, said it was
very much worth it.
We also stood for awhile to
watch Xtreme SkyFlyer. It looks
amazing, but cost $15 dollars per
person (by this time I had about 27
cents, so I passed it up). It is a 15-
storey free-fall at 100 km/h. The
three riders are held up by nothing
but a cord.
My other favourite ride is
SkyRider. That is the standup roller
coaster.
And then there is Jet Scream. The
giant rocket holds 50 people and
swings back and forth like a
pendulum, higher and higher until
it finally goes right over, in a full
circle, the people inside are
completely upside-down. Many a
coin is lost here.
Of course, another big part of a
visit to the park is the 'technical
difficulties'. Both times I rode Jet
Scream there were difficulties.
Once when a man dropped his
keys, and another time they had to
repeatedly open and close the lap
restraints (which, I must say, is
very painful). People were trapped
on the Bat at the top of one of the
peaks for 15 minutes, and the ride
was down for about an hour.
There are a million things I could
tell you about Wonderland, but I
don't have the time or the space.
Instead I'll just advise you go to
there yourself...and bring a lot of
money.
Hl
Seek help, stop the harassment
JANN FLANDERS:
I've been having problems at
school. There are some girls I know
who have been harassing me. It's
getting to the point where I'm
afraid to answer questions in class.
My grades are starling to fall. What
can I do?
Hurting in Huron
DEAR HURTING IN HURON,
There are many ways to deal
with this problem. One way is to
ignore them. By acting as if these
girls simply do not exist, they can
become bored with your lack of
response and move onto another
Summer jobs for experience, bucks
By Mark Nonkes
Only a couple more days until
the end of school, then we write
exams and after that kiss school
goodbye. That is, at least, until next
September. For two months, we're
free; or are we?
A lot of us have summer jobs, so
perhaps we are tied down to
something - our employer.
Whether you work indoors,
outdoors, or a bit of both, there are
two big pluses to having a summer
job. The first is the job experience,
something you can put down on
your resume. It can help you decide
what you want or don't want to do
in the future. The other is, of
course, the money, hopefully
enough so you can buy some things
you want over the next couple of
months.
A really good idea is to save it
for your future.
Summer Jobs fall under two
categories. Number one is the type
where you work with the public. At
a grocery store counter, as a tour
guide or pumping gas. In most of
these jobs you should try to be
polite and outgoing.
Number 2 is the maintenance
work. Cleaning up after people,
cutting grass or being a farmhand
are some good examples of this
type of work. Usually the only
people you work with are your
fellow employees.
Some jobs you have to do a bit of
both, like being a babysitter or
lifeguard.
In all these jobs you must work
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victim.
Sometimes, though, by calmly
fighting fire with fire so to speak,
you can stop them from saying
anything as some emotional
abusers do not have the strength to
deal with harassment themselves.
Surprisingly, complimenting
someone who is being rude to you
often works. Just after they finish
saying something rude to you,
compliment them, their voice, their
clothes, or their brains. A jealous
abuser often .becomes shocked and
stops bothering you.
I know it's not the coolest way to
deal with it but by talking to a
hard. And on those hard days of
summer there is one thing to keep
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Thursday night is cruise night - Prizes on the last Thursday of the month
1
guidance counsellor or your school
principal, you often gain insight.
They may threaten or warn the
involved students the first time. A
suspension usually follows
subsequent attacks.
When none of the above
suggestions work, victims usually
give up. What most people don't
realize is that you can sue someone
who is harassing you. Extreme
cases, are called "defamation of
character". This basically means if
you call me a slut, you will
influence people into believing I
am.
Jann Flanders
you going if nothing else, the
money.
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