My family and I visit Disneyland every
year to reconnect with our inner child. Walking through the theme park, an almost
enchanting feeling comes, inspiring us to just love life! From the attractions
to the music and even to the music that they play all induce happiness to the
guests. However, not all of my experiences with Disneyland have filled me with
delight, some have filled me with horror.
After witnessing an amazing presentation
of the world of color we began to walk slowly towards the exit reminiscing about
the show we had just enjoyed. As we reached t
he exit we found ourselves lost in
a crowd of irritated guests. Come to find out, at the same time we were trying
to get out of the park, thousands of high school seniors were trying to get in.
The normal space that usually existed outside of the park was filled with lines
and lines of anticipating kids. Park employees tried valiantly to direct us as
we left through a small and impossible route to the parking lot.
Because of the sheer number of people
leaving at the same time we simply didn’t fit where they were trying to send
us. Impatient parents began pushing through the crowd fervently trying to escape
the throngs. Many others began breaking down the organized lines trying to get
to the exit. Within a few seconds I found myself violently separated from my
family being shoved in a directions unknown to me. Looking around I saw children
being pulled away from their parents and parents franticly looking for their kids.
No matter how hard the staff tried, the park guests fell into pandemonium.
A half
an hour or so later my family was able to regroup at our hotel room. We were
all fine but really just surprised at how chaotic individuals became when their
expectations were not met. It seems that when people feel out of control they
are willing to do anything necessary to regain that.
This seems to be where the role of authority is important. Most people react the way they do because something important to them, like family, is at risk. An authoritative figure is removed emotionally from the situation and can make a better decision overall. Of course, this is speaking idealistically. In theory, listening to and following orders from the employees could have saved a lot of headaches for the situation you just described.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kenneth, authority is so important in situations like this. When people view the greatest authority as their own personal opinion (aka my expectations aren't getting met) we see real problems as people become willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want. Never mind everyone else's needs. Strong authority needs to provide a strong enough deterrent to keep people from going crazy.
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