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Whenever you see a long line of people, naturally, you think that there must be something exciting or interesting happening on the other end! After all, people wouldn’t queue-up for something dull or painful (with the exception being, of course, at the DMV).
People wait in long lines for all sorts of reasons: to see a concert or a show, to run in a popular marathon, to visit an exceptional attraction or, simply, to board an airplane. Even though we feel somewhat annoyed with the wait in the line, we react positively to there being a line. Imagine that you lined up to board a plane and there were only 10 people in front of you. You would start to reconsider getting on the plane, silently asking yourself if the plane was really safe since nobody else seemed to want to fly on it. Likewise, if you found yourself in an extremely SHORT line after paying $100 for a ticket to see a show, you’d automatically think you overpaid for something no one else wanted to see.
Not long ago, I purchased an upgraded entrance ticket, at a very popular tourist attraction, which included a “Tower Tour.” This particular building had several tall spires and I was excited to think, at our scheduled time, we were going to have the opportunity to go up to the top of one of these towers and witness some amazing views over an amazing city.
I wondered if there would be secret catwalks and hidden nooks that only the Tower Tour participants would be allowed to visit. Although, I did not enjoy waiting 40 minutes in the slow-moving line, the number of people in the line certainly validated, in my mind, my excitement for the tour and the extra ticket expense.
Finally, it was our turn to get into the tiny elevator and head up, wherein the elevator operator quickly informed us that when we got out, we would walk over to the tower viewing platform and when we were ready to come down, we would go down 400 steps. “Okay.” She finished this bold statement with a period rather than a question mark. I didn’t think too much of it since I figured that our descent would be a leisurely one; stopping at all of the viewing platforms and admiring the tower’s incredible architecture along the way.
The “viewing platform” was a teeny tiny alcove with two small windows with bars over them facing just one side of the city. I snapped a quick photo and moved aside to let the next person see, thinking that after a few steps down, we would come to the next viewing platform. I was wrong and we soon discovered that the only other activity on the Tower Tour was the actual Descent, via 400 tiny stone steps wrapping around the tiniest, steepest, spiral staircase I had ever seen. There was also no stopping on our way down for two reasons: gripping the handrail tightly was a necessity and the steady stream of tourists going down was unforgiving.
By the time we got to the bottom, my legs were shaking and sore. Had we really just paid an extra $50 to wait in a long line to take a small elevator ride to the top and walk down 400 steps? I thought about trying to inform everyone who was waiting in the Tower Tour line that it was not worth it! But then again, in order to gain access to them, I would have needed to purchase another ticket.
RIPOFF! RIPOFF!
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!
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