LeBron James Day Issues

MaverickLaunch said:
...and there’s what’s wrong with America.

Oh, cool. Someone has finally identified the one thing that is the source of all America's problems. We owe you a debt of gratitude. ;-)

Nowhere, anywhere in this thread was race mentioned, or in any way even eluded

Eluded?

Anyway, surely you are familiar with dog whistling, right? Because race can be alluded to without being explicitly mentioned.

I don't disagree with most of your points (especially the unintelligible spiels, which I agree could be a safety issue), but man is it ever cringe-inducing to read multiple "these/those/you people" type comments. Maybe it's completely benign, but you have to at least understand how that sounds, right?

My post had nothing to do with race.

DJ and his family was white.

People pushing me in the park were white.

Little Toddler in the pool African American.

This had nothing to do with the race card.

Just ignorant people attending the Lebron James Event and how Cedar Point handles the event.

The solution for the next LJF event is simple: Don't wear matching shirts. It would be interesting to see how the complaints differ without being able to instantly tell which folks were only there for one day for free.

I’m just going to throw this out there now...this isn’t the first LBJ Foundation dedicated day at the park. It has everything to do with giving to families that don’t have much for a day of fun before school starts, and nothing to do with the school he created. I understand being frustrated with lack of respect and poor behavior from both kids and parents, but expectations vs. reality is what I’m seeing

We showed up Tuesday afternoon, unaware that there was a LBJ Family Reunion event. Made it as far as the arcade and turned right around and left. It was beyond uncomfortable -- too many people, too much chaos, not to mention the heat. If someone wants to label my next comment as racist, that's fine. It's not.

It wouldn't matter who was wearing the "yellow shirts". But, the main reason we left was because of the behavior of the LBJ guests. Guests of all ages were pushing and shoving their way ahead of other guests walking down the midway, and pushing past guest already in lines, almost with a sense of entitlement because they owned the park for the day -- adults and kids alike. We were in line for Raptor and 7 LBJ "family" attendees tried to pass us in line. We didn't allow them to so they jumped railings and twisted their way ahead through the line. And, we can't point out line jumpers because then we'll be labeled racist. Like the OP, we saw the tiniest of kids unattended, followed by massive groups of teens. The last straw was a group of around a dozen playing catch and throwing bottles of Coke down the midway. And to think I'm one of those who previously complained about basketballs. I completely grasp the concept that guest behavior is not CP's responsibility, so it's not really a complaint against the park. In the future, I'll be sure to check as much as I can beforehand to find out if any large groups are in the park -- any large groups.

djDaemon said:

Eluded?

You got me on an extraordinarily rare spelling mistake. Must have been the bottle of wine I drank.

djDaemon said:

Anyway, surely you are familiar with dog whistling, right? Because race can be alluded to without being explicitly mentioned.

I don't disagree with most of your points (especially the unintelligible spiels, which I agree could be a safety issue), but man is it ever cringe-inducing to read multiple "these/those/you people" type comments. Maybe it's completely benign, but you have to at least understand how that sounds, right?

I never said "these/those/you people". C'mon, guys. The problem with pulling the racism card here is it's a bit like the boy who cried wolf. Believe it or not, there is ACTUAL racism out in the world. Explicit and direct, not implied or inferred. Believe what you want, but until RCMAC mentioned it above, I never even considered the racial makeup of the LBJ group. Or economic makeup. But it's okay, go ahead and call people racist.

When our family goes to Pointfest each fall (the Christian concert) and people piss and moan about how rude the concert attendees were, I don't call people out for religious intolerance or bigotry. Maybe such a response is warranted. But I really don't see the need to contribute to the childish name calling, especially when I know darned well that was not the intent of the comments in the first place.

MaverickLaunch said:
I never said "these/those/you people".

I said you wrote "these/those/you people" type comments, which you did:

MaverickLaunch said:

...these yellow t-shirt kids...

...these kids mouths...

...the yellow t-shirt people...

I'm not accusing you of being racist, just pointing out that I can see how your comments could be taken as such. For what it's worth, I originally didn't perceive your comments as such (only as cringe-inducingly obtuse), but at a certain point the phrase "the lady doth protest too much" does come to mind...

How else do you refer to a large group of people when telling a story, then?

Looking back on that day, the only thing I really noticed "the group" had in common was the t-shirts. As far as race, it was a mix from what I recall. Perhaps the majority was black, I'm really not sure. But I know for certain one of the punk kids who kept screaming "f-ing c*nt" on Rougarou was white. Skin color had nothing to do with my original post. Maybe that's why there's no mention of it.

Poorly-raised punk children come in all sizes, shapes, and colors.

Just Coasting said:
Well it turns a lot of people off, me included. I spent a lot of money to enjoy a wonderful time with my family at a hotel and I had to spend 20 minutes of it baby sitting someone's kid because they were too busy enjoying the free ride vacation day they were on.
.

Why would you spend 20 minutes babysitting? If you felt the kids were in danger, call the police and let them take care of it. They would show up in just a few minutes. That would be a much greater wake up call to the parents than you complaining about it on a forum.

As far as the international workers, I think they do a really great job and most have a very good grasp of the English language. Maybe sometimes you have to listen more carefully to understand because of the accent but I give them a lot of credit. How many Americans even know a second language much less master a second language good enough to work with the public?

In defense of the Witches Wheel operator, his very heavy accent was made more difficult to understand by the poor PA system on that ride. With a much better sound system, there's a chance we could have understood some of what he was saying.

My daughter (who rode in the car with me) was freaking out because it was her first time on that ride and she was afraid we were missing some important safety info. I kinda laughed but I can see how that was scary from her point of view.

I've enjoyed the few international employees with whom I had a chance to speak over the last few years, wishing I still had the youthful courage to travel to another country for a summer job-sounds fun. As far as the LBJ Foundation "issue," it seems that we all could use a little more empathy; empathy towards each other and our emotions.

To sum it up, whenever using the phrasing "those people", or "that group", you had better make it perfectly clear you aren't being racist. Just to be safe.....

Pete said:

How many Americans even know a second language much less master a second language good enough to work with the public?

Wait, this makes absolutely no sense. Should someone excuse the poor workmanship of a carpenter because they themselves cannot build a house? Or take it in stride if their brand new car falls apart because they themselves cannot build a car from scratch?

When I've encountered unintelligible operators, it wasn't a case of me not listening carefully enough. It was a case of that person having an incredibly thick accent, poor command of the English language, and, as ML points out, the awful PA systems on some rides.

Here's my feeble attempt to lighten the mood in this room with my LBJ Day experience. At Early Entry I noticed the tents & busses near GateKeeper area of the lot. It appeared like quite a large set-up with numerous staff types or volunteers on hand at that time. If part of what they were doing was rewarded with free admission, good for them. We rode GateKeeper & as we passed the tents I shouted "Go Lakers" as that group was obviously flauntng his switch in teams wearing Laker Yellow shirts. Had no issues whatsoever with the group as we stayed until noon.

Last week on another thread there was much "Detroit" commentary, now this LBJ discourse. I only mention Detroit so that I can attempt to seguay to this..... as famous Detroiter Aretha Franklin said/sang: RESPECT

And yet I'm confused, with the Detroit comments, racism wasn't even mentioned. But was/is with the LBJ foundation. Ironic eh?

The ironic thing with the Hotel Breakers pool is that one of the safety gates that are designed to be open by adults was broken. The gate could be pushed open and closed without any safety device on it.

Anyone can get in and out, example is a 2-3 year old toddler. Cedar Point is aware of the situation and the did nothing about it the 3 days I was there. If someone were to drown, then Cedar Point would be on the hook, guaranteed.

Abortion, captial punishment, transgenders, Chick Fil-A, Fast Lane, drone morality, Chocolate milk, ....LBJ foundation. Check. All caught up now on the offensive topics for pointbuzz.

You know, I really have learned a lot about other people's point of views on a multitude of topics from this site (and Coasterbuzz). I like to think that this has helped to make me a more empathetic person even when I don't always agree with everyone's opinion.

The underlying problem is that when someone criticizes a particular group for their bad behavior, they are not necessarily saying their bad behavior is a direct result of being a part of that particular group; saying that "a large group of *insert ethnicity here* were acting like jerks" is not the same as "those *insert ethnicity here * are always acting like jerks". People are dillholes by choice and by poor parenting, not by genetics and the instant labeling of any criticism as being motivated by bigotry simply creates a free pass for the behavior to continue. Groups of obnoxious teens are obnoxious regardless of their ethnicity.

Nor is this limited to the LBJ foundation at CP or the buses from Detroit at PiB; ever take a cruise from San Juan during the offseason? The rates are heavily discounted to the local population to fill the ship and consequently the Puerto Ricans have the run of it. Back in the day Disney World would have massive Brazilian tour groups in the summer that would wreak havoc. Go to the St. Patrick's parade in Greektown or a Tigers opening day and watch the suburbanites use parking lots as urinals and thoroughly trash most of downtown. The point is, the larger a group of similar people gets the dumber the individuals within it become, and thats not racism, its human nature.

RCMAC said:

Oh, XSNightClub, sweetie. I’m not ignorant. In fact, I’m quite woke.
I don’t know the guys who posted these complaints, so it’s not personal. But I read and re-read all of this earlier and again just now, and it still rings of racism, culturalism, and I don’t have a clue-ism.

What was under those shirts? Racism hides, and this is definitely a form of it, by mere association if nothing else.

djDaemon said:

Anyway, surely you are familiar with dog whistling, right? Because race can be alluded to without being explicitly mentioned.

I don't disagree with most of your points (especially the unintelligible spiels, which I agree could be a safety issue), but man is it ever cringe-inducing to read multiple "these/those/you people" type comments. Maybe it's completely benign, but you have to at least understand how that sounds, right?

Facepalming over here.

You do realize to make these statements you had to express your own biases causing you to make the leap to assume the following:

1.Individuals needing assistance or of lesser means are comprised of specific ethnicities.

2.Lebron James fans are comprised of specific ethnicities.

3.Lebron James Foundation does not have a desire to help all Humans in need.

4.Bad behavior is the provenance of specific ethnicities.

Sometimes in our rush to judge others we can gain greater insight into ourselves.

MaverickLaunch I'm sorry for the bad day you had at the park with your family, I hope you can look back and be glad you watched a child at the pool and not feel it was a burden no different than if you had been separated from your child and someone had assisted them.

RCMAC I'm glad you have supported a worthy cause and charity and hope you continue to do so in the future and it makes an impact in many lives.

My greatest wish is this thread ends as many others have expressed.

http://thewisdomdaily.com/rush-to-judgment-how-making-assumptions-c...empathize/