vizualvulture365
Dec 2018
So me and my family went ziplining for the first time, and the activity itself was great. We had 4 kids in our party of 8, ranging from 7yo-16yo. Needless to say they had a great time.
I was having a great time as well, until I noticed that our two guides were basically laughing and mocking us the entire time.
We are from Houston, TX. city folk. I, being an avid climber, I am no stranger to the outdoors. As a climbing instructor, I am all too aware of the little jokes that are made when newbies come in for the first time. My family, on the other hand, isn't used to these sort of activities- and it showed. Based on their attire, one could easily tell this wasn't their usual cup of tea. Maybe it was the Ugg boots, but the guides made it very clear that it wasn't cold by making countless remarks about the attire/layers we had on. Ok, bro- we get it: you're from Colorado, and you're not cold. you're cool...
It all started when my brother in law put his helmet on backwards. To someone who does this for a living, this could be a little funny. and it was, at first. But it was at this moment when I noticed the two starting to make "smart" and "subtle" remarks to each other that they thought no one else would catch. As we were getting into the van, I saw them looking at each other and snickering saying "interesting group" "This is gonna be fun". I thought it was just me at first, thinking to myself, Ok... of course this will be fun... its ziplining, But as they closed our van doors, they began to laugh even harder. Was it just me? maybe? I heard no jokes on the way out, nor was anything at that time remotely funny. Based on past experiences, and coming from a sarcastic sense of humor myself, I caught on to what was going on rather quickly, But since I wasn't 100% sure, I let it boil.
Im not sure if they realized I was with the main group they were laughing at, but it was easy to see what was going on as I watched from a distance.
It wasn't until l I saw/heard them laughing and making jokes about a lady in our group from another family using her spotless, bright white gloves in practice. The 2 guides couldn't contain themselves from commenting and laughing about her "super white" gloves, which obviously didn't belong in an outdoor setting. It seemed like every time someone went up to preform the practice routine, some sort of smart butt remark was ready behind a poop eating grin. When someone did something out of the ordinary, a sarcastic joke was made, the other would comment, and then their eyes would meet and they would continue to laugh. Then the rebuttal, rinse, repeat, etc. Since these jokes/comments are geared towards us, maybe include us in the joke? try to maybe get the group involved? This was clearly not the case as no one in the group was joking with them or even knew what they were laughing at. It was at this point that I realized they were clearly joking with each other about us. It seemed as if the more in the dark they thought we were, the funnier it became.
Needless to say, it got really annoying. So much in fact, that when we were headed towards the first line, I said to one of the guides: "Why do you guys gotta laugh at everyone?" to which he said: "ah man, were just having a good time" (admitting they were laughing at us) to which I replied: "Seems to me like you two are the only ones having fun, I didn't pay $600 (really $700) to get laughed at." I then told them to keep their jokes to themselves and if I heard another one, we were going back to the office. I told him to tell his buddy the same thing, And when he did, they were both laughing. Now, I'm a passive person, and pretty easy going. But I didn't pay almost 1k to get laughed at. I guarantee you that if I hadn't have said anything, it would've gone on the entire time. I guess you just would've had to have been there. But at the same time, you don't need a masters degree in aeronautics and a bachelors in mathematics to know when you, or your family is being laughed at.
To top it all off, my uncles finger got stuck in the door as we were about to leave the course It was stuck for a good 4 minutes, and he was obviously in pain. So why on earth would someone walk back to get a screwdriver? I, myself would've ran or jogged. but walk? cmon "bro''.
Now, I wasn't going to write this review, but seeing as how this is a customer service based business, I wanted management to know our true experience. It sucks because I was on Christmas vacation with my family and it was really hard for me to enjoy myself because it happened at the very beginning. Honestly, the encounter with those two knuckle heads ruined my entire day after that. The dude knew I was clearly upset, and had an attempt at an apology been made, I probably wouldn't have written this.
If you are reading this and you get the dude with an orange goatee/beard and dude with a neon green neck gaiter: watch out; They seem nice, but the joke will always be on you. Just the sort of people they are.