Okay,Today I want to Zip London,a 35 metre tall zipline.Approaching the start point,ahead of me in the queue was a woman and 2 children the boy was around 8-9,the girl 6-7 suiting up for their turn.The instructor pointed out that the children should go together(separate lines) before the mother as 1 child could not be left alone on the tower incase they would be to scared to jump.Bare in mind there was no elevator only a narrow staircase of 183 steps to the bottom.This presented the first problem
Then the boy became panicked and scared as he and the girl were being placed in harnesses.The instructor asked that the woman and kids move to the side whilst they tried to calm the boy.The woman at this point made a agitated phonecall to the child's parents ,I don't believe she was his mother(different race).As this was happening 2 more pairs jumped.Then it was my turn.However the primary instructor decided to let the family have another shot.
Fair enough,this led to the ever increasingly panicked and crying boy being inch closer to the edge.The woman using such great parenting lines as keep your eye on the goal and the reward,meanwhile the girl was harnessed good to go.Sadly the woman kept cajoling the poor boy for nearly 5 minutes infront of everyone,which at a point i and others felt was detrimental to the child.
This is where it gets bad,With the child clearly unable to jump,the woman then asked to be allowed to go with the other child and come back for the boy,leaving a tearful panicked child with strangers.I offered to go with her daughter and wait on the other tower for her to collect her(risky i know but better than abandoning the boy i felt).The woman refused,She then started asking other queuers to escort the boy down so she could complete the jump with the girl.I came close to losing my rag at her at this point.However a gent behind me with 2 kids of his own offered to take the child around,forgoing his jump.
Lo and behold guardian of the year does her jump with the girl.
Then io complete mine,which upon landing i see the boy is already there however the woman and the girl are nowhere to be seen(i had intencded to tell her my thoughts on the matter).
So to top it all off she didnt even console the poor boy.
Granted i dont have children so i may not be the best judge but i was fuming at her.
Also the tower staff should have betterways of dealing with no jumps and children.
Whats your thoughts?