Re: Fun interaction I observed
Posted by kmf on November 14, 2023 at 19:38:20
In Reply to: Fun interaction I observed posted by Pete on October 28, 2023 at 20:58:28:
That is an interesting story. Reminds me of one that I saw a few years back at a street fair. The high school football team was sponsoring the dunk tank, and I assume it must have been the freshmen who ended up having to be in the dunk tank.
The first guy up there was in a football jersey and gym shorts, and was completely emotionless. Seriously, it looked like a robot was getting dunked. Didn't laugh, smile, cringe, moan, or anything, just silently sat up there, falling in the water every so often.
The second kid looked like he would have a better time, in that when he climbed up on the seat, he was at least laughing and joking around with people. That all changed the first time he got dunked. Once he landed in the water, he looked completely dejected for the rest of the time he was up there, not really interacting with the group at all.
Part of me felt bad for the two guys, since they clearly didn't want to be there. But on the other hand, I was thinking, "come on guys, its just water." Like, if you really don't want to be there, just leave. A dunk tank is supposed to be fun, but no one's having fun dunking you sad sacks.
That changed with the third kid who was up. I assume he must have been the team manager or something, because he was a tiny, scrawny little kid. And he was wearing a polo and khaki's. But point is, his demeanor was the polar opposite of the two previous kids. He was loud, funny, teasing people, and seemed like he was having a great time up there getting dunked fully clothed. And it paid off, since there was a much bigger crowd there spending money to dunk tank. It seemed like he should have just been there the whole time, and not bothered with dunking the other guys.
I think sometimes it can be kind of funny to push people a bit outside their comfort zone if they're good sports about going to a dunk tank - but on the other hand, if someone is just visibly miserable about being there, its not really helping anyone to have them there getting dunked. They're having a bad time, the crowd's having a bad time, no one's having fun. And that's just not right. Especially when there's plenty of people who would happily volunteer to get dunked instead.