I went to Dollywood on Tuesday for a short trip and wanted to relay a story while I was in line waiting to board the steam engine ride. People waiting in line were in a switchback arrangement with ropes. A black grandmother was a few people in front of us. Her daughter, husband and granddaughter were further back from us. When they were even in the lines, the grandmother motioned for them to skip the line by going underneath the rope to join her.
The daughter and granddaughter went under the line and no one (including me) said anything. However, the daughter’s husband refused and stayed in place. In our culture, the proper thing would have been for the grandmother to go back and join them. Or for the daughter and granddaughter to rejoin the man back in line when he stayed behind.
The line continued as it was and when we were close to boarding, there was a sign that said all people in a group had to be together to be boarded at the same time. When the grandmother went to board, she said that they had one more in their party. The park employee told her that if she wanted to board as a party, she would have to go back to the end of the line.
Their decision was to board the train without him. We barely made the train before they closed the line for the next ride in an hour. The man did not make the train.
What would be the proper course of action? I applaud the man for not skipping ahead in line. The grandmother showed lack of character and set a bad example for her granddaughter (as did her mother). The father should not have allowed this bad example which had consequences besides missing the ride.
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