The modern torture machines

So who in his sane mind goes about paying people to strap oneself to a seat, listen to instructions like 'Don't let go of the safety guards' followed by insanely loud and incoherent music and then get violently thrown around at breakneck speed for a minute until one feels that his life should end there and then. Well many people do - last estimates some 3 million idiots - yearly. And I was one of those 3 million idiots today when I thought I was brave enough to ride a roller coaster. The monster in question - The 'Giant Dipper' in Santa Cruz, Ca.

But wait, this was not the stupidest thing I did. When someone wants to subject himself to such torture the least he / she does is make sure he is getting into a relatively new, technologically advanced and hence safer contraption. But no, what's the fun in that. Lets get in to a relic built in 1924 by a nut job in a mere 47 days and $50,000. ONLY 47 days - my god !!! And the US National Park Service has recognized this roller coaster as a National Historic Landmark status in 1987. Its the 6Th oldest roller coaster in the US, for heavens sake!!! Why then, I ask, are people still allowed to ride it. Why not just stand by the serene sea-shore and watch this monster in this complete glory. Light it up in the evenings maybe, throw in a couple of empty carriages rolling up and down. But we humans, we are funny creatures. We like to torture and torment and inflict excruciating pain on ourselves from time to time by subjecting ourselves to such monstrosities.

So there I was, a ticket in my hand, my knees barely able to hold the weight of my body, sweat oozing out of every pore, as the sweet lady (I swear, I could see her devil's horns and a striking resemblance to Cruella DeVille in her smile) monitoring the console signalled me to take a seat in one of the pods.
And then it started, and so did my palpitation. It said 1.52 minutes of run-time; but it felt like hours to me. Up and down, round and round, left and right, it just would not stop. And just about when I thought it was all over, the 'Grand Finale', the last slump, the final act (how fitting eh??), my rear side lost contact with my pod and that was it - I gave up. I don't know if I was unconscious or I was just reaching the gates of heaven. I don't really remember the next 3 - 4 or may be 10 minutes; all I could think of was - why the hell did I think I could do this?

Wiki Answers Says - There is 1 in 300 million chance of dying in a roller coaster accident. You have better chance of dying from from crossing the street. You know what - I'll take my chances on a street, when I don't have to pay and walk into a death trap.