Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
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THE PARK — When I was a child I lived up the street from a big park.
This child wonderland had two playgrounds, one at the top of the park and one at the bottom. The one at the top was all new equipment made out of plastic and fiberglass. This playground was of no interest to me.
The playground I was interested in was the lower one complete with sliver-inducing wood at all turns, metal slide tops that handed out third-degree burns in the summer and sparse woodchips offering no support when you fell off the rusty monkey bars. This was my favorite playground.
There was one slide in this veritable death trap that was a dull-yellow color, and we called it "Surfin' U.S.A." We called it this for two reasons. First is the fact that the slide had ripples on the way down like waves. And second, we weren't very clever kids and this was the best name we could come up with.
I loved this slide because it scared me to death. The slide surface was blinding when the hot July sun reflected off it like a mirror, and I had to give myself a pep talk every time I sat at the edge and contemplated taking a ride. The slide was taller than anything I'd ever seen — about 7 feet at best — and it was steep. Please remember I was about 6 at the time. I fell off this slide more than once, received burns on the backs of my legs, and even twisted my ankle once thanks to a goofy landing at the bottom on a rainy day when I was going faster than I thought humanly possible.
Yesterday's Have You Seen This?
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I'm about to introduce you to the cutest video you'll see all week.If this slide in a park in Sandy, Utah, was scary, then this one in Japan is utterly terrifying.
This video from 2016 shows some men going down what is classified as a slide, but should probably be renamed a precursor to the E.R. This slide is massive and every single rider can't stop when they hit the bottom. They just keep rolling right by the landing pad and onto the concrete.
If you find a slide like this, I don't think our legal team will allow us to say you should give it a go. But between you and me, I may be giving myself my old pep talk if I ever come across this playground toy.
