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Highlands Today

Get Out Of My Space

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By Norm Cukras | Highlands Today

Published: November 24, 2007

Over the weekend I had a chat with an off-duty Disney worker. He has nothing to do with Disney public relations. He's just a grunt — a worker — so he didn't have to be guarded about what he had to say. Eventually our conversation got around to the use of Segways at the Disney parks.

The Segway is produced by Segway Inc. of New Hampshire. It is a two-wheeled, self-balancing electric transporting device that was unveiled in December 2001. The name "Segway" is a homophone of "segue" (a smooth transition, literally Italian for "follows"). When it was first introduced it was the Segway HT for human transporter. It is now referred to as the Segway PT for personal transporter.

Critics are less kind, referring to the thing as a motorized skateboard.

A group of people, who claim to be partially handicapped — because , they contend, they cannot walk any great distance — are suing Disney for the right to use Segways at the attractions. Disney says that since the scooters can go as fast as 12 mph they are a danger to other patrons.

I agree with the company as would any reasonable member of a conscientious society. My Disney worker friend agrees too. He says that some employees use them to get around, but not as a rule during peak hours. Further, employees are trained in the use of the conveyance and they are held responsible for their actions. But who would be held responsible if a visitor mashes my toes when they run over my foot?

"Those things are dangerous," my friend told me and to compound the problem he said there are certain identifiable groups of people who feel that they are surrounded by some invisible aura that they consider to be "my space." And no one is allowed to invade this area unless they are invited in. Can you imagine if someone gets in the way while an individual from one of these groups is riding on a Segway?

These things are not cheap. New they run somewhere between $5,000 and $6,000 or more. Used, one can expect to pay more than half that. I guess people feel that if they have such a large investment they should be able to do with it what I want. But at what risks? And who is to decide who needs to ride them?

It's a disaster waiting to happen. Let's hope some sanity enters into any judgement arising out of this suit.

A Growing Trend?

I can't help but wonder if the "My Space" concept isn't spreading uncontrollably. Web sites are even dedicated to it as in myspace.com. A growth of this concept would certainly explain occurances that happen on a daily basis: People pull out into moving traffic and lope along at speeds way below what everyone else is traveling at. It would appear that these puller-outers feel they are in their own little cocoon and everyone else is expected to honor it. After all, they are in "my space."

I was driving through the park last weekend. A woman on a bicycle was pulling out of the area where the restaurant is located. She was looking over her shoulder at the people behind her totally oblivious to the fact that she was about to enter a roadway where there was moving traffic. As I passed her she pulled out into the path of the truck behind me. Had he been going even as near as fast as the posted speed she would not have made it across the street, and the poor driver would be held in scorn for not "sharing" the road with bicyclists. Worse, he would probably be have been held in contempt of invading someone's "space."

The problem is: the rest of us have no idea where your space ends and mine begins.
An editorialized ancient adage says, "A person's home is his castle."
But the rest of the world is to be shared.

Overheard

At the checkout counter: There appears to be a different sort of car race on our roads lately: Seeing who can go the slowest.

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