I'm on vacation this week, and Thursday my dad and I went to Carlsbad Cavern (we went straight from the airport on Wednesday and stayed overnight in Artesia). At one of the gift kiosks in the bowels of the cave they sell "caver helmets", cheap toy hardhats with a way-more-powerful-than-necessary LED headlamp. Why can't they just use incandescent flashlight bulbs in those things?
One part of the guided tour involved the ranger turning off ALL the lighting in a room and just telling everyone to sit quietly for a few minutes and listen to the cave (water dripping, insects, etc), them the next lecture would be given with the only light being a candle lantern as the first cave explorers had. Just before he did so he stated that anything with a light was to be turned OFF and stay off until the actual cave lighting was turned up again.
Shortly after my eyes adjusted (?) to the total blackness, as the ranger instructs everyone to "hold out your hand in front of your face" one of the kids in a family group--which is still being too loud--is fooling with his "caver helmet" and turns the light on...pointed right at me at a distance of about two feet >.< Somehow I managed not to start swearing, but I was seeing spots for a good minute after the lantern came on. Did the parents say anything? ....of course not, and the kid kept playing with that helmet (generally pointing it right at people) for the whole tour.
One part of the guided tour involved the ranger turning off ALL the lighting in a room and just telling everyone to sit quietly for a few minutes and listen to the cave (water dripping, insects, etc), them the next lecture would be given with the only light being a candle lantern as the first cave explorers had. Just before he did so he stated that anything with a light was to be turned OFF and stay off until the actual cave lighting was turned up again.
Shortly after my eyes adjusted (?) to the total blackness, as the ranger instructs everyone to "hold out your hand in front of your face" one of the kids in a family group--which is still being too loud--is fooling with his "caver helmet" and turns the light on...pointed right at me at a distance of about two feet >.< Somehow I managed not to start swearing, but I was seeing spots for a good minute after the lantern came on. Did the parents say anything? ....of course not, and the kid kept playing with that helmet (generally pointing it right at people) for the whole tour.
Comment