~Water Tubing- Is Not All Fun and Games~

Have you ever been Tubing before? I went tubing once… Let’s just say it wasn’t the most pleasant thing in the world. I guess I just can’t believe that some people actually find tubing entertaining. Yea, it is hilarious to watch people go tubing, but it’s not that much fun trying to hold on to a inflated tube of rubber, while a speed boat is whirling you around. Not to mention there is a rope, which so happens to be the thinnest rope known to man, connecting you to the speed boat. The goal of the driver of the speed boat is to try and hit every wave and to get you to fall off. You have one simple job, just hold on.

When I was thirteen, my family went on vacation and the lake we were staying at had a boat with a huge tube for tubing. My dad gave permission to my oldest brother; he was eighteen at the time, to drive us around the lake. My First Mistake: I listened to my older brothers. I should have known something was going to go wrong when I saw their faces. Well, when my two older brothers talked me into letting them drive and me be the one on the tube, it sounded kind of fun. Second mistake: when I got in the tube, I sat Indian style with my legs crossed and I could barely reach the handles on the tube. My oldest brother told me that was the easiest and most comfortable position and that everyone sat like that and I would get the hang of it. Third mistake: I let my brothers do the driving. One brother drove while to other was facing me and was in charge of telling the other to speed up while looking for the biggest waves.

As soon as I sat down and I heard them reeve the engine, I knew I was in trouble. They took off at a good pace; I thought I had things under control that was my fourth mistake. They kept speeding up and all I could do was hold on. I was too scared to even scream, my heart was in my throat, and I couldn’t see because of the water from the boat was spraying me in the face. After holding on for what seemed forever, they finally slowed down and went back to the dock. My arms were killing me, my hands were glued to the handle bars and couldn’t relax, and I could barely breathe because of all the water I had swallowed. I of course went crying to my mom and my brothers got in huge trouble and they eventually got me back for ratting them out. I learned many things on that trip, but most importantly I learned to let others go first and then decide whether I wanted to do it or not.