This was the centrifuge through which they distilled the kids worth giving a shit about.
Yes, I know centrifuges don't distill. No, I will not be making any modifications. And, if you asked in your heart, you were probably the chaff spun aside by the Iron Dais of Judgment.
My school had one of those. One day we got the idea to tie one of the kids to it around his waist and make him run around to spin it. I still remember our teacher asking "where's Willy?" once recess was over, then looking out the window to see him desperately trying to untie himself.
I remember we didn't stop those for anybody. You want on? Sprint and jump. Want off? I still have a vivid memory of trying to get off one, being thrown outward, and getting a bar between the legs. Went to the bathroom and found blood in my underwear. Can't believe I still walked home after that
The parents not caring is bullshit. Once my Dad came over and explained, we were doing it wrong and demonstrated for the kids a better, faster, more dangerous method before then ignoring us and heading back to the other adults.
One thing I hate about being a 90s kid is that I was not allowed to do anything fun that could potentially injure me, because religious conservative Boomer parents were afraid of anything and everything back then. I wasn't even allowed to play StarCraft because it had "craft" in the name, and "craft" was associated with Witchcraft. My dad wouldn't even pump gas without inspecting the handle closely beforehand because he thought get people were gluing HIV-infected needles to them.
Even after I moved out he would constantly come over unannounced to check on me. If I refused to answer, he'd call the police and file a missing person's report. I was actually somewhat relieved when he died a couple of years ago, because for the first time in my life, I was allowed to be an independent adult at the age of 35
This post makes me question my interpretation of events.
I have acquaintances who seem to have a paranoid belief that every other person in the world is a paedophile just waiting for an opportunity to kidnap their child. Growing up in the 90s, I had a great deal of freedom in comparison to this thought process. I played cricket on the streets, I walked around the neighbourhood without concern, I walked my dog in the evenings. My parents didn't seem to think I would be unsafe without them around to coddle me.
I guess no matter the generation there are parents who go too far in one extreme or another... Though tbh, being concerned about witchcraft seems more medieval than boomer. Sorry for your loss, but I'm glad you feel more free now. I imagine it must be a complex mix of emotions.
That blows, because we're similar age, I'm born in '87, and I look back fondly at the freedom I had as a kid. It's a bit how I intend to model my parenting around, although it's hard to escape modern times in my mind sometimes. But my kids will wander around the neighborhood alone (in a couple of years, still too young), get dirty, stay out til the sun goes down, that kind of thing, with the caveat of not bothering people and their properties. Probably easier said than done on my part, we shall see.
Fellow 90s kid, my parents were exactly the same. Religious background, fox news constantly, I once didn't text back within 2 hours and had a neighbor contacted via Facebook knocking on my door in my 30s (to be fair I work on call so it's atypical). I got lectured at 18 for buying an m rated game in front of them... Police report was a bit much; but I you aren't alone.
My school had one on dirt. The panels were wood and had a hole in it. Finally, one day, we were playing and a kid's foot went down there and got fucked up. He was like a rockstar coming into school next day with stitches and crutches.
In my home village we have a much safer and much better version of it:
You can accelerate yourself by just pulling at the plate in the middle, meaning that everyone can have fun and you can probably get much higher speeds.
Back in my day, we walked for miles uphill in the snow to school, we rode the unprotected meatspin, broke all of our bones, and then we walked for miles uphill back home. Kids these days are so spoiled and pampered!!!
Got my first real concussion on one of those things. All I remember is that one minute I was flying off of it and the next minute I was at home and I had been there for several hours.
We have both kinds in playgrounds around my house here in Norway. My kids like both, but the ones from the OP is vastly preferred. They get a lot more Gs in the one with the bars.
A core memory of mine is getting flung off of one of these things because of the centrifugal force, falling on my back, and being unable to breathe for like 20-30 seconds ... until I screamed at the top of my lungs, and things slowly returned to normal, while the teacher just went: oh you're fine, don't be a baby. I was 6.
The game was, you'd put one kid in the middle and then everybody else would do their level best to spin the damn thing so fast it would either drill into the Earth's mantle or take off like a helicopter.
I somehow flipped over one of the bars and bashed my head on the deck (wooden on ours rather than metal) when I was around 6 or 7 years old. No stitches, though I don't see any noticeable scar. I don't remember much aside from seeing blood and a headache.
Got really drunk with some other folks at a wedding reception in a park. It had one of these. There were about 10 of us crammed on it and two other people were spinning it. We went flying and it was incredible. 10/10 would recommend.
Idk theres a car dealership that has a 2 level version of this. The middle part is raised and spins with the base. Its not as wide as the old ones, but it seems just as dangerous.
Then theres the single person versions that works off of like angled centrifugal force? Idk. It spins and spins just from body weight. They can start it on their own, but I've had random kids ask me to help them stop, cause they couldn't do it themselves. I see variations of these in most newer playgrounds. Some have you sitting, some standing. Many parents still dont give a shit.
My kindergarten had a much cruder and unsafe version of this. My system sister has a scar on her forehead from the time she fell off of it and an open ended pipe in the structure hit her. We went absolutely wild spinning that thing.
Like many, we got one going way too fast. But what got me was a rock that shifted underneath it while I was spinning on my back holding on to the middle with my feet. Clocked me in the back of the head, felt like a bullet. I was alright, but it could have been much worse...