On December 17, 2005, an incident occurred involving very small children
running unescorted inside Longhorn Cavern during a Christmas program. I was
attending this program as an unofficial employee accompanied by my wife, my
stepdaughter and her fiancé--the latter two visiting from San Antonio for
a Christmas holiday, and who had paid the admission price for this program.
Upon checking in at the park visitor center I was asked to escort the trio of
entertainers and a visually challenged couple down the 52 steps to the cave
entrance and approximately 500 yards into the area of the cave that is used for
programs such as this one called 'Caroling in the Cave'. I was told to clock in on
our time clock so I would be paid for my time in the cavern, but declined since I
considered myself to be a guest and not an official employee for the night. My
family of four people as described above were seated in the front row of a section
to the side of the entertainers' stage, facing the stage on our left and facing
another set of guests seated in chairs directly in front of us. On the far side of
this last group everyone could see where the trail into the rest of the cavern led
down into the dark.
Some time towards the end of the musical program, while the trio of singers was
singing, two tiny children darted past me on my right side, unescorted, at top
speed, and appeared to be headed into the dark part of the cave where I knew
there were dangers. My reflex action was to stand, prepared to chase them
down if necessary to protect them. When they saw me stand, I guess they
realized they were in some kind of trouble, and quickly turned and ran back at
me, towards where they had come from. As they passed me, I gently pressed on
each of their shoulders to guide them away from a ditch on the side of the trail,
and in a low voice told them to stop running and return to their seats. A woman
who was seated behind me, who I now know as a Ms. Bobbitt, stood and pointed
her finger right into my face and shouted, "You don't touch her!" I replied that I
was merely trying to protect the children, but she was not to be pacified. She
repeated in a loud voice that I had no right to touch the children. My wife tried to
explain that I was a park employee and merely doing my job. She didn't believe
my wife, and continued shouting, threatening to sue me for touching the
children. All this while the poor trio of singers was trying to finish their Christmas
carol. Although I had volunteered to do a reading of the poem 'The Night Before
Christmas' after the cave show, that seemed ludicrous after this horrible scene,
and I told my family that we would immediately leave and go home. As I passed
through the visitor center, topside, on my way to the parking lot, she was waiting
for me, called me a bastard, demanded a formal apology, again threatened a
lawsuit, and demanded to know my name, my address, and my phone number. I
didn't say a word to her, ignored her and continued outside to my car and left.
was directed by the Park Manager, Kaye Barlow, to write this statement. I have
spent three sleepless nights deciding what to say here, and my comments will
very likely hurt some feelings. I regret that, but here is my statement-----------My entire weekend visit with my family was ruined by this incident, which might
not have been as serious if a few simple remarks had been made by the park
management. I was never introduced as a park employee, nor was Pam, the
Assistant Manager who witnessed this terrible event from where she was sitting
at the rear of the audience. It was not explained that we were there for the
security of the guests. So when I stood to try to protect these small children from
danger, I'm sure Ms. Bobbitt thought I was just some crabby fat old man who was
trying to interfere with her (I assume) grandchildren. I'm not saying that she was
justified in making the loud scene, nor in front of everyone, calling me a bastard
and threatening to sue me. For what? Trying to protect the children? I have
been a Tour Guide at Longhorn Cavern for nearly seven years, and have
escorted thousands of tourists through the cave without a single serious injury
save for a few bumped heads on low ceilings. There is good reason for that fact-before allowing my tours to enter the cave, I carefully explain to everyone that
they must not run, that they must stay behind me, and that they must stay on the
trails. If there are small children in the group, I tell the parents and guardians to
please keep their children with them at all times and that they are responsible for
the behavior and whereabouts of their children. Apparently these statements
were not made to the group of people on December 17, 2005. Longhorn Cavern
is extremely child-friendly, but only if parents and guardians are told what is
expected of them. The dangers of caves are not obvious to many people, and
there are those who would treat the inner parts of our cave as a playground if
they were not warned.
I am happy to make a formal apology to Ms. Bobbitt and her family for what
happened, but only with the explanations above. I would expect that, in return,
she would apologize to me and my family for calling me a bastard and
threatening a lawsuit.
I understand that Ms. Bobbitt was offered a refund for the price of tickets to the
program because of their evening being ruined. My family's evening was ruined,
too, as was our entire weekend, but no refund was offered to me (I wouldn't
accept it anyway).
Respectfully,
Al Gerow
Tour guide at Longhorn Cavern State Park