Obviously, this could lead to a somewhat unfortunate misunderstanding. An audience member suggested getting out of the water, which led Gus to point out that gators are explosively fast on land, able to move at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour for distances up to about fifteen feet. Gus sadly shook his head at each suggestion, but never offered one of his own. Clearly, the best approach is to avoid attracting the attention of a hungry alligator. And fortunately, that's not such a hard thing to do.
Alligators are reptiles, and they generally only eat once a week.
So the odds are in your favor that the alligator you encounter is probably not hungry. And an adult human, standing on dry land, is simply too large a prey for most alligators. But, on the other hand, there have been stories of dogs as large as dalmatians being snapped off their leashes as they and their masters stroll alongside a Florida canal. And Alex's parents were well aware that their son is smaller than a dalmatian. Alex could not be permitted to run happily along the shoreline, throwing rocks into the water.