The Fair
Last week the county fair was held. The kids were involved with some 4-H projects (no animal stuff, however), and Friday I took them down for a day of rides. I bought a fistful of ride tickets before I realized how discounted the rides were in the early afternoon, so they got to go on tons of stuff, including the Tilt-A-Whirl with me a couple times. The Girl is at that awkward age where she’s too big for the little kid rides, and not brave enough for the advanced ones. In a couple years she’ll be wanting to go with boys on the rides, but for now they are both content to roam the midway with Mom.
I made them ride the mixer/egg beater with me, which brought back memories of going to an amusement park many years ago with a guy, and that was our first ride of the day. It was sort of our first date, and although I don’t want to be with him, I feel a real nostalgia for that particular time in my life. I don’t want to be the person I was then, but she had way fewer concerns, and her money and time were all her own.
Some comedian (Jeff Foxworthy?) has a line: If you ever start feelin’ sorry for yourself, just go to a state fair and look around.
Isn’t that the truth? (My alternative is, any K-Mart parking lot in the Midwest.) The Midway, of course, and its workers is the clearest example of this, but the sorry-looking people are truly found all over. I especially love the way that the heat becomes an excuse for all shapes and ages of people to walk around in all styles of undress.
On the last whirl from the Tilt-A, the kids went alone; the worker miscounted, and rather than have their own car, they ended up sharing with a single boy. The Girl asked why that happened; I said the worker couldn’t count to seven, not without his missing fingers.
Also, I’m pretty liberal, but it was poor planning to put the Planned Parenthood tent with its “free condoms” placards steps away from the rides for little kids. I’m sure that will generate letters of complaint (whining) to the local paper.
A couple years ago, this particular fair sparked an outbreak of e coli, which was never traced to a specific source. We ate only minimal fair food, and I was pretty scrupulous about frequent hand washing.
Last week the county fair was held. The kids were involved with some 4-H projects (no animal stuff, however), and Friday I took them down for a day of rides. I bought a fistful of ride tickets before I realized how discounted the rides were in the early afternoon, so they got to go on tons of stuff, including the Tilt-A-Whirl with me a couple times. The Girl is at that awkward age where she’s too big for the little kid rides, and not brave enough for the advanced ones. In a couple years she’ll be wanting to go with boys on the rides, but for now they are both content to roam the midway with Mom.
I made them ride the mixer/egg beater with me, which brought back memories of going to an amusement park many years ago with a guy, and that was our first ride of the day. It was sort of our first date, and although I don’t want to be with him, I feel a real nostalgia for that particular time in my life. I don’t want to be the person I was then, but she had way fewer concerns, and her money and time were all her own.
Some comedian (Jeff Foxworthy?) has a line: If you ever start feelin’ sorry for yourself, just go to a state fair and look around.
Isn’t that the truth? (My alternative is, any K-Mart parking lot in the Midwest.) The Midway, of course, and its workers is the clearest example of this, but the sorry-looking people are truly found all over. I especially love the way that the heat becomes an excuse for all shapes and ages of people to walk around in all styles of undress.
On the last whirl from the Tilt-A, the kids went alone; the worker miscounted, and rather than have their own car, they ended up sharing with a single boy. The Girl asked why that happened; I said the worker couldn’t count to seven, not without his missing fingers.
Also, I’m pretty liberal, but it was poor planning to put the Planned Parenthood tent with its “free condoms” placards steps away from the rides for little kids. I’m sure that will generate letters of complaint (whining) to the local paper.
A couple years ago, this particular fair sparked an outbreak of e coli, which was never traced to a specific source. We ate only minimal fair food, and I was pretty scrupulous about frequent hand washing.
posted by YAMB at 9:20 AM
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