We avoid crowds like the plague, Teresa and I. Our one exception is the Minnesota State Fair. The Fair is a mob scene, but it's a jolly mob. People feel licensed to eat all they want and have beer with their breakfast. Why wouldn't they be happy?
I collect the sayings on passing tee shirts. "Grandpa's my name. Spoiling's my game." "You are the product of 100 million years of evolution. Act like it." "That's a terrible idea! -What time?" This is an election year so there are lots of campaign booths giving away trinkets. A plane flew overhead towing a sign saying our governor failed but doesn't say at what.
Five presidents have visited the Fair during their lifetimes. There was a pretty good run between Teddy Roosevelt (1901) and Dwight Eisenhower (1947). But if presidential candidates are going to visit a fair these days, they go to the Iowa State Fair to kiss a pig in hopes of winning votes in the Iowa caucuses. It was at the Minnesota State Fair on this day that Roosevelt said "Speak softly, and carry a big stick." The Fair bans big sticks.
Most of the people at the Fair look normal but there are enough weird outfits, shocking piercings, and inkings of the skin to cover for me the cost of admission. We used to pay to park on the fairgrounds, but the price goes up every year. There are numerous lots outside the Fairgrounds at churches, etc. where you can park for free and catch a shuttle to the Fair. This process takes less time than actually getting into the fairgrounds lot.
Teresa and I have fantasized about working at the Fair. We have a place we could stay. We'd get into the Fair for free, and we could replenish our coffers. But we don't know if we want to commit to ten days of six hour shifts. An option would be to volunteer. We'd get our free admission and the shifts are only three hours.
The Fair is all about show and excitement. But a couple of bucolic nooks have been preserved, where a person can retreat from the hubbub. These little touches endear the Fair to me.
The Yellowstone Park of the State Fair
You know, I have never been to a state fair. That just doesn't seem fair.
ReplyDeleteHere's your big chance: Kansas State Fair over in Hutchinson, September 9-18.
DeleteHow did you do in the Spare Tire Carrying Contest? I remember you won it in 2008. Tougher competition out there fourteen years later? Remember, you're no spring chicken anymore.
ReplyDelete