The County Fair

Last weekend, Michael took me to the Rockbridge County Fair. It reminded me a lot of the Rosholt Fair that I used to go to every year in Wisconsin growing up.

My whole family would work together as part of the Village Church, along with many friends, to man the cheese curd booth, where we served deep fried cheese curds from 11 AM through 1 AM. For four solid days, I survived on curds, hamburgers, and all the fountain soda I could drink. I remember what a treat it was to drink a carton of milk after a couple of days! My hair would smell like fryer grease for several days, and my curd cravings would be satiated for twelve entire months.

There were no cheese curds in Virginia, but we still had a great time. I went on a new ride that was a real gut buster. It was a large pendulum - like the pirate ship rides - except that the carriage also turned in circles as it swung higher and higher from side to side. I have not felt that queasy from a ride in years...they are really upping the ante on these portable carnival rides!

Then, we spent 20 minutes watching a carney take a group of teenagers for $180. It was the smoothest, best played con I have probably ever seen in person.

The game was deceptively simple. Use 5 small discs to completely cover a larger circle. Of course, the dimensions were very precise - you had to drop each disc exactly. And the barker did it over and over to show just how easy it was! The prizes were amazing - an Xbox 360 + $100 was one of them. And plays were a steep $10 a pop. But the carney kept telling the guy that if he would double up, he would get the prize plus all the cash he had put in...There was much hemming and hawing, and peer pressure, and talk of how much he had already "invested" in the game, and it would be a shame to have it go to waste.

It was just incredible. The barker ended up giving the girlfriend a huge, nasty, sheriff-garb Spongebob Squarepants worth about $10 - maybe. He gave it to her out of pity, and I thought it added insult to injury. But she was too dense to realize it. It was truly fascinating!

Oh, and finally, the tractor-pushes-the-quarters game was definitely a money maker. They gave you 5 quarters for a dollar! I asked the guy if I could just cash in $5 and walk away, and he said "well, I try to keep an eye out for that kind of thing"...um, how much money are you making off this game that you can just give it away for free?!

Maybe I am in the wrong business. I want to be a carney.