State Fair
I spent all day on Saturday at the Minnesota state fair. As a kid, I used to go to the fair every year with my family. I don't remember everything we used to do, but I remember having a lot of fun running around the fairgrounds by myself, seeing the different exhibits and such. When I was a bit older, around the college years, I went to the fair frequently with friends, and having a very enjoyable time as well, though things were on a different level. (My senior year of college, my roommate Peter and I lived about two blocks south of the fairgrounds, and so we walked over and went to the fair several times during that week.) I remember going through the haunted house, just once, with a girl I was semi-dating at the time. (Going to the haunted house alone is just not something to do.) There have been a lot of years lately that I no longer go to the fair. Last year I went and met up with my friend Bill and his family. That was a fun day -- experiencing the fair with young children was something I hadn't been able to do before.
This year I went up to the fair with my friend Erin and her husband Ryan. We got up to the fairgrounds around 10:30, and after half an hour or so, we split up. I spent about seven hours at the fair, wandering around, looking at stuff, and trying to avoid the periodic downfalls of rain -- which I was able to do pretty well. At the first hint of rain, I'd duck into a nearby building and wait it out. Because of this, I spent about 30 minutes watching a cattle show in the Colisseum -- not something I'd normally do. Actually, I just wanted to spend the time sitting down. Other than that brief moment, I spent most of the seven hours walking around. I'm used to being on my feet most of the day, but there are always moments when I can sit down and take a load off, if you will. By 5:00 p.m., I was tired out and ready to go home. I couldn't, though, as Erin and I had volunteered to work at the Education Minnesota (our statewide teachers' union) booth that evening from 6-9. It was a very enjoyable experience, and I had a good time talking with all the people who came through (except for one rather scary guy). We were helping create calendars that EM was giving out. We'd take pictures with a digital camera that we then sent directly to a printer which printed them atop a sheet calendar of the school year with our logo on it. It makes for a pretty nice keepsake from the fair and created lots of goodwill with our "clientele." It was a nice end to the day, which otherwise found me getting pretty frustrated with the general idiocy of the public, in that I was able to talk briefly with people as they were waiting for their calendars to print, and, as I said, most everyone was very friendly and pleasant. Kind of restored my faith in people a bit, I guess. But it was a long, tiring day overall, and I'm glad I've had two days to just sit around home and rest up before going back to work tomorrow.
This year I went up to the fair with my friend Erin and her husband Ryan. We got up to the fairgrounds around 10:30, and after half an hour or so, we split up. I spent about seven hours at the fair, wandering around, looking at stuff, and trying to avoid the periodic downfalls of rain -- which I was able to do pretty well. At the first hint of rain, I'd duck into a nearby building and wait it out. Because of this, I spent about 30 minutes watching a cattle show in the Colisseum -- not something I'd normally do. Actually, I just wanted to spend the time sitting down. Other than that brief moment, I spent most of the seven hours walking around. I'm used to being on my feet most of the day, but there are always moments when I can sit down and take a load off, if you will. By 5:00 p.m., I was tired out and ready to go home. I couldn't, though, as Erin and I had volunteered to work at the Education Minnesota (our statewide teachers' union) booth that evening from 6-9. It was a very enjoyable experience, and I had a good time talking with all the people who came through (except for one rather scary guy). We were helping create calendars that EM was giving out. We'd take pictures with a digital camera that we then sent directly to a printer which printed them atop a sheet calendar of the school year with our logo on it. It makes for a pretty nice keepsake from the fair and created lots of goodwill with our "clientele." It was a nice end to the day, which otherwise found me getting pretty frustrated with the general idiocy of the public, in that I was able to talk briefly with people as they were waiting for their calendars to print, and, as I said, most everyone was very friendly and pleasant. Kind of restored my faith in people a bit, I guess. But it was a long, tiring day overall, and I'm glad I've had two days to just sit around home and rest up before going back to work tomorrow.
posted by Kootch | 6:56 PM
3 Comments:
Wow! How lazy are you? TWO DAYS to sit around and do nothing after a day at the fair?
I've only been to the State Fair a few times in my life. My brother was in charge of a display which included a large, animatronic fish -- Lawrence the Lake Trout. My brother would sit in a booth and talk to people passing by, eventually talking about water pollution. I remember having fun getting to be in the booth and play the part of the talking fish for maybe half an hour.
Dear anonymous: not so lazy as to include my name with my comments.
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