Saturday, July 3, 2010

A part time carnie

I am a carnival worker, for one week a year. Yup, that is right - I volunteer my evenings at the town carnival. Some think I am a little crazy. A carnie is someone who runs a booth/game/ride/food stand at a carnival.

Carnivals date back to pre-christian times but became even more popular during through the religious time before lent. As many of you know during lent you were/are not supposed to eat meat (carne) and parties were not held. The carnivals were a celebration by the whole community and often masquerades, parades which had some elements of a circus and such took place before you gave those things up.
The volunteer fire department hosts the week long carnival as a fundraiser, which does start off with a parade. Way back in the day not only did the department host the carnival but they also rolled up their sleeves and sold food/drinks. That is where I got my foot in the door. I helped them collect food tickets/flip burgers etc. I LOVED it. It was a rush, the line, helping people, serving them. It was a good time. A few years back they decided that they would no longer be cooking themselves and outsourced that to town restaurants that wanted vendor space. I was then volunteered by my father to work in the ticket cage where there is a large sum of cash. Since I worked in a bank, and I am fast and 99-100% accurate, my father asked if I can help, and I have been ever since. The food was great, but the ticket sales is more action packed and at the end of the night, you hope for the draw to be even.

The hard part about working the ticket sales for the rides is that you share the same till with someone else. My first year if we were over/short and I was convinced it wasn't me, I would have no way of knowing. So far this year we have been dead on for the last three nights, which of course is fabulous.
Of course you think, Ohhh, you get to work with firemen? They can be sexy...well, not necessarily in my town! I have know some of these guys for years. Some are nice, some are married and some are single and for excellent reasons. In the last 4 years I have been on dates with two guys. The first guy was so nice and we went a bunch in one summer, I wasn't ready to date, but I tried, and the kid refused to kiss me or anything! I think he just never really dated - maybe he is gay...I don't know. I still see him and he is still such a nice guy. The second guy is the guy I went to Mexico with last month, I just re-labeled him 'doofy' in this blog (read some of his stories) he is a big (not fat, not muscular, tall but with lots extra) guy with a nice smile with super crooked teeth and outgoing but with an ego that is larger than I have seen. He is outspoken and harsh and essentially the complete opposite of me. {who when I saw yesterday, on his 35th bday, walks into the carnival holding hands with some gal and made a point to tell me he has a girl friend....WOW, good, believe me I am NOT jealous. the LAST thing I want is you to think about me or think that I want you.}
ANYWAY....I am getting side-tracked. So the firemen in this department are not really for me, so one hopes to meet single dads at the carnival. You would think this would be an excellent place. The father has the kid(s) on the weekend and needs something do to. As most fathers, they tend to do 'fun' thing with their kids if the mother is the one that has them 90% of the time, she does fun things with them, but she disciplines them more and has more of a routine...the dad's though, they need to make up for the divorce and they tend to spoil the kids with fun things (maybe because many don't know how to do other things with them( [note: this is just from what I have seen/witnessed - I am by no means an expert]. But surprisingly not too many appear to be single.
I was sorta hit on tonight. This one guy was buying tickets for two older kids and I had to explain XYZ about ticket quantity and cost, and he said what happens if I have extra tickets? I reply - one can go on another ride, give them to someone else, or purchase more individually. He replies, well, maybe you & I can go on a ride together. I giggle, and reply, perhaps. yeah, I didn't see him the rest of the night, which was OK with me. The second kid (and yes KID is the operative word) didn't hit on me, but just said "wow, I love the way you just said "absolutely" wow that was great". Cute.

No comments:

Post a Comment