2237 Un-Fair

I was at a community fair recently and like most such events it offered the opportunity to appreciate humanity and its creations in all its diverse glory. Happy kids, sad kids, kids screaming in fear at creepy clowns. Kids nearly getting run down by miniature trains while parents looking at their phones ignored them.

One lady came up to my booth. Her kid reached for some candy. "Say 'thank you'" she admonished. "Thank you," the kid said. Then the parent took another piece and started to walk off. 

"Say 'thank you,'" I said.

She smiled sheepishly, well aware she'd been caught in one of those "Do as I say, not as I do" moments we've all faced as parents.

I noticed something interesting about today's fair food too: Traditional food repackaged in less messy ways. Like cotton candy in a bag. 

I'm not sure how I feel about it. One the one hand, it's not sticking to your hand as bad. And plucking it from a bag means it won't droop on the paper holder. But I think I'd miss the facial feel of the old days. The light brush of spun sugar tickling my cheeks as I tried to eat it. Then again, one rain burst and you no longer have cotton candy, just dripping goo on a stick.

Speaking of dripping, that's the other repackaged item I noticed. Snow Cones in big plastic containers --- with spoons.  Again, a breakaway from using your face to forage for food. Inventing a cheap throwaway plastic container so you can eat a snow cone with a spoon. How dainty. And un-fair like.

Of course, it wasn't actually a snow cone. It was Hawaiian Shaved Ice.

Which always makes me wonder: How hairy was the ice to begin with...?

America, ya gotta love it.