I spent part of today helping to park cars at the Racine County Fair (a fundraising project for Holy Communion’s youth program)  and the perk for helping out – aside from the warm feeling of satisfaction you get in your heart, plus the ego boost of walking around in one of those bright yellow vests, brandishing an orange flag and bossing people around – is free admission to the fairgrounds.   And this time around,  Kathy decided that the time had come for her to return to the Racine County Fair for the first time since she was in middle school . . .  by my calculations her first visit to the Fair in 34 years.   You’d think there would have been brass bands on hand to welcome her back, but no such luck.  Maybe their feelings were hurt.

We had a wonderful time walking through the goat, sheep, rabbit and poultry barns –  watched a horse competition – and caught the last several minutes of a show featuring tightrope-walking tigers (really!)   but for me  the two most memorable moments of the day revolved around (surprise, surprise)  FOOD.  Our first stop on our whirlwind lunch tour was at the Union Grove 4-H booth, where the customers are served by a very impressive array of young people – some of them appearing to be maybe ten years old.  But someone had trained them well, and they knew exactly what to do.  Each one had their own order pad on which they checked off whatever that particular customer was ordering,   No question seemed too tough for them to answer.   And they were unfailingly polite!   Add to that amazingly reasonable, un-Fair-like prices and it was just about a perfect dining experience.

Just about perfect. . . because they were sold out of their sweet potato fries (horrors!)  which sent us down the way in search of our starch. . . to a place I’d seen a picture of on Mark Czerniec’s blog called “The Potato House”  –  for which he had high praise.  (And I trust my former WGTD colleague’s judgment on just about any matter.)  This is one of those traveling trailer places that one sees at fairs.   And when I saw a platter of delicious-looking Spiral Fries in the front window,  I knew we had come to the right place.  But then it all turned sour when I walked up to the order window to ask what came on their Loaded Baked Potato – and when the (female) clerk said “butter, sour cream, shredded cheese, and bacon bits,  but right now we’re sold out of. . . “  the guy huddled over the fryer barked “WE’RE OUT OF BACON BITS!  WHY TELL THE CUSTOMER WE’RE GOING TO PUT SOMETHING ON THEIR POTATO THAT’S SOLD OUT?!?”   And when this meek clerk rolled her eyes and started to explain herself, he cut her off with “DON’T EVEN BOTHER!”  And she just stared off into space with this completely exasperated (and hurt) look on her face – essentially leaving me standing there,  wondering if this transaction was ever going to be completed.   I’m not sure how many seconds went by before Kathy finally muttered under her breath  “Forget it”  and we were on our way.   It was such a distasteful moment on every possible level-  but my biggest regret was that I didn’t lean into the screen and bark right back at the guy “You just lost yourself an order, bub, by being such a jerk!”  –  although a small slice of me was also tempted to say to the clerk  “is it common for you to ignore customers while you stare off into space in a snit?”

It was only as I thought a little more about that whole exchange that I started wondering what it must have been like for those two to be stuck in that small, warm, cramped trailer all day long – – – and I was almost tempted to circle back there tonight just to see if they were still on duty and whether or not they had found a way to properly serve their customers.   And I wondered what it had been like yesterday – or what it would be like tomorrow . . . or what it would be like when they move on to the next fair, and to the one after that.  What a life.

And it made me think of the 4-H booth we had just visited, and the warm, solid, grounded sense of family there- including  the former student of Kathy’s who was behind that counter, along with her mom.   They may not have had multi colored light bulbs flashing everywhere to draw customers- it was a plain little building with a nondescript counter and the world’s most uncomfortable little stools to sit on-  but to me this is what eating at the fair should be all about.

 

pictured above:  one of the young clerks in this 4-H booth. By the way, you gotta love a food booth that charges $1 for a hot dog – and which sells homemade pie (rather than deep friend twinkies)  for dessert.