One of the highlights of my childhood in San Diego was the once a year visit we got to make to the Southern California Exposition in San Diego (which we called the Del Mar Fair, and is now known as the San Diego County Fair).
When my oldest sister was 16 she
had taken a job as a ticket seller on the midway and my younger brother and I were able to ride any of the rides for free, as many times as we wanted.
It was heaven.
Today I paid a visit to the fair for the first time in about three decades. I was nearly overcome with nostalgia. Everything about the place reminded me of a part of my gloriously misspent youth.
Try not to piss your pants
My first real employment was as a ride jock for Western Pacifc Shows, which provided the rides for the midway.
The first year I worked the fair I had just turned 14. It was quite the educational experience which I hesitate to elaborate on. There are some things I'm pretty sure my Mom still really doesn't need to know
I ended up spending every summer after I turned 14 until I entered the USAF working for Western Pacific Shows, traveling north from San Diego to fairs in Costa Mesa, Vallejo, Turlock, Sacramento (that was the California State Fair, a great time), Pomona, and few other smaller places.
Other kids went to summer camp or on family vacations, I was a Carny.
I learned more about life from the four summers I worked as a Carny than most people learn in, well, a lifetime.
Most of what I learned was good, constructive - how to work, how to use tools, how to survive on my own, how to tell who was a threat and who was not.
That last bit was something that came about from some of the not so good things I learned - how to fight, drink, and related ne'er do well stuff. It's also where I picked up my cigar habit, as I wanted to look and act just like my boss, who smoked cheap-ass Swisher Sweets (I smoke cigars still, but not Swisher Sweets).
For the most part, Carny's were alright people. Of course, there were a few bad ones, but most of those got weeded out quick.
Every place we set up the rides new people would be hired - most were forty milers that only worked that show and would quit before we had to slough the rides and move on - some would stick it out for a few more shows. Very few became actual Carnys.
There were a few though that I would see every year. Twister Charley, SkyDive Mike, Toboggan Chuck (Who taught me everything about that ride), Woody the Electrician, and a number of jointies (Jointies work the joints, those games you play where you lose your money) like Bubbles (an aptly endowed woman with an obvious nickname), Billy who ran a dime-pitch, Westy who had a ladder-climb, and Anita who ran the freakshow.
I really should write a book about those summers.
Oops, I digressed a little. The 2013 San Diego County Fair in Del Mar. Much cleaner and much nicer than I remember it ever being. There are a tremendous amount of exhibits and shows to go along with the terrific Midway.
I'm too tired to write anymore tonight. Damn nostalgia trip sidetracked me. Oh well, just go to the Fair if you can, it's a good time for all.
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