Unhappy People at the Fair

What is it about angry people? I mean, I understand stupid people, and even cruel people. But when you go to a fair, you're there for fun.

Stupid and cruel people do have a sense if fun. In fact much more so than angry people. You've all seen angry people; you try not to let them impact your day -- or let your children see them spewing anger lest they pick up dangerous habits.

But what if you are charged with entertaining people at the fair? Well, first you learn that the collective consciousness is far less evolved than you thought. Then you run into -- thankfully few -- people who are just downright unhappy, and who don't mind turning their immediate purview into a hate fest.

I should have seen it. I mean who wears all black, including a black sweater, To the County Fair on a delightfully sunny June day? I'll tell you, it's the same kind of person who elbows an entertainer, who hoses ick ten people deep, and who causes people 20 feet away to say, "what's wrong with her? They're just trying to have a little fun."

And that is it. This person is so unhappy, so dark inside, so hate-filled that she not only can't have fun but fun actually hurts her. This would not bother me so much except that this woman I was toting a child in a stroller.

And that poor kid is going to grow up dealing with that woman and her palpable disgust with everything.

And if I could curse this woman, I could not give her a worse life. So I guess my only problem is that there is no one left to protect the child. And this is what keeps me awake on delightful June nights.