Day 167 - Fair Story

Fair Story

Matthew Ryan Fischer

Ben hated roller coast rides – he had a weak stomach and never had a taste for thrill or adventure. Roller coasters seemed like a death trap to him. He knew that there were smarter men than him – engineers and scientists and mathematicians – that made things like these work, but that didn’t matter. He wasn’t a paranoid person, but he had no desire to needlessly risk his own life. He had visions the machine would collapse or restraints would snap or some mechanism would break and he might end up flying off into space. He knew there was little need to fear, but that didn’t mean that fear went away.

Ben did enjoy a good county fair. There were bands and entertainment and plenty of food. Every year there were new things being deep fried – cookies and Twinkies and soda and all sorts of other sugary things. Ben enjoyed trying them all. He didn’t usually indulge in that much junk food, but special events called for special behavior and special treats. And every year they had new and unusual things to try. Last year it was marshmallows and jelly beans and chewing gum and butter. This year the trend was with normal foods that had been battered and fried. He had deep fried pizza, and a deep fried bacon burger, and washed it all down with deep fried beer and margaritas.

Ben had gone every night for four nights straight. It wasn’t that he was having that much fun; it was more that he had that little to do. He had played some carnival games watched a bluegrass band play, and was about to settle into some deep fried Kool-Aid, when he ran into a college friend Andrew. Andrew was there with two women, roommates. Ben didn’t understand how Andrew was so good at picking up women, but he was. In college Andrew had tried to teach Ben a thing or two about talking to women, but it never really stuck. Ben was shy when he should have been boisterous and talkative when he should have been asking her questions. He never trusted his instincts and thought his hobbies were strange and unappealing. He never had the confidence Andrew had. And he couldn’t fake it.

He did like hanging out with Andrew though. They were always exciting and fun times. And the women didn’t hurt either. Not that Ben went out with a lot of women because of Andrew, but he did enjoy having women around. He had always liked having female friends, even if he wasn’t very good at talking to them.

So Ben continued on with Andrew and the two roommates. When they went to a fun house, he went to the fun house. When they went to a haunted house, he went to the haunted house. And when they when to their first roller coaster ride, Ben begrudgingly went on the ride. They rode several rides – rides that shot up as fast as they could, rides that dropped down as fast as they could. They rode a ride that spun around in a circle so fast that they were pressed against the walls. The floor could drop out, but they stayed in place. It was after this ride that Ben threw up. He didn’t think this was going to help his chances with the roommates.