Cliffhanger November 17, 2003 Gorilla Girl  « Previous Main Next » Why oh why would you want to waste your time and your dollar (much less ten) on this man? He's there to rip you off right? He's a con man, right? His joint is fixed. Those rims are too small, the sun is in your eyes, you can't win. Right? I hear parents leading their children down the midway giving them this exact speech as if these people they're talking about don't have ears. It's disrespectful at it's core but most jointies have learned to just ignore it. The thing I think some people have forgotten or perhaps never knew in the first place is that the jointy is there by virtue of his or her personality. He is a talker, of the first order. He talks to people, strangers, all day, every day. If given the chance and a few dollars, he will teach you how to play the game, talk you through it, be your cheerleader, and entertain you while you play (NOTE: this never works if you are standing there bitching about how he's robbing you) He has a variety of people skills which if encouraged, can make you laugh until your face hurts. Now, your basic pizza delivery guy can't do that (or supply you with a toy) and you don't hesitate to give him a few bucks. Right? Let's jump to the money part, speaking of a few bucks, and use those "non-regulation" rims as the example. First of all, this 'aint the 'NBA.' This is the CBA. Those smallish rims are there because you couldn't have a bigger advantage starting off. In relation to the basket you're about where Michael Jordon would be if he already had two feet of air under him. If my friend David Mann (pictured above) were to climb up there and mount himself a set of "regulation" rims, he wouldn't have any toys left at the end of the day, which might lead him another problem.... Say you want one of those gold bears, there on the right. And say, you're very lucky and you manage to sink that ball on the first shot. Well, in some cases, not all, the guy you won it from, the jointy, now owes his boss somewhere in the neighborhood of eleven dollars plus the dollar you gave him. Could be, he just got to work and hasn't even made eleven dollars yet. If it's a slow day and a lot of people win - it's conceivable that he could go home owing somebody money. Is everybody still with me? This is not to say that jointies don't make some money, they do. You can recognize the best one sometimes by the wad of dollar bills in his hand or by the crowd around the joint. Even if you don't win the toy, you can't lose if you are paying attention. You might find out for example that he comes from a long line of people who have webbed feet. Now I'm sorry but that's worth some money, even if it's a lie. You know? (It wasn't a lie and it wasn't David from above; David spent some time as "The Gorilla Girl" and the "Two Hundred Pound Man Eating Chicken", a story which had me gasping for air and made "webbed feet" sound pretty tame). Finally, on the statement,"You can't win." Of course you can win. If you look up and down the midway you'll see plenty of winners. They spent some money winning but it was fun, like going to the arcade or going bowling. You can't win if you don't play. So the next time you hear a jointy yell, "Hey 'Big Money'" and you know he's talking to you...just stop in your tracks and look him straight in the eye. And listen up because the next thing that comes out of his mouth is gonna' be his best line. One in wins. permalink Comment Gallery: People |
ABOUT This is a story about carnies, living and working on the road. It's about a culture of people in America who get less respect than they deserve because of the entertainment industry and other media, who continue to either promote the same shallow stereotypes or sensationalize them, with their own imaginations. They're already sensational. This brief web journal is about them and for them. Text and photos ©SUSAN ADCOCK unless otherwise noted. Thanks for looking. GALLERIES Setup/Teardown Midway Midway Art People High Wire Winter Quarters Gibtown Ground Score State Fair Tijuana Teardown Shirts Backlot Parts Department Wilson County Fair TN State Fair 2008 TN State Fair 2009 Vintage BEST OF Carny Rap For the Kids Gorilla Girl Dirty Laundry Two Jimmys The O Boys The Ride Jock The Skywheel Call Me in the Morning The Negotiation Balloon Joint LINKS AmusementLink OneSource Amusement Today Matt's Carnival Warehouse Tilt-A-Whirl 5 cent ride Sideshow World Coney Island Blog JKirlin on Fiesta Shows Ripley's: Have You Heard? Majestic Greater Shows Diary of a Carny Casa Flamingo The Flat Joint Pitcherlady Carny Dog ARCHIVE November (2009) October (2009) September (2009) August (2009) July (2009) June (2009) May (2009) April (2009) March (2009) February (2009) January (2009) December (2008) October (2008) September (2008) August (2008) July (2008) June (2008) May (2008) April (2008) March (2008) February (2008) January (2008) December (2007) November (2007) October (2007) September (2007) August (2007) July (2007) May (2007) April (2007) March (2007) February (2007) January (2007) November (2006) October (2006) September (2006) August (2006) July (2006) June (2006) May (2006) April (2006) March (2006) February (2006) January (2006) December (2005) November (2005) October (2005) September (2005) August (2005) July (2005) June (2005) May (2005) April (2005) March (2005) February (2005) January (2005) December (2004) November (2004) October (2004) September (2004) August (2004) July (2004) June (2004) May (2004) April (2004) March (2004) February (2004) January (2004) December (2003) November (2003) October (2003) September (2003) August (2003) |
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