My First 5 Weeks Working Games

I have been in the carnival industry since I was 26. Before that I worked three seasons in the side show independent concessions field. So I have quite a bit of experience traveling around this great nation. I mostly stay east of the Mississippi. I did break into the games in Texas though. My first spot in the games was at the Texas State Fair in Dallas. I had just left the Oklahoma State Fair after working a one man beer stand in an 8X12 plywood shack. My first jump on my own was from Oklahoma City in Oklahoma County in Oklahoma State (Had to throw that in their) on my way to Dallas. I worked out a deal with a guy, who was at the motel where I was staying for the fair. He didn't work the carnival or at the fair in any capacity, but he coincidentally was headed for Dallas on Wednesday, three days after the Oklahoma State fair was over. The deal was I split the fuel with him and that was a little better than paying bus fare. I had him drop me at a motel in Dallas not far from the State Fairgrounds. The next day I went to the lot and had to pay to get in, $7 I might add, which was a whole lot in 1989. I walked all around this very large facility asking for jobs from all the stands, other than the rides or the games. The only job that I could get was washing cars for a dealership, and it wasn't everyday. My money was going to get funny if I didn't get some kind of permanent employment. I had to ask the games people. I did and was hired in my first game ever on October 3, 1989. I didn't want to work the games because my whole life, of 26 years plus, I had been conditioned that all games were rip-offs. I had to do something though. I worked a Birthday game, one in which a person puts their money on a color in hopes it was the one the ball rolled in, for two days. I realized that I was only getting $35 on the weekdays and $50 on the weekends. That wasn't enough. I was spending $38 a day for a cab to and from the fair and a motel. I told my boss and he put me in a bushel basket for a percentage. I did pretty good there. I made more money in those 19 days than any three week period of my life. I did know that Dallas was one of the better fairs in the country and still wasn't into the games yet, by choice. Now as the carnival goes the spot was over and I had already decided to go all the way to Charleston, South Carolina for the fair there. I worked out a deal again for a ride where I would pay my share of a five way split on the gas. I was riding with two guys that weren't real carnies by any means and two veteran carnies. One of the carnies talked to himself the whole way to Charleston, over 900 miles. Lucky for me I had worked with the mentally ill as a resident coordinator three years prior. I had some experience with mentally unstable people. The other carny told me several times that he would be alright, stating that he is o.k. once he's behind the counter (in the game). We get to Charleston and I grabbed a job selling western wear. After 1 1/2 days of the owners' wife messing with my customers I had had enough. And the same carny fella, that stuck up for the crazy guy, had been telling me that he could hook me up in a game again. he told me I was a "natural" at the games. I worked a game again and the guy I was working for was also kind of shot out. I made good money again and was relatively sold on the games, I guess I was a natural. So I went down the road traveling with this new boss and his group of bonafide bandits. I have been in the game business ever since. It's one of those jobs that is not for the faint of heart. you can't be too scared of meeting people and getting into tight spots traveling around with the shows no matter what your job. I'll be hanging with my relatives or someone else that has taken the more regular path of life, you know a job and a house, and the car get's a flat tire. It is like a major catastrophe. I always end up chuckling, because to me, a flat tire is nothing. We carnies have a saying that fits the flat tire episode to a tee, "They can slow us down, but they can't stop us". This story is only 5 weeks long in my carnival life and I left out so much. So much is happening all the time that it makes even serious problems seem like just another setback. What is a major dilemma to someone living in every day society is another day at the office to a carny. I created the web site http://uscarnys.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sam_Staffen