The Arlington County Fair stays up past its bedtime
If you go to the Arlington County Fair, do not go at night. In a county of rising gang violence and hulking condo glut, the annual escape into country life is apparently a necessary evil. The fair keeps county workers from their families, requires keeping the lights on at county buildings, and makes the county put on a damn smile and pretend to be friendly for far too long.
As quickly as the grumpy fair workers kicked us out of the exhibition hall Friday night, minutes after they'd let us in, you could tell their speed … well, they were a bunch of jerks. The cops grimaced. The fair officials glared and said they had worked the whole day. That's what we got for wandering into the building at closing time. It was no "We have to close up now" but instead "You need to leave the building." Through the exit where no one had entered, to the dark side of the building where no one had been. But it was like we had broken into the building and spat in the 1st prize cucumber bread. And we would have been fine to go. If just one of the people inside had been friendly, the fair would've ended on a nice note. But in five minutes they ruined the whole night. And Allie's henna tattoo, which the artist was painting as they were glaring.
It's typical Arlington. Everything works until something doesn't, and then it's clearly your fault. The county doesn't deal well with people. Service is a pain, not a way of doing business. The county welcome wagon is a garage crawl for out-of-state plates, and you hope you can live the rest of your municipal life over the Web.
5 PEOPLE I WOULD RATHER FIGHT WITH AT THE COUNTY FAIR
1. The strong man. Because it would be a good story.
2. The pig-racing announcer guy. Because he lost me money.
3. The ferris wheel operator. Because his name isn't Ferris.
4. The alpaca. Because it fights crazy cartoon kangaroo style.
5. The deep-fried Oreo makers. Because they'd probably throw Oreos.
August 21st, 2007 at 6:52 PM
At least you didnt eat the display fried chips..
August 21st, 2007 at 8:18 PM
If you hadn't found out they were the display chips, what would your review of them have been?
August 22nd, 2007 at 5:29 AM
I was already thinking – I can't believe Katie spent money on these — they're cold and need salt … as I reached for another…
My review of the veggie wrap — WORST PITA EVER. Also, needs more Tahini. Also, a waste of money.
The Oreos won. Oh, and the cheese fries. And the pig races.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:27 AM
Can't argue on the pita. It was like they took some other bread and painted it to look like pita.