creative writers' blog

my first trip to the state fair - a gut retching yet romantic experience

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It’s almost fair time again so I thought I would share about my rather adventurous first visit to the fair in 1980.

She was a dark eyed cutie, a senior at Cary High School working at the Hudson Belk, and I was a skinny shy guy, two years out of high school working at the record store on the other side of the mall. In those days what is now referred to as Cary Towne Center was called Cary Village Mall and it was a fraction of the size it is today. She and I had exchanged pleasantries and flirted a little, but I considered her out of my league based on her tall and buff college athlete boyfriend.  I later heard through intermediaries that she had broken up with him, and had said she “thought I was nice”, yet I could not build up the courage to ask her out. As fate would have it I didn’t need to because through some behind the scenes maneuvers facilitated by common friends, I was designated her date in a group of mostly Cary High School students who were going to the upcoming state fair. It was only my second full year in North Carolina so I didn’t know much about the fair, but it didn’t matter to me where we were going, just that this girl I had admired for months would be with me.

I was not, and am still not intrigued by amusement park rides. Even as a child attending county fairs in Western New York, I was more interested in the exhibits and food than the rides and games of the midway. I don’t like heights, do not enjoy being jostled around and I usually felt a touch queasy after getting spun.  All of that said, I had decided that this fair was going to be different. I was older now, and was going to the fair with a girl who at that moment was the girl of my dreams. Having been a sort of social outcast during high school, the move to North Carolina had offered me the opportunity to reinvent my image. I convinced myself that I was now a hip young adult, and so I was supposed to ride crazy rides, and act wild just like all the other young hip adults. I had come of age, was now a cool dude, part of the in crowd, and most importantly I needed to demonstrate to this lovely young lady that I was a fun guy worth spending time with.

When we arrived at the fair on that perfect chilly fall evening, I was amazed at the size and scope of it. The county fairs I had attended in my youth were tiny by comparison. The cool crisp air, the colorful lights and varied smells are something I still look forward to each year.  After some awkward moments my date and I just sort of connected by osmosis. She was a very affectionate girl, and to the surprise of the rest of the group, in no time we looked the complete couple, cuddling and holding hands as if we had been together for months. My youthful male ego started to ponder if she had been harboring the same feelings for me as I had her. I’m sure I had an arrogant Barney Fife like expression on my face while wading through the crowd under the blazing lights with a gorgeous girl on my arm.

I would have been perfectly happy to wander the night away hand in hand with my new sweetheart, but she and the rest of the group would have none of that. To the midway! Came the cry, and off we went to where all the fun is supposed to be. I have walked the midway many times since that night, and it all appears the same to me. Walking down the dusty path I was spellbound by the blinking and colorful lights, the age guessers looking for takers, game vendors imploring me to win a prize for my sweetheart, and smells ranging from fried doe to diesel fuel.  The games, food and fun houses were for later, first on the agenda was, the rides!

We started at the Pirate Ship, a giant swinging ship the likes of which I had never seen. The line was long and in between pecks, nuzzles, hugs, and admiring glances with my new love, I watched the lumbering ship full of screaming riders swinging back and forth like massive pendulum. I decided that it didn’t appear to be all that bad, and it would be a good ride to start out with. When we got on I had hoped to get one of the seats near the front where I had deduced the impact of the swinging would be lessoned, but my girl grabbed my hand excitedly pulled me to “the best” seats at the very back. Not what I wanted, but I put on my “cool dude” face and tried to look smug and confident. As the swinging started I knew I wasn’t going to enjoy it much, but I kept thinking, I can handle it and this pretty girl clutching my arm is more than worth the effort. Through gritted teeth I played my role, yelling and raising my hands in pseudo joy like the other cool people, at the same time wishing it would end quickly.  Higher and higher we went until it felt like we were upside down and the whole thing was going to do a complete loop. Mercifully, we started slowing down, a group of kids ahead of us booed in disappointment. Quite abruptly, on the last couple swings a touch of nausea hit me. The ride stopped before it got any worse, and it quickly subsided so I wrote it off as nothing but first ride jitters and resumed my cool dude persona.  One down!

Next up was the Enterprise, one of the hottest rides at the fair that year. The line was extremely long so I had lots of time to think about how much I did not like the looks of it. It looked like a giant pinwheel, with the riders at the tips of the wheel. First you spin with the wheel sideways, then it lifts you up so you spin end over end like a water wheel. The cool dude in me was being put to the test, but a flash of her beautiful smile kept me focused. I can handle this, I tell myself once more with far less confidence than on the pirate ship. When we finally reached the platform she once more grabbed my hand and ran to an available car. Her excitement at riding countered my unease. We got into the car and sitting in back with her in front pressed close to me momentarily took my mind of the stress of what was about to happen. I tensed up as the giant wheel our car was attached to started spinning, and only moments into the ride the nausea I had felt earlier returned full force. We were spinning at full speed still parallel to the ground, when the thankfully dry heaves started. I would eternally be grateful to the person who suggested I save room for all the great food there is available at the fair, otherwise I would have committed an act that would almost certainly guarantee the termination of the relationship at that moment. People often complain about rides being too short, I thought this one wound never end. Oblivious to the plight of her suitor, my sweetie whooped it up end enjoyed herself as the arm lifted the giant wheel until it was spinning like a Ferris wheel on steroids. My world became an agonizing blur, my stomach desperate to find something to empty from itself, turned inside out. I hoped she didn’t know what was happening to me as I gagged and heaved in complete misery behind her on this so called fun and exciting ride.

No ailment, flue, hangover, food poisoning, could compare to what I was feeling when that infernal thing finally stopped, never in my life had I felt as bad. She popped out of the car first and in the last attempt to retain the cool dude image, I tried to follow her, but due to extreme dizziness had to grab the car to keep from falling in the process. She turned to look at me and the expression on her face looked like something out of a cheesy horror film where a girl’s boyfriend turns into a Werewolf right before her eyes. I was so pale and bleary that I think she was wondering if I was the same guy who got on the ride with her. Embarrassed, I tried again to follow her but my equilibrium was shot so I stumbled and caused a bit of commotion. An older man and some guys from our group helped me to my feet and guided me off of the ride platform with hundreds of fair goers’ eyes watching me. In the 27 years I have attended the fair since that time I have never seen anyone helped off a ride because of dizziness so it must have been a spectacle.

I thought I heard a woman’s voice saying something about not drinking alcohol before riding and I wanted to argue, but lacked the strength. This could have been one of my most embarrassing moments, but I felt so horrible that nothing mattered except away from that ride and getting somewhere I could lay down. The cool dude had been replaced by something that what one friend later described as looking like walking corpse. They found a bench to lay me down and my aching head kept spinning even as I laid still. A crowd hovered over me, someone suggested getting help. I conjured up the thought of medical personal attending to me and implored to them “No! I’ll be OK, I just need to rest. I’m just dizzy, I don’t drink...” I heaved some more.

Recovery was slow and over the next few hours the group of young and spry adults I came with now had the equivalent of an elderly and tipsy uncle with them. They had to assist me when moving and find places to sit me when they decided to ride something. Much of that time was a blur, but I do recall that my dream girl was an absolute sweetheart to me. She made sure I was comfortable, conjured up some aspirin and tic tacs, prodded me to take some sips of Coke and nibble crackers to settle my stomach. She offered to sit with me instead of going on rides until I insisted she go enjoy the fair. I imagined that surely she had it for me bad if she was sticking with someone who on a first date had nearly thrown up on her.  Gradually, I started to feel better and by late in the evening had only a lingering headache and a twinge of dizziness. By about 11 I was back to about 85% functional and was noticing my date once more.  I knew I could really fall for this girl, actually I already had.

The night was nearly over, and I relished that it was time to leave. As a last hurrah the group wanted to ride the Himalaya. I immediately balked at the idea, but they implored me to come, assuring me that this old staple of a ride was nothing like the Enterprise. “No one gets sick on it.” They said. My adorable date wanted me to go and she flashed that intoxicating smile at me while playfully begging me. One guy assured me that if I closed my eyes I would not get sick and that made sense to me. I was wary, but if the current love of my life wanted me on there, I would do it for her. Just before we got on I noticed a teenage girl getting off, her face was white, her eyes bleary, her walk unsteady…not good. For those who don’t know, closing your eyes actually makes motion sickness worse and needless to say, all of the progress I had made since riding the Enterprise was lost on another seemingly endless ride. “Do you want to go faster?” yelled the DJ, “Yeeessss!” came the replies, “Do you want to go backwards? “Yeeesss!” Love has a price and I paid it and then some.

Despite all of the ailments, the evening was not a complete loss. After another recovery period, my date and I ended up at her parent’s house where we sat on the porch swing and talked until the wee hours of the morning.  Much of the conversation was about what a jerk her ex was and how he had treated her like crud. I expressed sincere dismay that he could be that rude and inconsiderate to a girl as attractive and sweet as she. I promised her I would never do such a thing. It was just a sweet and romantic time I hoped would never end. Despite my less heaving for much of the evening, she still gave me a nice kiss goodnight, and I held her a long time.

The drive home was more like a flight home.  I still remember the Pink Floyd song playing on the radio. The next day my shirt still smelled of her perfume and I didn’t want to wash it. Ah sweet youth, so many joys, yet so many pains. I thought my self in love with someone who felt the same way. I could not wait to see her again and take her on a date where it was just the two of us, but it was not to be. When I called her a few days later, she gently broke the news to me that she was back with her ex boyfriend. It seems that brawn beat out loving kindness in an 18 year old girl’s heart once again. Some of those teen romance plots on TV and movies actually have a touch of realism in them.  I would have long ago forgotten about her had it not been for the events of that night.

I know this was long so I appreciate your reading it!

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