The Carnival - Quick Rundown

I work for a carnival show called Fiesta Shows. Yes, you could label me a carnie, I do, as well as all my friends and family, but when you use this label please make sure you have a full of understanding of the meaning. I'm not talking about the Webster's Dictionary definition, I'm talking about what it really means to be carnie. And also understand there are different types of carnies, and there are impostors, and of course there are many hater.

Let me start by saying if you worked in a cotton candy stand one summer at your local fair, you are not a carnie. To be able to carry this label and all its weight you have to know what it's like to work through numerous spots, rushed one night tear-downs, and many long wet set-ups. In my opinion working long term at any carnival is one of the hardest jobs a person can know. I am heading into my third season with this show, starting in March. At this point I would not even begin to assume I know everything there is to know about carnival life, but with each season I am getting a bigger and better view of what it is like. I have become close with many new and old friends of the show, some are in their first season, some were born on the road. I'm thankful for my ability to make friends and relate to anyone I meet, this helps me get a better understanding of different lifestyles. Though I may not have been around for the times when so and so got fired for speaking obscenities on a mic, or the time when a beloved boss passed away, the stories I am told are fascinating and give me an idea of how close this carnival family really is.

So far I have experienced what it is like to tear down, setup, and operate a ride, I have worked in a cotton candy "floss" stand as well as a fried dough, and I have tried my hand in working in games like a bank-a-ball, the fish-r-jumpin, and a balloon store. I now am employed by a great boss, Chirs Chagros, whom owns the highest grossing water games on the mid-way. Since working for Chris I have worked in three of his water gun races, and my favorite, the flipper. I am payed well, I have fun in what I do, and I'm good at it. I still haven't decided yet what the best part of my job is; the traveling, the amusement and joy on customer's faces, the people I meet and my carnival family, or the work itself. I guess all of it has something to do with why I return each year, and why I will probably be back for many years.

Now many people, myself at one time included, have a perception of what a "carnie" is that they get from T.V., movies, books, and over-exaggerated news casts. You see them as greasy, toothless, drugged out, common criminals. Well let me start with an example that could prove just the opposite; I take a shower everyday, I have been told I have beautiful teeth, I have never once abused any substance, and my record is spotless, but, I am indeed a carnie. Don't get me wrong, there are folks that work at the carnival that my not have the best hygiene and have problems of their own, but its not as widespread as you may think. In fact the majority of the ride operators are from South Africa and are between the ages of 18 and 28 and are doing this job just to see America or to save money for their higher education back home.

Now the South African carnies are a subject on their own, but I will give you a quick rundown. Each year for the past 5 or 6 years Fiesta Shows has hired 35 to 40 guys from South Africa to work from March to October. Though you have your bad seeds, the majority of these guys are some of the most respectful, hard-working, and considerate guys I have ever met. Every guy has his own reasons for working with the carnival. They want to see America, they want to save money for college, they would like to move here and look into visa's, or they just thought it would be a fun experience. Almost any ride you get on at a Fiesta Shows event will have 1 or more South African working on it. They are almost all Caucasian and you can't even tell they are foreign until you have an actual conversation with them and you can pick up on the accent. each year I work at the carnival I find these guys to be some of the most fun and genuine people I have had the pleasure of making friends with, I love them like the rest of my carnival family,and though few return more than once, they are very hard to forget or replace.

Of course I could go on and on and maybe write a book about the carnival, which someday would be fun to do, I shall end this entry here. Fair warning, the majority of my blogs will mostly be about the carnival, people I have met there, and events that have happened. Know this, I have been nice this time and tried to watch how much carnie lingo i use so you are not completely lost when reading this, but from here on out I will not spell everything out. Below I provided a short, kinda cool list of definitions of some typical carnival terms and abbreviations. Hope someone has found my insight interesting, have a good one.


Here are the first Ten translations
SAs - South Africans
Floss - Cotton candy and candy apple stands
Ride Jock - person whom operates a ride
Jointies - person whom works in a game
Food jointies - person whom works in a food stand
Bosses - any ride supervisor, game, ride, or food owner
House trailers - campers that we live in
Mid-way - the fair grounds with any Fiesta Shows property operating on it
The Jump - when traveling from one spot to the next
Spot - the town in which we are set up in

I have included a link the the Fiesta Shows website below, there you can view more information on employment, operations, and scheduling

Fiesta Shows

Tech. No. Log. Ic

As we all know the world we live in today is highly dependent on computers and cell phones and PDAs and whatever other technological devices everyone uses. My favorite is definitely the computer, partnered with the world wide web of course. This blog I have started here was suggested to me by and old friend I just recently fell into contact with again. My old music teacher from middle and high school, Andrea Nichols.

Let me start by saying this woman was one of my idols when I was younger. She really made me believe it was ok to be me, I could sing, I could play, and I could say whatever I wanted to. Though I attempted the flute, then the trombone, then the baritone, and failed at all, singing has continuously been a huge part of my life. In fact my sole dream and goal in life is to be able to show my face on Broadway some day, which I can also accredit to my middle and high school drama teachers Caryn Vinson and Beth Goodwin.

But my point here is how amazing is it that we can enter a name from the past into a search bar and be presented with their entire present life on facebook or myspace or whatever site you prefer. I sometimes, just out of curiosity, enter names from way back in the day just to see who they are now and what they are doing. As much as I, or anyone else complains about the mishaps and inconveniences of today's technologies, you have to admit, some of it is pretty cool.

So if you're bored enough to read my blogs, then you have tome to reconnect with old friends, or make new ones. Check out one of these site and see if you think its as great as the majority of the world's population does.
Facebook
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