A Carny Family Reality Show?

Mike and I were talking to our friends the other day and we were laughing at the idea of having our own reality show. Since watching the Gosselin family fall apart that is definately the last thing I would want to do, but it did get me thinking. What kinds of things would be interesting to "viewers" about our life? What do we do really well? What do we struggle with? What do we take for granted as "normal" that most people would find unbelievable? That to me is the essence of reality t.v. So I thought I'd give some glimpses as to what it is like to be a carny family on the road, scooping ice cream for a living.

For starters, there is some lingo that we have picked up.

• Joint: Our concession is a "joint", so is any concession or game stand at the fair.
• Jump: When we move from one fair location to another we are jumping.
• Spot: the location that our joint is placed within the midway; also used to refer to the town we are in.
• Spot Fee: the amount we pay the fair company or rodeo association for our spot (usually a percentage of our sales)
• Set Up & Tear Down: Setting up the rides, concessions & game joints then taking them down again.
• Jennys: Generators
• Rig: Big trucks used for hauling the joints.
• Lot call: the time that carnys are requried to be manning their joints in order to get them clean and ready for when the ticket booths open. It is usually at least 1 hour before opening.
• Indys or Independants: People (like us) who own their own joint.
  

Some other small bits of fair culture include:

• Nick names. Mine is not that interesting, I'm the ice cream lady and I think Mike is the Ice cream guy. Some of the people we know are known as Budda, Shorty, Lougy, Tiny
• When passing by the bunk trailers do not peer in (that might not be fair culture as much as my own personal policy)
• It is important to be clean & shorn. Carnies have a bad historical reputation of being unkempt, which is understandable if you see their bunks, and think about how long they are on the road for with limited access to showers, sinks & flushing toilets. They all are required to have short hair cuts and wear clean clothes (black jeans & company t shirts & coats & hats). Needless to say, Mike finally cut his hair last week before joining up with the fair company. We don't have to wear uniforms, but I'd like to get some aprons & hats that we wear when working. I know there have been time where we have fallen short of the carny standard.
  
• No judgement. People out here come from every walk of life. There are mothers & fathers, accountants, electricians, druggies, philosophers, children, grandparents, Christians, Atheists, Muslims, and everything in between. What draws carnies together is a sense of family the group provides. Though people can be ornery, strange, sad, or lost, we are all together to create a successful fair. We all have to work together to make a good fair, everyone has their jobs to do. It is important not to judge. This is something that has become more and more clear to me the longer we travel with this group. Assume nothing, treat everyone with the respect, keep smiling and look for ways to encourage others. I'm not the only one with this philosophy, most carnies treat me with the kindness and familiarity I'd expect at a church on Sunday morning. In fact some of our churches could learn a thing or two out here, but that's another post.
• Stay alert, especially at night. Of course the fair at night is interesting, but it can also be dodgy. People drink too much, or are on other substances, fights start in the blink of an eye. So far we have had blood splattered on our white freezers once, and Mike has had to break up one fight in front of our booth. Both events happened with very little warning. Usually I'm not around when these things happen because I'm all cozy in our trailer with the kids. Please do not stop praying for our safety. Though the fair is supposed to be a fun place, it can also be dark and scary. For the most part though it is the patrons that I worry about. I know if I made one yell for help I'd have 5 or 6 carnies ready to jump in and fight for me. I pray that will never be necessary.
  
• Eating out. Even though I have a wonderful travel trailer with a fridge & freezer we seem to eat out a lot. Mostly for convenience because sometimes I just don't feel like cooking, or sometimes we have to drive all day. It is difficult to stay away from fair food and eating out.
• Swimming & parks. This is what we do in our down time (between shows). We always look for the pool and parks that are close enough to walk to. The kids love both. When we are working one of us can still take the kids to the park or for a walk. We try not to hang out at the fair with the kids because it gets expensive when they want to go on rides every day (though I can usually trade a ride for an ice cream instead of buying tickets).

That's a little glimpse into our life as carnies. Stay tuned for more carny reality.