The Fair Delusion

Fairs have such a whimsical air about them. Cotton candy, rides, zeppoles, and small adorable shops. It is shown to be the most romantic budget date, especially on a first one. Blasphemy, that's what I say. Every bit that we're shown online, in books, cartoons, and movies is a lie. While the fair does contain quite a bit of fun, it is still not all its cracked up to be.

Early this month my boyfriend and I went to the New Jersey State Fair, fondly known as the Sussex County Fair by locals. Ever year I get super excited to go, thoughts of romantic rides and sharing fair snacks buzzing about my head. Reality: usually we fight on the way, I get sick off of fried foods, I get scared of rides, we both lose all our money on something stupid, and neither of us can win a single prize. If you didn't realize, it's a highly unromantic day. We still have fun, that is, until we leave and realize that we're broke and queasy. Of course the destruction derby is always TONS of fun, but that's about it. This year we decided that I was going to break my fear of heights and go on the Ferris wheel. I'd like to point out that I violently held onto the center pole the whole time and cried. The cart (or whatever it's called) swayed back and forth as if to taunt me. I easily recognized that 1. There were no seat belts 2. They really enjoyed stopping me at the very top and 3. If I fell there was no possible way I'd survive. Really. The reality is this: fairs are expensive and quite the ripoff unless you have money to blow. There was nothing romantic about being bloated from greasy fried foods (no matter how delicious they were) and nothing fun about spending more than $50 on food and $100 on games that there was no chance of winning at.

My conclusion: the fair isn't actually this whimsical place of romance and youthful joy. It's a lot of being ripped off and not quite as perfect as the media would like to make it seem. While they're not all bad, it's without a doubt wrapped in a whole lot of lies.