save ferris

the first day of promos was thursday (makeoutmannequinday). on saturday, i had a fun run of following around a mascot-uniformed bookworm, taking polaroids with my team onfoot. this proved to be a long but pretty fun day of seeing happy kids (and adults). that same sunday, the teenage mutant ninja turtles were present, and another team of us was assembled who spent most of the day playing carnival games with kids inside the mall. some people wanted to be stationed outside on parking lot duty (watching cars pull in and out of spots safely - or not safely, if you were in bland's row). you even got to use those little flight-landing sticks to guide people in. for those wanting a tan and less mall-lighting, this was desirable. i chose outdoors.

luckily, my first shift proved even greater when i got to work - gasp - the ferris wheel. there was a fair-like ferris wheel assembled in the parking lot that kids and parents were eager to ride. i was interested in becoming a carnie and imagining that i was 16 working at wyandot lake, pulling the levers on the baracuda or watching kids puke on the octopus or scrambler.

but, soon the job became more hard than what you'd expect. my position became the ultimate sad one - the person who had to tell kids they were too short to ride, and hold a height-stick next to their tear-stained cheeks. a little of my afternoon was spent convincing kids it wasn't that fun anyway, and high-fiving their sobs away.

stupid growing.