O Come to the Fair

In researching her book “Eastern Life: Past and Present,” Harriet Martineau, found American women obsessed with religion. Women have changed since 1870, especially their obsessions. I watched humanity pass by the non profit booth I tended on a Saturday night at a county fair. I saw a lot of people. I saw a lot of skin on the people. I noticed some clothes, Mostly lack of them.
There were short shorts, sleeveless shirts, very colorful, very tight. I doubt votive candles, prayer books, or sermons crossed the minds of the wide age range of the women appearing in various states of undress. There was lots of communion, though. Homo sapiens are social critters and come to a compete with tomatoes, potatoes, or livestock. Or to enjoy bucking horses, popular music, greasy pastries, and rich ice cream. Or to scream on twirling mechanical rides. When they get a real belly hunger, they choose foot long corn dogs, barbecued pigs, and buttered corn on the cob.
Now what is the obsession? The latest clothing, short and tight? The richest food, thick and sweet? The fastest rides, high and wide? It was just too much.
At midnight I picked my teeth, tugged at my muscle shirt, straightened my shorts, retrieved my horse and buggy from the dusty east forty, and drove home.
Naomi Sherer