i liked the crawfish festival up in tualatin oregon. they had these cool foam crawfish/lobster hats. mine finally died back in 2019, and the festival hasn’t happened again since.
the food was great, they had those great hats, they had a good music lineup, the vendors weren’t too cramped in (even though you’re only supposed to get a standard 10 foot x 10 foot booth they’d give us all a few extra inches), most of the vendors were good quality craft or food vendors (no MLM shit, though the only ones i’m familiar with back when i attended regularly were mary kay, amway and herbalife), the space was spread out enough to accommodate the crowd and the vendors but not so spread out that it looked empty, they had a free water spigot, there’s a lot of reasons.
for some reason working that festival was more relaxed than working the other ones. maybe my boss wasn’t as much of a hardass there, maybe it was just the festival. i don’t know. i still have nightmares of the festival i had to sub in at the cotton candy machine (it got into every nook and cranny, i didn’t feel comfortable walking by an elementary school for a month for fear they’d try to eat me) so Tualatin was the fun festival every season.
Nah mate this is 100% American. We still remember how ye gifted two billion dollars to the dnc last year. Aren’t you getting any texts asking for more money yet?
This is not an ‘America bad’ take. We have our fair share of grifting in the rest of the world as well, but the American way is quite particular.
I don’t know if this is really not visible from within, but this has always been the essence of American Life in my eyes since I became socially aware at the end of the 90s, when I was also spending my summers in the US.
Sure, now the wallpaper pattern is covering the sofa and the chairs, and it is a punch in your eyes, but the room has always been surrounded in just that.
This is not “American”. This is “right wing grifter”.
A whole lot of america isn’t that.
But too much is.
Let’s be real, nothing is more American than taking money from idiots
The carnies are in charge and they’re fleecing the rubes for everything.
I can’t help feeling carnies are done wrong by the comparison. At least carnies propose to delight us in exchange for their enrichment.
The carnies at the fair we just visited were wearing Trump and MAGA hats.
Hard no to the kid on playing any of their games.
That’s the problem. The rubes are delighted at being taken.
i want to contest your position but i worked the carnival circuit for 12 years
That’s a remarkable stretch. What was the best bit?
i liked the crawfish festival up in tualatin oregon. they had these cool foam crawfish/lobster hats. mine finally died back in 2019, and the festival hasn’t happened again since.
Hell, that’s the state I was born and I’d never heard of it myself.
i would love help throw it, get it going again, but i’m all the way fuck too down south to help. it’s one of the few festivals i’d Travel for.
Was it just the food? What made it special?
the food was great, they had those great hats, they had a good music lineup, the vendors weren’t too cramped in (even though you’re only supposed to get a standard 10 foot x 10 foot booth they’d give us all a few extra inches), most of the vendors were good quality craft or food vendors (no MLM shit, though the only ones i’m familiar with back when i attended regularly were mary kay, amway and herbalife), the space was spread out enough to accommodate the crowd and the vendors but not so spread out that it looked empty, they had a free water spigot, there’s a lot of reasons.
for some reason working that festival was more relaxed than working the other ones. maybe my boss wasn’t as much of a hardass there, maybe it was just the festival. i don’t know. i still have nightmares of the festival i had to sub in at the cotton candy machine (it got into every nook and cranny, i didn’t feel comfortable walking by an elementary school for a month for fear they’d try to eat me) so Tualatin was the fun festival every season.
Nah mate this is 100% American. We still remember how ye gifted two billion dollars to the dnc last year. Aren’t you getting any texts asking for more money yet?
This is not an ‘America bad’ take. We have our fair share of grifting in the rest of the world as well, but the American way is quite particular.
It’s mixed in with neoliberal ideology. That’s why you can find examples on both sides. Neoliberalism is what unites the two parties in the US.
America was founded as a grift
Not enough that you could stop the Nazis from taking power.
I don’t know if this is really not visible from within, but this has always been the essence of American Life in my eyes since I became socially aware at the end of the 90s, when I was also spending my summers in the US.
Sure, now the wallpaper pattern is covering the sofa and the chairs, and it is a punch in your eyes, but the room has always been surrounded in just that.
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And the funny thing is, this is socialism.
Nah you’re all fucked just in different ways