Jenn Marie Jones and her reckless pursuit of adventure and intrigue.

No fair!

September 18, 2008 at 11:18 am (Blather) (carnival, disappointment, fair)

You know that expression – “Man plans, God laughs”? I always found that kind of mean-spirited of God, but now I realize he must be based in Los Angeles, land of the perfectly justified flake-out.

For eons…I mean, at LEAST two weeks…I’ve been planning to go to the LA County Fair, home of huge pigs, prize pies and spinny rides that put you one loose screw away from certain doom. So fun! I checked with some people to see if they could make it and got emphatic thumbs up. I marked the day, rescheduled students (yes, I have my priorities in order), which took measurable effort, wrangled up some additional fair enthusiasts and grinned to myself in preparation for today.

Well, as you can see, I’m typing, not spinning. One by one, the fair-goers punked out, each for a completely unique and completely valid reason. 

I wish I were ballsy enough to go to a carnival alone. There’s something so forlorn about that. The best way to frame that scenario has me ending up married to the handsome barker, who robs somebody to pay for our unborn child, gets shived and dies, leaving me alone for the rest of my life. That’s not my ideal situation. The other side of the coin has me wandering the park, feeling empowered as I go on the rides by myself (and enjoying them JUST as MUCH! Good for me!), only to wind up, what else?, shived by a carnie who is mad that I won Whack-A-Mole and got the giant panda he swore would never leave his tent. This would never have happened if I had friends with me. You see my dilemma.

So today, I’ve decided to make the most of my blank day. I’ll do whatever I feel like. Right now it’s a relaxed breakfast. Later it may be hiking, or midday drinking, or a corn dog, or sobbing with disappointment. But probably just the corn dog.

I love my friends here. I’m glad their lives are full of delightful surprises and challenges. I just can’t relate. And I’m not going to “plan” anything for a while now, lest I hear a mysterious giggle resounding from the ether.