# People watching

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Posted by SuitTieAndWater on March 29, 2020 at 02:01:42

Like most everyone else in the world I'm currently holed up at home waiting on this awful virus to finally go away, and not getting out swimming like I should be doing. Most of my own wackywetting is pretty mundane - I jump in pools clothed, have a good time, and that's it. But I have at least a kind of interesting story from a year or two ago. I was in college and had a job that had me driving between two small towns once or twice a month. The drive was about 7 hours each way, and I'd either do a round trip in a single day, or spend the night half way and then finish the drive the next day. It was through a real rural area, there were precisely 4 towns along the route with any significant population (and gas stations, restaurants, bathrooms, etc.) Also the drive was all on windy 2-lane roads, no highways, so it was kind of an exhausting drive.

So one day I'm driving back home and coming up to one of the small towns there was a bunch of banners along the road advertising their annual carnival. I was due for lunch and a bathroom break, and I wasn't in any particular rush, so I decided to stop, figuring it would at least be something more interesting than the usual gas station and McDonalds that most of my rest stops were. So I pull into town and park on a side street and do a lap up and down the main street. They had all the usual summer carnival stuff, petting zoo, carnival rides, games, DJ, different booths selling various stuff for the scouts, school sports, 4H... all the usual stuff. And, of course, a dunk tank. The dunk tank was setup next to the fire station, and the fire department was selling barbecue lunches as a fundraiser. I decided to buy lunch from them, but when I placed my order the guy apologized at length saying they had temporarily ran out of food and should have another batch ready in 20 minutes if I didn't mind waiting, and offered me a free soft drink for my trouble. I assured him I was in no rush and would be happy to wait, and I'd pay for the soft drink. They were next to a small park filled with picnic tables set in the shade, and I was happy to sit and relax and people watch. It was a nice summer day, and it seemed like pretty much the whole town was out mingling.

The dunk tank was a little interesting, just from personalities standpoint. When I first got there a group of typically sullen-looking teenage boys were running it, in t-shirts and either shorts or swim trunks, and no shoes. I couldn't quite tell what group was actually running it, they weren't wearing any kind of uniform shirt and there wasn't a sign or banner identifying themselves. They also weren't great dunk tank victims, pretty sullen and stoic. They seemed to be good sports about it, but weren't really working the crowd like a good dunk tank victim would, and I had the impression they were probably required to be there in some way. No one seemed too upset to be getting dunked, but also no one really seemed to be enjoying it either. Also some people who I presumed to be their friends and family were kind of smirking to get to dunk them, it didn't seem like a very fun experience.

So then this kid walks up in full skater bling - white t-shirt with some gold logo on it, gold chain around his neck, white and blue baggy gym shorts, expensive-looking high top shoes, enormous ball cap. I figured he must have been some kids older brother or something, I figured there was no way he'd be going in the dunk tank. To my shock, I saw him pull off his shoes and socks, and with the same sullen look on his face, climb up onto the dunk tank and get dunked a few times. Guess first impressions can be deceiving, he actually cracked a grin a few times and seemed like he might have actually enjoyed it. Someone I figured was his girlfriend was the most excited to dunk him, so that probably contributed to his docile behavior.

Another example was a kid who stood right in front of me talking to his family for a few minutes. He looked younger than the group running the dunk tank, and looked like he had just come from church, he was wearing khaki dress pants and a collared shirt, but I noticed he was barefoot. After having what looked like a bit of disagreement with his parents, he jogged over to the dunk tank. In contrast to the other kids working it, he was definitely the most animated - loud, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, grinning from ear to ear. He took the next turn on the seat, and quickly got everyone's attention by shouting at the top of his voice, and got a good crowd riled up - and obviously ended up spending more time in the water than he did sitting on the seat. He definitely seemed to be the town clown, as it seemed like everyone knew him and was eager to take him down a notch by sending him into the water, but it all seemed friendly and respectful. He'd tease some of the adults who I figured were probably his teachers from school and always called them "Mister" and "Mrs." And all the people, including adults and kids his own age and kids older than him, seemed to enjoy dunking him but seemed genuinely friendly about it.

Otherwise, I got my food, ate, did another lap up and down mainstreet, then finished my drive home. I very strongly considered asking if I could take a turn in the dunk tank, but this seemed like a town where everyone knew everyone, and while everyone was friendly to me, it probably would have raised some eyebrows if a stranger randomly volunteered to go in the dunk tank at the town carnival. But it was just kind of an interesting people watching experience, watching how different people reacted to a dunk tank, on a nice day.

Follow Ups:

- Re: People watching Wetboy200 14:54:06 4/15/2020 (0)
- Re: People watching BenH 22:36:17 4/03/2020 (0)
- Re: People watching LeviLovR 11:35:23 3/30/2020 (2)
  - Re: People watching wetdunker 18:43:17 3/30/2020 (1)
    - Re: People watching BenH 22:39:03 4/03/2020 (0)
- Re: People watching wetchas 10:02:53 3/30/2020 (0)
- Re: People watching dunknick 07:55:58 3/30/2020 (0)

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