Parking cars.

Why are we so busy this weekend?  Well, it’s because we are parking cars at the MoCo fair.  We meaning Jeremy, me and Vince.  (Edda somehow gets a pass on this.)  This isn’t valet parking, it’s directing traffic in a large grassy field – finding empty spaces and getting cars in and out as efficiently as possible.  The scouts run the show.  As they get older, they get more responsibility so by the time they are seniors in high school, they are dispatching crews and ordering adults around.  The scouts themselves are suppose to work at least 35 hours during the fair, but a lot of them want to work way more hours than that because it’s kind of fun for them. They get to hang out with their pals all day and eat fair food and actually tell people what to do.

Grown ups have to put in 40 “family” hours.  They put the grown ups in critical spots – those spots where you have a greater chance of being run over, which is what I felt like I was doing all day – that is, on the verge of being run over.

The scouts have done this for 60 years and it’s because they get paid handsomely for their services.  In turn, we have no dues, no selling crap, no paying for camping fees.  Therefore, I have reframed this experience from “OMG, I can not believe that I’m parking cars in the hot, hot sun.” to “I’m so glad I get to park cars so that I don’t have to sell popcorn to raise funds.”  So much pleasure can be derived from reframing things this way.  I have turned my car flag-waving duties into performance art in which each oncoming car is a brand new audience to win over.  I actually have a little dance routine which culminates into the instruction “turn right”.  I’m usually rewarded about every third car with a thumbs up, or a smile or some funny comment.  All the kiddos in the backseat wave hello.  Time passes quickly.

We also get to catch up with the parents of Vince’s friends.  Here’s David, professional video/photographer – trying to get me to use flash and shoot in RAW and do post-processing.  Sounds like a lot of work.  I acknowledge that I’m only half a photographer – I take the photos and I download them and put them on this blog.  I don’t crop, I don’t edit and I don’t curate.  Am I a real photographer?  Maybe.  Maybe not.