My State Fair vacation

Posted at 11:19 PM on September 1, 2010 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Life

As I mentioned last week, I don't actually see much of the State Fair. I get all the entertainment I need at the Minnesota Public Radio booth, which is why I've taken a week's vacation to work -- double shifts -- at the booth. You can tell who I am because I'm the guy who dies a little bit each time I have to tell someone we're sold out of the women's-cut Current Rocks The State Fair T-shirt. I also got to pinch hit as a "radio personality" to a desperate group of people who needed one for a group picture. They seemed surprised when I knew right off the bat that they were probably on a scavenger hunt. The moral: Bloggers are smarter than radio personalities.

The takeaway in two days of chatting with people -- sometimes they know I'm a blogger; usually not -- is this one: an overwhelming number of conversations I'm having this year involve people who tell me about the job they've lost.

A gentleman, for instance, told me about the end of his career as a pharmaceutical salesman. He's working parking cars for the State Fair this week. "I'm happy to have the work," he said.

See you Thursday: 12:30-9.

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