The McBournie Minute: Carnival rides

Summer time means a lot of things are changing, not the least of which is the overall stickiness of anyone you try to touch, including yourself, and I don't mean touching yourself. But the advent of summer means county fairs are back.

With these county fairs come the usual healthy, deep-fried food, games with stuffed animal prizes and rides. As attended such a fair in Fairfax County, Virginia over the weekend, I was reminded of something: I am a total and utter wimp when it comes to rides. This is not to say that I have an unreasonable fear of losing control/ heights/ high speeds, which I do, this is more about the rides themselves.

You know the people you see working at those places? Those mutants are the ones that assemble the rides. Just imagine how many working parts there are in those things, and then think about how many thousands of times each ride has been disassembled and reassembled. If one thing is out of place, it could be serious. Would you trust your life to a car that was assembled by part-timers unlikely to have graduated college? Not to mention, whirling around after having all that food and beer may not be the wisest choice.

Oh yeah, and if you think amusement park rides are safer, remember the threat of hitting a goose with your face, or this story.