Sometime while we lived here Mom, Sue, Lois and I went to the Washington County Fair. I parked out in that big grassy field that was the parking lot when the fair was ongoing.
I think this was the same visit as the one where I "bought" a turquoise ring for Mom but the guy said he was out and if I paid him then, he would bring me another one the next day. I think I paid about 60 bucks for it. I used of the checks that Master Card gave us to use when we couldn't use our card.
I admit I was stupid and trusting. Then next day, no ring. He said he'd mail it to me. Of course that was the last we heard of him. I tried to get the cops to arrest him but they told me they couldn't find him. Oh yes, I was really stupid and I was out the money with no way to get it back. It was an expensive lesson.
The last night we were there I got hurt on one of the rides.
It was called the tempest. That night they were running all the rides too fast, I thought. I could see the swings going straight out from the pole. It just seemed fast to me but I thought I was safe on something so tame as the tempest. You all sat in a circle around a big wheel. There were four cages in sets of two.
The object was that the two cages on each "bar" moved in and out and around and around while you held on to the center wheel. Somehow, and I don't really know how it happened, I was up in the air off my seat and bounced back down under the center wheel.
I spun around and went up a bit again and came down hard on the metal grating along the door that was supposed to be locked when you went in the cage. It did stay locked and looking back on it now that is probably the one factor that saved my live.
I was screaming. Sue and everyone else was screaming. I'm a bit mixed up on this. It was a very traumatic night. Lois was outside trying to get the man to stop the ride.
Somehow the ride did stop. I really do think these operators were high on something.
Sue says now that the ride owners blamed the young black guy who was operating the ride. I think it was the ride owners fault for hiring people that weren't safe. If they were high on something, you can bet they got it from someone. No matter who was to blame, there should have been something to hold us in our seats. There was nothing other than that wheel in the center you held on to while it spun.
I have vague memories of being strapped to one of those emergency stretchers and having my butt hauled to the nearest hospital which at the time I think was Mary McClellan. I also think some female was saying nasty things about me while I was on that stretcher.
They were not nice to me in the ER either. They treated me like it was my own fault. Somebody told Mom I was old enough to know better.
I had bruises from my neck to my knees. I had a scrape down my spine from the door.
I don't know how the rest of them got home but my car stayed overnight in the parking lot. When I got out of the hospital the next day, somebody, either Lois or Dad drove me over to pick up my car. The antenna was bent in half and one of the side mirrors had been ripped off.
In the hospital the next morning one of the nurses was complaining because she said I smelled. I bet she would too after all that and not being able to wash when you were admitted. I had nothing with me. I wasn't in the habit of carrying a stick of deodorant with me when I went out to the fair.
I also recall that Lois gave me a ring I'd seen and liked and was thinking of buying. It was made of fake silver and abalone shell. I kept it for years until it got left behind in Ohio.
The lawyer had us take photos of my bruises. I do have the negatives but I didn't get them printed so they won't be here unless I send in a fourth order. The lawyer filed against the fair grounds and the company that handled the rides. The fair people said it was the responsibility of the ride people.
I forget the name of the company that ran the rides. They settled out of court with the lawyer who told me it was a good offer. I think I got around 2000 and he got a 1000. My money went towards paying either for the lot in Argyle or building materials. It was ok with me. I had bruises and pain but I always had bruises and pain.