Life on a stick

I haven't been to a state fair since I was a teenager living in Oklahoma. This week I had the chance to go again. The Minnesota State Fair was ending on the same day that the GOP Convention was supposed to start: Labor Day. As you now know, the convention was postponed a day. I took a couple of hours away from the politics to go to see what all the fuss was about. Generally the offerings haven't changed that much: livestock, rides, sno-cones, funnel cakes, indigestion, diarrhea, etc. Now, though, there is this odd propensity for putting everything on a stick.

At the Oklahoma State Fair in the '70s, the only thing found on a stick was a corn dog or a popsicle. At the Minnesota State Fair in 2008, however, everything is on a stick. I saw pork chops on a stick, bacon on a stick, waffles on a stick, walleye on a stick, deep-fried oreos on a stick, deep-fried candy bars on a stick. I'm surprised I didn't see sticks on a stick.

The other thing that I haven't seen before are the political booths. Fairgoers can stop by and get buttons, t-shirts and posters. Or they can give money. Al Franken and his opponent, incumbent Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman, both had a booths at the fair. Apparently, these political booths are lucrative for Minnesota politicians. Many people say Jesse Ventura's gubernatorial win  was due to his vigorous handshaking at his Minnesota State Fair booth. I am just glad the politicians don't attempt to put things on a stick. I can just imagine what we might find.