CARNIE IS AS CARNIE DOES

What the HELL is going on out there, people!?

OK, I was at a little place called GOTL this past weekend. People in my area will know what I'm talking about. I'm being discreet because I don't want to upset the locals. Well, I don't want them coming after me, actually, but that's neither here nor there. My friends and I set up tents at a quaint little campground, rode around in golf carts, laughed, drank beers out of cans wrapped in NASCAR koozies and ate pizza off a picnic table. It was a blast! So what started off as a fun mini-camping trip with friends, would soon turn into a scene from the porno version of Deliverance. 

After nightfall, we decided to go into "town" to see how the GOTL peeps do it. Let's just say that GOTLs are a different breed. At one point I wondered if I was super drunk, or if these people were really THAT ODD. For example, we were approached by a man wearing velcro sneakers that were probably white back in the 80s, and a Hawaiian shirt which was left open to flap in the breeze of his overzealous fast-walk. As he trolled alongside us, closely, his arms flailing wildly, he warned us to be cautious of all the men walking around "downtown GOTL," other than himself of course, because they were only after one thing. He tried convincing us that he was one of the good guys who finished last, got the short end of the stick, etc. We were almost convinced that he was just a harmless guy who probably didn't know how to button his shirt because he took the short bus into town, until he asked us where we were staying, how we were getting back there, and if we were staying there alone. We tried ditching this dude with the, "Hey let's check out this little tchotchke shop (while YOU keep walking, crazy man)" technique, but he stuck with us. So finally, we had to tell our little "Polynesian" Reebok-wearing friend to hit the road. 

We continued on down the street of dreams, when my friend and I spotted a "Girls Gone Wild" bus parked outside one of the more popular establishments. So we giggled and decided to check it out. GGW cameramen were roaming around, shining their lights on those who were willing to give them a show. At first we laughed it off, until we looked over and saw a girl who was grinding on a pole and taking off her clothes while a pack of men surrounded her with whiskey on their breath and intent in their eyes. Men flocked like jackals to a carcass. The wall of boys got so thick and fierce that the only thing that could have saved her at that point would have been the fire department. The more she danced, the more aggressive they became, until one was pressed up against her, another was playing with her fun bags, and yet another was pawing at her skirt. And all the while, she had her hands on any and every male body part that was within grabbing/stroking distance. Had I not been completely terrified, and protective of my own reproductive parts, I would have snatched the whistle off the barely-covered bartender's chest, broke up the action and thrown a flag on that play! Instead we set down our beers and got the hell out of there! But not before dodging a tsunami of scrappers and bitch-slappers.

GIRLS! Seriously? At what point did you lose your self-respect? What happened to going out for a little fun and flirting? Now you let boys give you breast exams and Pap smears at the bar? 

And BOYS! Really!? When did you become all scary and predatory? And who said it was normal to hunt women in packs? Is this how your mother raised you?

I'm at a loss here. I hope and pray that these kinds of things only happen in small carnie towns known for their funnel cakes and meth labs. Or is there some sort of twisted cultural shift taking place in our society? If that's the case then I'm moving to Canada. Seriously, I have a real problem with this kind of behavior. These antics have a trickle-down effect on my dating life (which I'll explain in my next blog post)! I want your feedback...