The Brand (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 1, Ed. 1, Thursday, October 12, 1989 Page: 2 of 8
eight pages : illus. ; page 15 x 12 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Opinions
2 October 12 1989
the Brand
Experience at carnival is not 'fair'
originally this tale was created
for my Oral Interpretations of
Literature class but since the use of
this story saved me the time and
trouble of writing another story I
decided to recycle my creativity.
Keep in mind that this is a true
story. Some of the names have been
loft out to protect the innocent but
all events are factual.
For a child a fair can be one of the
greatest experiences in his or her
young life. When I was younger
amusement parks were a challenge.
The bigger and faster the rides the
better time I had. When the West
Texas Fair came to town I decided it
was about time that I experienced
the fair again. At age 21 the fair
was not the same and the thrill was
gone.
The omens were there but I ig-
nored them. It was about 50 degrees
outside it felt like 30 when the wind
blew. Of course the day before it
had rained so the ground was nice
and muddy. Oh yeah this day had
been one of those days where your
classes bore down on you like a
runaway steamroller.
Nonetheless I put on my "happy"
face and decided to tough it out. My
companions on this journey were
too happy. It was like they were just
released from prison and had won
the lottery in the same day. I did not
want to ruin such a special moment
so I tried my best to be a raving
lunatic also.
When we arrived at the fair things
were different. All of a sudden I felt
like a child again. Maybe it was all
the lights. This feeling of ex
uberance was short lived. Reality
slapped me in the face. As we
entered the fairgrounds a young
man approached me.
"Yo brother you gonna ride
some rides?" he asked.
Considering I was entering the
fairgrounds I thought this was a
pretty stupid question but the polite
person I am I responded by saying
"yeah."
So he said "How 'bout yo gimme
$20 and I give you 100 tickets?"
I had no idea I was on "Sale of the
Century." I did not have $20 so
A piece of
my mind
by Ewart Jones
again politely I said "no thanks."
I had forgotten that you meet the
classiest people at the fair.
It cost me six dollars for 18
tickets which made me think I
should have made a deal with "Bub-
ba." At this point I did not care. I
was ready to take on the world (at
least the rides).
The first ride I was going to con-
quer was the "Kamakazi." Ever
notice how fair rides always have
dangerous sounding names? I
should have taken the hint. I did not
remember my fear of heights until I
was suspended in air several feet
above the ground. Now a friend of
mine one of the names that is being
withheld to protect the innocent
decided to demonstrate how strong
her grip was as she tried to deal with
her anxiety about the ride. I have
found that the worst experiences in
you life last the longest. The
"Kamakazi" was no exception. I was
glad to get off the ride and start
rehabilitating the mangled left hand
left in the wake of my friend's
monster grip.
My next conquest was "The Zip-
per." My friend had had a bad ex-
perience on this ride the year before
so she declined this oppurtunity.
Another friend however was happy
to join me on the ride. I have to ad-
mit "The Zippper" was fun. It almost
knocked me unconscious but those
are the risks you take.
The "Falling Star" was nothing. It
was a kiddy ride at best but it was a
blast. This was the second ride in a
row I had enjoyed. I did not know
what to do with myself. Now I had
only four tickets left so I had to pick
my last ride vey carefully. The
search was on and it was very hard
to decide. The decision became
easier when I started getting a whiff
from the pony rides.
The final ride of the evening was
to be "The Himalayas." It seemed
safe enough. Looks can be deceiv-
ing. Music was blasting from this
ride as the ticket taker for lack of a
better job description was dancing
sort of and motioning for fair goers
to spend their tickets. This turned
out to be the ride from "heck." I was
spun around like stuff in a blender
while my fellow riders were
smushing me against the metal seat.
Piease see "Pain" on page four
Bubbles need to be broken
J.J. looks like a 16-year-old
boy not a man. By the time
you get to your late twenties a
little respect should be com-
ing. J.J. has a pale sickly
complexion and hollow
sunken eyes a slight frame
make the rest of the picture.
Gotta get ready for work-
jeans pullover-gotta see the
barber for a haircut soon.
Another day. J.J. is from
another state there is no
family here for J.J. much less
friends.
What is it like to have to
stumble over this sentence
when you read because the
words look disjointed and
backwards? J.J. knows. J.J.
has dyslexia. J.J. has a dead
end job can't go any higher-
after all. there is the reading
problem. Oh did I mention
that J.J. is a woman? You
couldn't tell unless you knew.
J.J. was raised by her family
as a boy. Maybe we should
say that she's doing alright
considering her situation and
all. At least she's eating. Her
entire life she's been emo-
tionally abused
psychologically abused and
mistreated. What kind of
parents would raise a
precious little girl and con-
form her inate nature to that
Precipice
by Phil Wilson
of a male? J.J. lost her identi-
tybut more than that she also
Is lacking something most of
us have. When people strug-
gle hit difficult times deal
with stress or grasp for tomor-
row there is hope-at least of
leas suffering of a better
future or perhaps love. What
does J.J. have?
As s child I was told about
the hungry the hurting and
the homeless. How many peo-
ple like this do most of us
know? Be grateful for what
you've got just begins to ring
hollow after awhile and we
function day to day mouthing
concern for those less for-
tunate (if we are asked). Bub-
bles sometimes need to be
broken. If any of us with a
sincere heart spent one iota
of time in serving the J.J.s in-
stead of dividing into a com-
mittee every time a need
arises I wonder what could
be done. J.J. can't read very
well but she does feel. Maybe
the feeling part is. where we
can all begin. Perhaps with
feeling from us hope will con-
quer the J.J.s' lonelieness
and despair. To paraphrase
Emmanuel Kant What can I
know? What shall I do? What
may I hope? What is Man?
What does J.J. have?
the Brand
editor-in-chief
Ewart Jones
assistant editor
Lara King
features editor
Duane Slmolke
t
news editor
Rick Hope
reporter
Rodney Jackson
staff columnist
Phil Wilson
business manager
Angela Magee
staff photographer
Mike McShane
faculty advisor
Randy Armstrong
The Brand of Hardin
Simmons University is a
non-profit campus
newspaper published
during the long term. It
is published under the
direction of the Depart-
ment of Communication
Hardin-Simmons Univer-
sity Abilene Texas
79698. It serves as a
laboratory project and
to some extent a forum
for student views.
Editorial opinions are
those of the newspaper
and do not necessarily
reflect those of the
university or its ad-
ministration. Signed col-
umns represent the per-
sonal views of student
authors.
The Brand is a member
of the Texas Inter-
collegiate Press
Association and the
Southwest Journalism
Congress.
I
J
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
The Brand (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 1, Ed. 1, Thursday, October 12, 1989, newspaper, October 12, 1989; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth96468/m1/2/: accessed June 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hardin-Simmons University Library.