Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Carnival Games - Display Your Unusual Talent

Everyone has a talent, and they use that talent to make a living much of the time. They may not even realize it, but many choose a career on talent, even if the talent isn’t something they are aware they have. For some though, the talent isn’t enough, or in some cases, they don’t know how to find a related career. I remember one of my uncles telling me that it’s a shame that is only talent was winning carnival games. He may have been able to get some really cool stuffed animals and other related items, but it never paid the bills.

My dad agreed that my uncle had an unusual talent at winning carnival games. I don’t know about a talent, but he certainly was a lucky man. We would go to the local fair in our town and the next town over each year, and when we went with our uncle, we know we were coming home with a pile of goodies. He once joked that we only wanted to hang out with him because he could win all of the carnival games. He also said it was a shame that most of them did not give out cash prizes.

He was wrong of course. We loved him, and his ability to win carnival games was just a bonus. He always got us what we wanted, though he always encouraged us to try it first ourselves. He even said that he thought perhaps his luck with carnival games was something that might work out well in Atlantic City. He went for the weekend and came back with pretty much what he left with. He said the luck didn’t follow him there, but some would argue that not losing a ton of money in that city is good luck.

I haven’t seen my uncle play carnival games in a long time. I can’t explain why he always seemed to win no matter what he did. He had a good job, but it wasn’t one he was passionate about. He has since retired and now lives in another town. He and my dad get together on occasion, but we don’t all get together to go to fairs like we had in the past. I guess if I want the prizes now I’ll just have to learn to play the carnival games on my own. Sadly though, I’m just not that lucky.